GBH Gains 57,000 Members and $10 Million After Losing $20 Million in Federal Funding

GBH has added more than 57,000 new paying members since the start of last year and raised $10 million above its normal level in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The gains follow the loss of an estimated $20 million per year in federal funding after President Trump signed a law rescinding public media support a year earlier.

A year before the latest fiscal period, GBH generated just over $50 million from member donations and now reports a total of 250,000 members.

The organization launched a new statewide radio show after its merger with New England Public Media of Western Massachusetts. It will begin airing the program “In Common” on July 4 in partnership with New England Public Media and CAI. The full merger with New England Public Media is expected to close this month.

Chief executive Susan Goldberg said the station is experimenting with advertising sales on YouTube as one new revenue stream. “People don’t seem to mind the advertising on YouTube because they’re used to seeing ads on the platform,” she said. GBH awarded staff 3 percent raises this year after similar increases in each of the prior two years.

WBUR reported its membership rose nearly 19 percent from a year ago and met its $1.1 million spring fundraising goal in four and a half days. The station sold 2,500 tickets to its second annual festival, with nearly half going to people not previously in its database.

” Governor Maura Healey signed a supplemental budget last month that included $500,000 for educational public media resources at GBH drawn from the state’s millionaire’s tax revenue.

The appropriation came from $1.35 billion in surtax collections. “We at GBH had never received state funding before,” Goldberg said.