Backed by BEA, the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation has launched a Preservation Grant Initiative designed to rescue, digitize, and share key pieces of U.S. radio and television history with the public. The program spotlights projects that document how broadcasting has shaped culture, news, and civic life.
The initiative arrives just ahead of LABF’s 22nd annual Giants of Broadcasting and Electronic Arts awards luncheon, scheduled for November 14 at Gotham Hall in New York City.
LABF will award up to four grants of $2,500 each. Eligible projects may involve audio and video recordings, photographs, documents, program logs, oral histories, and other materials that capture broadcasting’s development and impact.
Broadcast companies, libraries, museums, archives, colleges and universities, and other nonprofit institutions may apply. Individuals working with historically significant collections are also encouraged to submit proposals.
A core requirement of the program is open access: work supported by the grants must result in materials or research that are freely available to the public. LABF says that condition aligns with its effort to move broadcast history out of storage boxes and into classrooms, communities, and digital platforms where it can be widely used.
Applications are due January 15, 2026, with full guidelines and forms available through the BEA website.
LABF co-chairs Jack Goodman and Heidi Raphael said the grants are intended to ensure that the story of broadcasting remains visible and usable for future generations, and they thanked Heather Birks and BEA for partnering in the effort to protect and share this legacy.