Minnesota PBS

Legal name: Twin Cities Public Television Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410769851
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6512221717
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,751,698
Expenses
$46,203,862
Assets
$108,137,358
Liabilities
$6,107,751

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SYLVIA STROBEL (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SYLVIA STROBEL (PRESIDENT & CEO): $659,344 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTIAN SIEBENECK (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER): $356,152 total reported compensation
  • AMINA JAAFAR (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $352,479 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Twin Cities PBS is a trusted source of journalism, a convener of communities, and a source of innovative programming for kids, families, and adults. We tell stories with impact because we believe in the power of public media to connect us to our neighbors, engage with the world around us, and advance arts, culture, and history for generations to come.

What it reported doing in 2024

Tpt operates five free over-the-air broadcast television channels providing a mix of locally produced programs and national pbs content. Regularly scheduled tpt-produced programs include a public affairs show almanac; a series about Minnesota's diverse history, Minnesota experience; a local food show, relish; and a music and arts performance series, stage. Tpt's program services also incorporate the productions that tpt creates for national public television distributed by pbs and apt, including scigirls, hero elementary, america outdoors with baratunde thurston, art + medicine, and skillsville. The five channels are: 1) tpt 2, the flagship channel that features the best of pbs programming with additional programs and series produced or acquired by tpt to serve local audience needs. Tpt 2 averages 4.7 million views per month. 2) tpt life, which is a general audience channel showing the best of lifestyle, current affairs, and drama programming. Tpt life averages 1.5 million views per month. 3) tpt mn is the home of the Minnesota channel, a 24-hour local service including coverage of the Minnesota state legislature when it is in session each year (2,680 hours in 2025). Additionally, tpt mn provides 6,080 broadcast hours of programming about Minnesota including its people, heritage, cultures, and history. This channel is distributed throughout the state via the Minnesota public television association to air on all public television stations servicing Minnesota viewers. The mn channel averages 418,000 views per month. 4) tpt kids is a 24/7 channel for Minnesota children, offering the pbs kids national programming schedule, with the goal of providing viewers ages 2-8 and their families with standards-aligned literacy, arts, social-emotional, and stem learning. Our local kids' channel averages 1.5 million views per month. 5) tpt now delivers real-time weather, health, safety, and emergency alters information in english, spanish, hmong, and somali languages on broadcast and streaming platforms. A partnership with government and other public agencies, tpt now's mission is to develop and distribute culturally relevant information so more minnesotans are healthy, safe, and ready to respond when natural or planned disasters occur.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 58
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97%; rating input score 97; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.34; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 33 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $33.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $659K · 49 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.3M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.