Like many Mississippians, Jovani Johnson was raised on PBS Kids. Shows like “Sesame Street” and “Maya & Miguel” were a key part of his early education.
Now, as an afterschool teacher at Agape Love Learning & Developmental Center in Greenwood, he uses PBS Kids shows and resources from its website in his lessons three times a week.
“My younger group, they love it,” he said. “They love it because they know we’re coming with something fresh, something new.”
But because of federal budget cuts pushed by President Donald Trump, Johnson and other Mississippians will lose access to these shows by next summer.
Mississippi Public Broadcasting will lose up to 15% of its annual budget, which is between $2 million and $2.5 million, according to Anna Neel, MPB’s chief operating officer.
She said that by July 1, MPB plans to eliminate programming from PBS, NPR, the Create television channel, the PBS Kids television channel, PBS Kids app and the streaming service Passport.
MPB will still air emergency weather alerts and local programming like “The Gestalt Gardener” on the radio and “Mississippi Roads” on TV, and it will continue to produce all local news, including “Mississippi Edition,” Neel said.
Nationally syndicated TV shows like “Daniel Tiger,” “Sesame Street,” “Frontline,” “Finding Your Roots” and “Antiques Roadshow” and radio shows like “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” won’t be available under MPB’s planned changes.
The Republican-led Congress last month approved and Trump signed cuts to federal spending, including a $1.1 billion reduction to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Trump said in an executive order in May that he believes PBS and NPR have “biased and partisan news coverage.”
A view of the children’s activity room at Mississippi Public Broadcasting headquarters, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayNeel said it would be difficult and expensive for MPB to produce children’s educational programming locally. She said she has spoken to teachers in underserved communities who rely on PBS Kids.
“They depend on this free educational content … to help children not just learn to read, learn their colors, to learn their shapes, but they depend on this content to teach children how to regulate their emotions,” Neel said.
PBS says its children’s programming helps improve literacy and STEM skills, and its accessibility helps fill educational gaps: 60% of PBS’ audience lives in rural areas, and 56% of low-income households watch it.
For Johnson, the alternative to PBS Kids is YouTube. Instead of having prepared lessons, staff will have to build their own curriculum.
“I will stand on the highest mountain to say that there isn’t any platform, any network, or any broadcasting service that will replace PBS Kids,” Johnson said.
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