This past May, Rio Grande Valley Public Media (RGV Public Media) was closed due to lack of funding while under the management of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville making it the largest market in the country lacking an NPR station. The station has been replaced by Catholic-based radio programming after a 1.3 million dollar sale from the diocese to Immaculate Heart Media. This loss of NPR in the area has created what many fear is a “news media desert,” with 1.4 million lacking access to both local and national news programming. Residents of the Rio Grande Valley have turned to crowdfunding to bring public radio back to the area through the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. The university has announced it is looking into bringing back RGV both for the benefit of the community and to raise the profile of UT-RGV, but nothing official about the return of the station has been announced.
