Public Broadcasting Service Pbs Britannica

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), private, nonprofit American corporation whose members are the public television stations of the United States and its unincorporated territories. PBS provides its member stations with programming in cultural, educational, and scientific areas, in children’s fare, and in news and public affairs but does not itself produce programs; the programs are produced by the... PBS headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. The early years of public television in the United States were dominated by National Educational Television (NET; founded in 1952 as the Educational Television and Radio Center), which relied primarily on funding from the... Following the creation of the Public Broadcasting Act (1967), the government-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was established, and in 1969 it founded the Public Broadcasting Service as a successor to NET.

The PBS broadcast network debuted in 1970. In its initial years, PBS featured such acclaimed programming as the children’s shows Sesame Street (begun 1969) and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968–2001; with Fred Rogers), the performing-arts series Evening at Pops (1970–2005) and Great... Viewers were also drawn to the instructional The French Chef (1963–73), with Julia Child; the political talk show Firing Line (1966–99), hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr.; and the drama anthology Masterpiece Theatre (begun 1971; later Masterpiece), presided over for many years by Alistair Cooke. Throughout the network’s history, many of its other series achieved considerable renown, including The MacNeil/Lehrer Report (begun 1975 with news presenters Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer; now PBS NewsHour), Live from Lincoln Center (begun... (begun 1980; later subsumed into Masterpiece), Nature (begun 1982), American Playhouse (1982–93), Frontline (begun 1983), The Frugal Gourmet (1983–95; with Jeff Smith), Smithsonian World (1984–91), Adam Smith’s Money World (1984–97), American Masters (begun 1986),...

Eponymously titled talk shows hosted by Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley began in 1993 and 2004, respectively. In addition, PBS aired numerous documentary films (including several prominent works by Ken Burns), as well as a variety of series originally produced for British television. As a corporate entity, PBS is governed by a board of directors, consisting of the company president, general directors from outside the organization, and representatives from some of its hundreds of noncommercial member stations. Member stations are licensed variously by community organizations, universities, state authorities, or local educational or municipal authorities. Funding for PBS is derived from various sources, including the U.S. federal government (through the CPB and other departments and agencies), state governments, member stations’ dues, corporations and foundations, and the contributions of viewers.

This is an accepted version of this page The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial,[1][2][3][4][5] free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia.[6][7][8][9] PBS is a nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programs to public... PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, pledge drives, corporate sponsorships, and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. From its founding in 1969 up until 2025, it also received funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[16] All proposed funding for programming is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program... PBS was established on November 3, 1969, by Hartford N. Gunn Jr.

(president of WGBH), John Macy (president of CPB), James Day (last president of National Educational Television), and Kenneth A. Christiansen (chairman of the department of broadcasting at the University of Florida).[19] Fred Friendly was an integral figure in negotiations about the interconnection that would lead to the 1969 creation of the Public Broadcasting... It began operations on October 5, 1970, taking over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with Newark, New Jersey station WNDT to form WNET. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations.[21][22][23] Around the same time, the groups started out the National Public Affairs Broadcast Center (later National Public Affairs Center for Television), which offered news and national... The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) officially launched on October 5, 1970, marking a pivotal moment in the history of American public educational television. This initiative emerged from a long-standing advocacy for dedicated educational programming, stemming from post-World War II efforts and the formation of various committees aimed at enhancing televised education.

The establishment of PBS followed the recommendations of the Carnegie Commission on Public Television, which emphasized the need for a federally supported public television network. PBS succeeded the National Educational Television (NET), which had previously served as a distribution service for educational content. PBS quickly distinguished itself by combining educational programming with entertainment, appealing to a broad audience and particularly focusing on children’s shows like "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." These programs not only aimed to... In its early years, PBS faced challenges, including criticism over its content and its relationship with political powers, yet it persevered and gained popularity throughout the 1970s. As a result, PBS transformed the landscape of American television by providing high-quality, innovative programming that often addressed social issues, while also pioneering advancements in broadcast technology. Today, PBS continues to serve as a vital educational resource, reflecting the evolving needs and interests of American society.

The Public Broadcasting Service was launched after the nonprofit Carnegie Commission on Public Television released a report in 1967 proposing the establishment of a federally funded public television network that would broadcast news and... The network airs quality programming free of the restrictions and demands of the commercial television market. The official launch of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1970 was a significant milestone in the evolution of American public educational television, which began shortly after the end of World War II. Although a significant number of early commercial television programs were educational in nature, many educators and lawmakers began to push for the creation of services devoted strictly to educational television programming. In October of 1950, the National Association of Educational Broadcasters collaborated with prominent educators to form the Joint Committee on Educational Television, which sought to promote the production and broadcast of nonprofit educational television. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial,[1][2][3][4][5] free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia.[6][7][8][9] PBS is a nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programs to public...

PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, pledge drives, corporate sponsorships, and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. From its founding in 1969 up until 2025, it also received funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[16] All proposed funding for programming is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program... PBS was established on November 3, 1969, by Hartford N. Gunn Jr. (president of WGBH), John Macy (president of CPB), James Day (last president of National Educational Television), and Kenneth A. Christiansen (chairman of the department of broadcasting at the University of Florida).[19] Fred Friendly was an integral figure in negotiations about the interconnection that would lead to the 1969 creation of the Public Broadcasting...

It began operations on October 5, 1970, taking over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with Newark, New Jersey station WNDT to form WNET. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations.[21][22][23] Around the same time, the groups started out the National Public Affairs Broadcast Center (later National Public Affairs Center for Television), which offered news and national... Immediately after public disclosure of the Watergate scandal, on May 17, 1973, the United States Senate Watergate Committee commenced proceedings; PBS broadcast the proceedings nationwide, with Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer as commentators. Although all of the Big Three TV Networks ran coverage of the hearings, PBS rebroadcast them on prime time.[28] For seven months, nightly "gavel-to-gavel" broadcasts drew great public interest, and raised the profile of... THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a new six-part, 12-hour documentary series that explores the country’s founding and its eight-year War for Independence, will premiere on Sunday, November 16 and air for six consecutive nights through Friday,... ET (check local listings) on PBS.

Today PBS KIDS announced the premiere date of WEATHER HUNTERS, a new animated STEM series for viewers ages 5-8 from Al Roker Entertainment (ARE), the production company helmed by Al Roker, Emmy-winning weatherman and... Today, PBS and BBC have released three first-look images of an Albertosaurus and a Pachyrhinosaurus. Get ready to groove! Based on Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, the beloved children’s book by Emmy® Award-winning, Newbery medalist, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander, the ACOUSTIC ROOSTER universe is coming to PBS... We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.

Start searching for your way to change the world. The Trump administration’s drive to slash government spending on everything from the arts to cancer research also includes efforts to carry through on the Republican Party’s long-standing goal of ending federal funding for NPR,... Across the country, 1,500 independent stations affiliated with NPR and PBS air shows such as “Morning Edition,” “Marketplace,” “PBS NewsHour,” “Frontline” and “Nova.” Some 43 million people tune into public radio every week, and... Public media stations air local news and, when necessary, emergency information. Most also feature regional, national and global coverage of arts and culture. With commercial media divesting from local news reporting, audiences that have long relied on public media to inform their communities are even more dependent now on that service, as are audiences that got their...

Public broadcasting in the U.S. has grown from local and regional roots at schools and universities into a nationally known source of news and entertainment for millions of listeners and viewers. Our timeline of public broadcasting’s history traces its growth from the earliest radio broadcasts to its days as the home of Big Bird, Frontline and Terry Gross. We hit the landmark events, like the signing of the Public Broadcasting Act, and include lesser-known milestones as well — like the airplane circling over Indiana that broadcast educational TV shows to six states. Dive in and discover how public media became what it is today. This is a revised and updated version of the timeline that appeared in our book A History of Public Broadcasting, published in 2000.

A new version of the book is forthcoming. Entries by Karen Everhart, Mike Janssen and Steve Behrens With the Morrill Act, Congress endows state universities with land grants, creating what some observers believe was a philosophical precedent for public broadcasting and its public funding. Guglielmo Marconi sends a wireless signal from his family estate in Italy.

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