What’s PBS?

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PBS stands for Public Broadcasting Service and refers to a non-profit, privately owned group of television stations in the United States and parts of Canada. Unlike most standard stations, PBS is known for running commercial-free shows. To afford the purchase of television programming, stations raise member funding and funding from commercial sponsors, who may be able to place an ad before a show. Most of the funding comes from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Beginning in 1970, PBS carried on hundreds of local television stations. The “network” doesn’t work the same way as ABC or FOX. A PBS station may not always broadcast the same programs as other PBS stations, and they certainly don’t stick to the same broadcast schedule. While a viewer may find FOX network programming at the same time across the country, they might find a PBS show like Masterpiece airing on a different night and in a different time slot from station to station.

Some PBS stations produce their own programming. WGBH in Boston produces several well-known educational shows, such as Nova and Frontline. Most stations don’t produce much in the way of original programming, however, and therefore make no profit when the shows are distributed or released on DVD. Instead, the station merely licenses the right to use the program a set number of times.

PBS does not have a central news or programming department, so the availability of certain programs on stations will vary. Some programs seem to be available on most stations all the time and include shows like the children’s programs Sesame Street and Arthur as well as evening programs like Nature and Masterpiece. Other programs may require both member and corporate sponsorship to fund the money needed to pay the licensing fees.

The stations are also known for licensing British productions, which are often less expensive than their American counterparts. If a viewer wanted to find Monty Python’s flying circus on television, they would look it up on a local PBS station in the 1970s. Many Masterpiece productions were also initially produced by British television, usually through the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

PBS membership is a primary means by which individual stations pay for programming. Initially, membership drives were conducted once a year, although many stations now conduct drives three to four times a year. These units are often considered a nuisance by viewers because they often pick their favorite programs for rebroadcast and then frequently interrupt them with busy breaks. As annoying as engagement breaks may be, they are considered a necessity.
When PBS first began airing the shows, there was minimal television competition. In the 21st century, entire networks are devoted to documentaries, news with liberal or conservative leanings, British television productions and children’s programming. Little of this existed when PBS became popular and competed with only three other major networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. With cable and satellite providing people with hundreds of channels, fewer people are watching PBS and it’s no longer the only place to find certain types of programming.

PBS has also been criticized for having a liberal bias – or conservative, depending on who is criticizing it. Many attempts have been made to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Some viewers are also annoyed that PBS now airs commercials before and after programs, since one of each station’s hallmarks was its pretension not to carry commercials. Many people also feel that the programming has declined in value and interest, although others still feel that long-running children’s shows are worth watching and that the occasional nightly show is unlike anything else on television.

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