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Sinclair Broadcast Group has extended an offer to local public television stations by agreeing to provide a critical resource to help them launch on the next-generation digital broadcast standard.

This week, executives at Sinclair committed to working with non-profit organization America’s Public Television Stations (Apts) to help bring local public TV stations to Atsc 3.0, the new digital broadcast technology better known by the consumer brand name “NextGen TV.”

In areas where a Sinclair-owned station serves at the Atsc 3.0 “lighthouse” broadcaster, the company will offer a local public TV station free access to one virtual channel.

The move is intended to help public TV stations reach consumers who are already watching NextGen TV signals on newer-model smart TVs or via aftermarket tuners.

Sinclair stations in 43 markets serve as the Atsc 3.0 lighthouse — a broadcast outlet that agrees to serve as the main broadcaster of a market’s local ABC,...

Back when Vice President Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana, the D.C.-based lobbying group America’s Public Television Stations named him a “Champion of Public Broadcasting.”

Now they’d probably like their trophy back.

Public broadcasters are preparing for the fight of their lives. Donald Trump’s proposed budget, as feared, completely eliminates funding for public broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for Humanities. It’s a part of an unusually cruel proposal that, beyond the arts, also cuts social services like Meals on Wheels.

It’s no surprise that Trump and Republicans are gunning for public broadcasting. Conservatives have targeted the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for decades, even though its annual appropriation is around just $445 million. Its elimination would have virtually no impact on the nation’s deficit, particularly if Donald Trump succeeds in his proposal to increase military spending by $54 billion.