An Update to the Public Media Bridge Fund’s Collaborative Operating Models Open Call

Changes reflect learnings from the first four months of the program, needs and opportunities across the system, and feedback from stations and industry partners.

August 3, 2026 — In late March, we announced the launch of the Public Media Bridge Fund’s Sustainability Program, and, with it, an open funding call on Collaborative Operating Models to help advance operational collaborations across the public media system. The aim of the rolling program is to build on six decades of partnerships and collaborations within public media to help local stations work better together in a future without support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).  

Since then, we’ve received dozens of applications from stations across the system. Last month, we made our first investment in the recent combination of Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Report, and we expect to share additional grant announcements from this program in the coming weeks. 

Today, we’re pleased to share several updates to the Collaborative Operating Models open call. These changes reflect our learnings from the first four months of the program, the needs and opportunities we’re seeing across the system, and feedback we’ve received from local public media organizations and our industry partners. These changes also reflect the reality of our capacity and the availability of Bridge Fund resources relative to other system needs.  

First, we’re introducing planning support to bolster potential collaborations that require limited, last-mile advisory services before they are ready for implementation. These grants are designed for partnerships that meet the criteria for the Collaborative Operating Models open call — including having committed partners, executive buy-in, and a clear path forward — but need targeted technical consulting, financial modeling, business planning, or other analysis to fully commit to implementation. The Bridge Fund will provide funds to pay for such advisory services from outside consultants selected by the station. Planning support will likely not exceed $30,000, though the final amount will be determined based on specific project needs. For more details about planning support and eligibility criteria, please visit the Station Resources page of the Bridge Fund website. 

Second, we know that grant applications are time- and energy-intensive for many stations. For that reason, we’re streamlining the initial application process to ensure we’re capturing the most essential information about each project. Selected projects will be invited to submit an in-depth full application. The refreshed initial application questions are available on the Station Resources page of our website. 

As public media adapts to a future without federal funding, we believe deeper operational partnerships and new ways of working together can help build a stronger, more sustainable system. Our initial priority after the rescission of federal funding last year was to stabilize local public media service in communities at greatest risk of losing it. Through the Collaborative Operating Models open call, we are taking a more expansive view: working with public media organizations of all sizes to pursue opportunities for collaboration at the local, state, and regional levels.  

The Bridge Fund’s role is to make targeted investments that help organizations navigate this transition and build toward greater long-term sustainability. We prioritize projects where our resources can make a meaningful difference, particularly projects that demonstrate clear financial need and/or preserve critical local public media service at risk of being lost.  

With that focus in mind, the Collaborative Operating Models open call supports operational and strategic changes that can meaningfully improve long-term sustainability through significant cost reductions, revenue growth, and/or organizational efficiencies. It is not designed to support editorial operations or content collaboratives. Existing collaborations must propose a fundamentally new initiative with clear operational or strategic impacts on the participating organizations and their long-term sustainability. 

We’re hosting two informal, drop-in office hours sessions via Zoom in the coming weeks to answer any questions you may have about the open call and these updates. Please register to attend one of the sessions below: 

Thursday, August 6
3 – 4:30 PM ET / 12 – 1:30 PM PT
Register Here

Wednesday, August 12
2 – 3:30 PM ET / 11 AM – 12:30 PM PT
Register Here

If you’re not able to attend either session, please email your questions to bridgefund@publicmedia.co. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.