Public Broadcasting Service
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"PBS" redirects here. For other uses, see
PBS (disambiguation).
PBS
Type
Broadcast television network Country United States Availability Nationwide
Slogan Be more Key people Paula Kerger,
President and
CEO[1] Launch date October 5, 1970 Former names
National Educational Television (1952–1970) Picture format
480i/
480p/
576i (SD)
720p/
1080i (HD) Official Website
www.pbs.org The
Public Broadcasting Service (
PBS) is an American
non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member
TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership.
[2] Its headquarters are in
Arlington, Virginia.
PBS is the most prominent provider of programming to U.S. public television stations, distributing series such as
PBS NewsHour,
Masterpiece, and
Frontline. Since the mid-2000s,
Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as America's most trusted national institution.
[3] However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public TV stations; in fact, stations usually receive a large portion of their content (including most
pledge drive specials) from third-party sources, such as
American Public Television, NETA,
WTTW National Productions and independent producers. This distinction is a frequent source of viewer confusion.
[4]
PBS also has a
subsidiary called
National Datacast (NDI), which offers
datacasting services via member stations. This helps PBS and its member stations earn extra
revenue.
PBS logo (October 4, 1971 to September 30, 1984)
PBS was founded on October 5, 1970, at which time it took over many of the functions of its predecessor,
National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with station WNDT, Newark, New Jersey, to form
WNET.
[5] In 1973, it merged with
Educational Television Stations.
Unlike the model of America's commercial television networks, in which affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for network programming, PBS member stations pay substantial fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization.
This relationship means that PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial counterparts. Scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly from market to market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism and PBS strives to market a consistent national line-up. However, PBS has a policy of "common carriage" requiring most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common schedule, so that they can be more effectively marketed on a national basis.
Unlike its radio counterpart,
National Public Radio, PBS has no central program production arm or news department. All of the programming carried by PBS, whether news, documentary, or entertainment, is created by (or in most cases produced under contract with) other parties, such as individual member stations.
WGBH in
Boston is one of the largest producers of educational programming, including
American Experience,
Masterpiece Theater,
Nova,
Antiques Roadshow and
Frontline, as well as many other children's and lifestyle shows. News programs are produced by
WETA-TV in
Washington, D.C.,
WNET in New York and
WPBT in
Miami. The
Charlie Rose interview show,
Secrets of the Dead,
NOW on PBS,
Nature,
Cyberchase, and
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer come from or through
WNET in New York. Once a program is offered to and accepted by PBS for distribution, PBS (and not the member station that supplied the program) retains exclusive rights for rebroadcasts during the period for which such rights were granted; the suppliers do maintain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as
DVDs, books, and sometimes PBS
licensed merchandise (but sometimes grant such ancillary rights as well to PBS).
PBS stations are commonly operated by
non-profit organizations, state agencies, local authorities (e.g., municipal boards of education), or
universities in their community of license. In some states, PBS stations throughout the entire state may be organized into a single regional "subnetwork" (e.g.,
Alabama Public Television). Unlike public broadcasters in most other countries, PBS does not own any of the stations that broadcast its programming. (i.e., there are no PBS O&Os anywhere in the country) This is partly due to the origins of the PBS stations themselves, and partly due to historical license issues.
In the modern broadcast marketplace, this organizational structure is considered outmoded by some media critics.[
citation needed] A common restructuring proposal is to reorganize the network so that each state would have one PBS member which would broadcast state-wide. However, this proposal is controversial, as it would reduce local community input into PBS programming, especially considering how PBS stations are significantly more community-oriented, according to the argument, than their commercial counterparts.
In 1994,
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, an industry publication, released the results of the largest study of charitable and non-profit organization popularity and credibility conducted by
Nye Lavalle & Associates. The study showed that PBS was ranked as the 11th "most popular charity/non-profit in America from over 100 charities researched with 38.2% of Americans over the age of 12 choosing Love and Like A Lot for PBS.
[6][7][8][9]
In December 2009, PBS signed up for the
Nielsen ratings for the first time.
[10]
