The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced Friday that it will begin shutting down, weeks after Congress canceled previously approved funding for the nation's steward of public media access.

The company is among the first casualties of a vote to strip roughly $500 million in federal funding from NPR, PBS and local stations across the country.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has long helped pay for PBS, NPR and 1,500 local radio and television stations and programs like “Sesame Street."