An underwriting spot is an announcement made on public broadcasting outlets, especially in the United States, in exchange for funding. These spots usually mention the name of the sponsor, and can resemble traditional television advertisements in commercial broadcasting. However, there are legal restrictions, such as a prohibition of making product claims, announcing prices, or providing an incentive to buy a product or service. In the U.S., these restrictions apply to all non-commercial educational (NCE) stations, and even for non-sponsoring companies and products.

Donors who contribute funding can include corporations, small businesses, philanthropic organizations, charitable trusts, and individuals.

Criticism has emerged that these underwriting spots are a corrupting influence on the operations of public broadcasting, and introduce the same biases into non-commercial radio and television that allegedly exist on for-profit outlets.^{[citation needed]} These include inhibiting influences on public affairs programs (even self-censorship) where investigative journalism is featured and tendencies toward the use of non-artistic criteria in determining the selection of programs, such as symphony broadcasts on radio and theatrical productions on television.