PBS
On the 3rd of November 1969, four men gathered in Washington to create a new national network for public television. Hartford N. Gunn Jr., president of WGBH, John Macy from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, James Day, the last president of National Educational Television, and Kenneth A. Christiansen from the University of Florida signed the documents that established the Public Broadcasting Service. Fred Friendly played an integral role in the negotiations that led to this creation. The network officially began operations on the 5th of October 1970, taking over many functions previously held by its predecessor, National Educational Television. That same year, NET merged with Newark station WNDT to form WNET. In 1973, PBS merged with Educational Television Stations and launched the National Public Affairs Broadcast Center. This center offered news and national affairs programming before eventually merging into member station WETA-TV in 1972. Immediately after the Watergate scandal became public knowledge, PBS broadcast the Senate proceedings nationwide starting the 17th of May 1973. Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer served as commentators during these seven months of gavel-to-gavel broadcasts. These nightly transmissions drew great public interest and significantly raised the profile of the fledgling network.
PBS distributes shows such as Nature, Nova, Frontline, PBS News Hour, Washington Week, Masterpiece, American Experience, and children's programs including Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Sesame Street, Barney & Friends, Arthur, Curious George, and The Magic School Bus. Boston member WGBH-TV produces educational television programming like American Experience, Arthur, Masterpiece Theatre, Nova, Antiques Roadshow, and Frontline. News programs are produced by WETA-TV in Washington, D.C., WNET in New York City, and WPBT in Miami. Member stations rebroadcast British costume dramas, comedies, and science fiction acquired from the BBC, including Downton Abbey, 'Allo 'Allo!, Are You Being Served?, The Benny Hill Show, Red Dwarf, Father Ted, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mr. Bean, and Sherlock. In 2012, PBS began organizing prime time programming around genre-based schedules with drama series on Sundays and science programs on Wednesdays. Rerun programming is generally uncommon except for The Lawrence Welk Show which has aired continuously since 1986 through the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. Children's programming like Clifford the Big Red Dog and DragonflyTV receives extensive reruns. From 2020 to 2021, PBS served as the over-the-air home to select specials from the Peanuts library under sublicense from Apple.
In May 2011, PBS announced it would incorporate breaks containing underwriter spots within four breaks placed inside episodes of Nature and NOVA. These segments were broken up into parts of up to 15 minutes rather than airing straight 50- to 55-minute episodes. That same month, PBS released apps for iOS and Android allowing viewing of full-length videos on mobile devices. On the 28th of February 2012, PBS partnered with AOL to launch Makers: Women Who Make America, a digital documentary series focusing on high-achieving women in male-dominated industries. Senior Vice President of Digital Jason Seiken warned 850 top executives at PBS stations that the network was in danger of being disrupted by YouTube studios such as Maker Studios. He laid out his vision for a new style of PBS digital video production described as "PBS-quality with a YouTube sensibility." The studio's first hit, an auto-tuned version of the theme from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, became one of YouTube's 10 most viral videos of 2012. By 2013, monthly video views on PBS.org had risen from 2 million to a quarter-billion, surpassing CBS, NBC, and ABC websites. In July 2016, Amazon Prime Video entered into a multi-year agreement with PBS Distribution. On the 3rd of September 2020, PBS began offering free livestreams of member stations via its website and mobile apps.
PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, pledge drives, corporate sponsorships, and donations from private foundations and individual citizens. From its founding in 1969 until 2025, it also received funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Between 53% and 60% of public television revenues come from private membership donations and grants. Most stations solicit individual donations through fundraising events called pledge drives or telethons that disrupt regularly scheduled programming. Underwriting spots appear at the end of each program but cannot include qualitative descriptions or calls to action. In January 2025, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr ordered an investigation of corporate underwriting sponsorships for possible violations of FCC regulations prohibiting noncommercial broadcasters from airing advertisements. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations opened an inquiry into this matter in March 2025. On the 1st of August 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced they were going to end operations due to being entirely defunded by the Rescissions Act of 2025. In September 2025, PBS announced a 15% staff reduction cutting about 100 jobs including 34 immediate layoffs following a $1.1 billion decrease in federal funding for public broadcasting over 2026 and 2027.
The board of directors governs and sets policy for PBS consisting of 27 members: 14 professional directors who are station managers, 12 general directors who are outside directors, and the PBS president. All board members serve three-year terms without pay. PBS member stations elect the 14 professional directors while the board elects the 12 general directors and appoints the PBS president and CEO. As of 2023, PBS maintains current memberships with 354 television stations encompassing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. possessions. The service has an estimated national reach of 93.74% of all households in the United States or 292,926,047 Americans with at least one television set. Unlike commercial networks, PBS cannot own any of the stations that broadcast its programming. Each non-profit PBS member station is charged with the responsibility of programming local content such as news, interviews, cultural programs, and public affairs for its individual market or state. Some states organize groups of PBS stations into single regional subnetworks like Alabama Public Television and Arkansas PBS. In certain markets, more than one member station may exist, sometimes owned by separate licensees.
In September 2003, Kenneth Tomlinson was chosen as chairman of the CPB board and criticized PBS for what he alleged to be a liberal bias. His efforts sparked complaints of political pressure. From June 2004 to July 2005, PBS aired Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. Between September 2004 and December 2005, the network also aired The Journal Editorial Report with Paul Gigot, a conservative editor of The Wall Street Journal editorial page. In December 2004, Bill Moyers resigned as a PBS regular citing political pressure to alter his program's content. He stated that Tomlinson had pursued a vendetta against him. In May 2005, two House Democrats requested the CPB inspector general investigate complaints of political interference. The inspector general's report issued in November 2005 described possible political influence on personnel decisions including email correspondence between Tomlinson and the White House. Tomlinson resigned from the CPB board on the 3rd of November 2005. A 1982 broadcast about martial law declared in Poland in 1981 was condemned by broadcasters in communist Eastern Europe who labeled it provocative and anticommunist propaganda. In 1999, at least three public television stations were caught selling or trading their mailing lists with the Democratic National Committee.
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Common questions
When was the Public Broadcasting Service created?
The Public Broadcasting Service was established on the 3rd of November 1969 when four men signed documents in Washington. The network officially began operations on the 5th of October 1970 after taking over functions from its predecessor National Educational Television.
What shows does PBS distribute to member stations?
PBS distributes programs such as Nature, Nova, Frontline, PBS News Hour, Washington Week, Masterpiece, American Experience, and children's series including Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street. Member stations also rebroadcast British costume dramas and comedies acquired from the BBC like Downton Abbey and Monty Python's Flying Circus.
How is PBS funded and what happened to funding in 2025?
PBS receives funding through member station dues, pledge drives, corporate sponsorships, and donations from private foundations and individual citizens. In August 2025 the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it would end operations due to being entirely defunded by the Rescissions Act of 2025.
Who governs the board of directors at PBS?
The board of directors consists of 27 members including 14 professional directors who are station managers and 12 general directors who are outside directors. All board members serve three-year terms without pay while the president serves as an ex officio member.
When did political pressure affect programming on PBS?
Political pressure influenced programming between September 2003 and December 2005 when Kenneth Tomlinson served as chairman of the CPB board. Bill Moyers resigned in December 2004 citing a vendetta against him and Tomlinson eventually resigned from the CPB board on the 3rd of November 2005.