TVSquad

I think one thing that is forgotten about PBS is the "P" as in public.

The airwaves belong to the people and PBS is pretty much the only one who has any ties to that. Everything else is controlled by massive corporations.

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I grew up without cable. I can't say I'll never have cable -- a fast internet connection sure would be nice -- but... some of us do like having a place to go for well-made documentaries, and news that isn't driven by a Profit Motive.

The Red Green Show is fun, too.

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People who have not watched PBS in 15 years have no foot to stand on when commenting on political leanings of PBS.

Also people who say that other stations will pick up the slack or that the market should be an indicator are also incorrect. While I would agree that sentiment seems like it should be true it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. I would point to a past TVsquad posting about "channel drift" that points out that AE now shows "Parking Wars" and other garbage versus the "Arts" that the channel showed when it premiered. I don't believe that PBS would be immune from this effect if it was subjected to the same market as cable channels.

Letting the "market" guide the station would also be a mistake when you consider how that currently effects the quality of programing currently on the air. Consider a direct comparison of news programming. I would say that the reporting you get in "Frontline" is much more balanced, accurate and interesting then anything presented on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News.

I can understand that some people get upset about the management of funds for PBS or how their tax dollars are being spent, but when it comes down to it we don't get a choice in how our taxes our spent. We don't have the power to line item veto on tax dollar allocation.

While I don't watch a lot of PBS, I do find that it offers a good value to the American public and doubt that any other source would offer valubable programming such as Ken Burn's "The War" to the public for "free".

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PBS makes some of the most intelligent, compelling program on television. If it were only ratings based, we wouldn't have programming as compelling as "Frontline" and "American Experience". Both shows, if shown on regular TV and Cable would be watered down, and therefore much less interesting. Austin City Limits is the best music program on Television, it's not tied to record label money and corporate interests, there are actually good bands on ACL! I love PBS.

I'm thankful for PBS.

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Oh, the highest rated cable news channel is Fox News. Is it always a good idea to let the masses decide??

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Maybe they can follow the NPR model. In the last 30 years, they have weaned off government funding to the point where something like 5% of it's funding is from government grants. The rest comes from corporate underwriting, station dues and member drives. AFAIK, this hasn't affected the quality of it's programming.

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Personally, I watch PBS every day for The News Hour. I can't express how much I value the unparalleled reporting of The McNeil/Lehrer News Hour, Washington Week in Review, and Frontline. Furthermore, I grew up on Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and would hope that any children I have would have the same opportunity.

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I don't really watch PBS anymore, but I will occasionally tune in to Tavis Smiley and Charlie Rose if one of the guests catches my eye, but other that that I don't even watch it. As a kid I always watched Barney, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and all the other kid stuff. I couldn't imagine what the kiddos would do without it; I know Disney has kid stuff and so does Nick, but it just isn't the same. That's really the only reason I would say PBS should still exist.

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When I was a little boy, all I watched was children's
programs. not just on PBS. but in general. Bozo The
Clown, The New Mickey Mouse Club, the list goes on and
on. I even watched those old 15-minute segments PBS
used to air during mornings and afternoons. Read-Along
being one of my favorite shows at that time. Too bad
shows like Vision On and Hodgepodge Lodge had to go.
Sesame Street even to this day remains my all-time
favorite shows on PBS. 321 Contact? I had a little bit of
a crush on one of the gang from the greenhouse era,
so I was hurt to a degree when they changed its format
in 1983, as sleeper a hit as The Bloodhound Gang was.
Square One TV was my 2'nd favorite PBS show. Mr.
Rogers' Neighborbood was in the top 3, until 1985, as I
noticed Fred Rogers' puppetry acting got more and more
aggressive when he did King Friday's voice from the
Neighborhood Of Make-Believe. Bill Nye is now in the #3
position. Barney & Friends, I hate that show, it's #10,
Today's Special in the Top 5, and Electric Company is #4.
All in all, I don't know where I'd be without PBS.

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PBS is our last source of excellence and fairness in programming. As the wife of "Mr.Rogers" I've seen it consistently over 50 years. Today, for instance, we are celebrating the 40th year anniversary of "Mr.Rogers'
Neighborhood" on the air in collaboration with WQED, the PBS station in Pittsburgh, PA. Right on, George Miles!!
Cheers! Joanne Rogers

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The anti-PBS crowd usually claims that PBS is irrelevant in the age of Discovery, et al. The two problems with this argument are, first, that one must subscribe to cable or satellite to get Discovery and like channels. PBS can serve the public with educational and informational -- and yes, entertaining -- programming for free over the air.
Second, the programming on channels like Discovery or History are more often then not suspect when it comes to educational content. I mean, both channels routinely run programs devoted to UFOs and the like. PBS has a far higher standard when it comes to education and journalistic integrity.

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State run media is something out of the old Soviet Union or 1984. If PBS has shows worth watching, they shouldn't have to force us at gunpoint to pay for their broadcast. They should stand on their own like every other show.

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In a word: Yes.

See Austin City Limits.

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A little perspective for the PBS haters:

PBS's 2007 budget: 460million. That's a lot of dollars. But wait... assuming 100 million taxpayers in the US, each of us in a sense only paid about $5.

Now consider IRAQ and a round figure of 150 billion. Assuming the same number of tax payers, each of us paid $1500.

Another comparison: Ted Steven's ill-fated bridge to nowhere was going to cost more than 800 million, twice the annual budget of PBS, to service a town of a couple thousand people.

Why do you tryi so hard to cut PBS' budget? Because of a perceived liberal slant. But as far as I can tell, liberal in this case is nothing more than "fair consideration of both sides of the argument".

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Ofcourse we need PBS! Not everyone has cable and that is particularly the case for POOR children who LEARN from shows like Sesame Street and Barney! Not to mention other educational programming for other POOR people who want to LEARN! The government can pay for any number of useless thing and cut enough from all EDUCATION related areas. Lets not add PBS to the list.

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OMG, is that really THE Mrs. Rogers that commented above? How cool is that!

And put me down on the side of public television lovers. Like other commenters, I choose not to have cable or other premium television services in my home. Quite frankly, I don't want hundreds or even dozens of channels to pick from. I just don't want to spend that much time in front of the tube.

That said, PBS has been one of the most consistently positive things in our culture and in my life. I'm almost exactly the same age as Sesame Street. When I turned two, I told my mom my pizza was a triangle and she knew I was a genius. Yeah, that's really tame in this day and age of two-year-old computer whiz kids, but back in 1970, that kind of wide-scale, free, pre-school education was radical. Many of my generation owe a lot to PBS and the head start it gave us.

Now I enjoy the fabulous diversity brought to me via public television, everything from terrific documentaries (often just a few short months after their theatrical runs), science programs that are up to the minute, history made fascinating, news and current events (without a corporate bias), cooking shows, children's entertainment and educational programming, British imports, and possibly my favorite, the arts programing.

Tonight, I'll kick back and watch the amazing production of Stephen Sondheim's 2007 Broadway reviveal of Company that was filmed (and preserved for all time) by Great Performances. I was fortunate enough to fly 3,000 miles to see this production in NY, but the vast, vast majority of Americans did not have that priviledge. And probably couldn't afford tickets anyway. Thank goodness there's a way to share the best of our cultural heritage with everyone. With no price tag, and no subscription needed.

There are a lot of things I'm not thrilled with my tax dollars funding, but this is one that I'm behind all the way.

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Rocketboy:
PBS budget of 460 million in 2007 is based on a google search. 150 billion Cost of Iraq for 2007 is a number frequently mentioned, I don't have an exact value. As of last November it was 576 billion for the sum total cost over 4 years. (that's $5760 per tax payer!) These dollars are specifically allocated to Iraq, above and beyond normal military funding.

My point in comparing the two was that, if you are worried about how your tax dollars get spent, there are much bigger fish to fry, things that involve many more dollars (Iraq) or have positive benefit for many fewer people (see: earmarks / pork).

Another fact: per wikipedia, less than 60% of households get basic cable/satellite/FIOS. That's a lot of people who can only choose between a handful of broadcast networks or PBS.

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