Some, if not many, of PBS's approximately 350 local station affiliates operate on a shoestring, so for them, losing CPB's vital source of funding might mean the difference between life and death.

The repercussions will be enormous. Venerable entertainment lawyer Bruce Ramer, of Gang Tyre Ramer Brown and Passman, tells Variety that the shuttering of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will have deep impact on public media across the country.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced Friday that it will begin a "wind-down of its operations" and cut a majority of its jobs by the end of September following Congress' vote earlier this month to cut $1.1 billion in its federal funding.