When Was PBS Established?

Are you interested in the history of television? PBS is an acronym for the Public Broadcast Service, and it is a non-profit public broadcasting service. As of 2010, there are 354 member television stations in the United States that all hold a collective ownership for this service.

The predecessor to PBS was the National Educational Television. On October 5, 1970, PBS was founded and took over the majority of functions from the National Educational Television. Then, in 1973, PBS merged with Educational Television Stations.

How PBS Works

PBS operates quite differently than the other commercial television stations that are on the air. The affiliates of commercial stations give up a large amount of airtime for advertisements. In exchange for this, the stations are then able to run its network programs.

The member stations of PBS, however, pay large fees for the shows that the station obtains and broadcasts. This gives PBS much more flexibility in their scheduling because their programs aren’t tied with advertisements.

You may notice that the schedule for a PBS station in one part of the United States is markedly different than the schedule for a PBS station in another part of the United States. The only shows that are more consistent across geographical regions of the United States are the shows that PBS airs during “prime time.” Some of the shows that are run during the “prime time” include:

• Great Performances
• Mystery!
• History Detectives
• Live From Lincoln Center
• Wide Angle

PBS Programming

PBS lacks a central news department, which makes it different from its radio equivalent, the National Public Radio. Any programs (including news programs) which PBS airs, are created by third parties rather than PBS.

For example, the WGBH creates a large amount of the educational television shows which are aired on PBS. Some of the shows that the WGBH is responsible for include:

• American Experience
• NOVA
• Antiques Roadshow
• Frontline

The WNET is responsible for a lot of the news shows that air on PBS, such as The Charlie Rose Show and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. When PBS airs a program, PBS then retains the rights to rebroadcast that program. The member stations that created the program do not have those rights.

PBS Operations

The PBS stations in various regions of the United States are operated by a variety of different sources. In some areas, non-profit organizations run the PBS station. In other areas, state agencies or universities run the station.

Some PBS stations are connected to each other through a single regional subnetwork. However, PBS itself does not have ownership of any of the stations that broadcast the PBS programs. This makes it different from similar stations in other countries.

Donating to PBS

Importantly, PBS has remained a popular charity over time. For example, in 1994, PBS was ranked eleventh as one of the “most popular charity/non-profit organizations in America.” PBS ranked eleventh out of over one hundred different charities.

The popularity of PBS is important, because viewers help contribute to pay for the costs of the station. You can identify the programs in which viewers helped pay for production costs when PBS thanks “viewers like you.”

If this phrase is used, it means that viewer donations helped pay for the show. PBS has used this phrase since 1989. Prior to using this phrase, PBS would identify viewer donations by the phrase “from public television stations.” PBS also receives funding from other areas. For example, about fifteen to twenty percent of its annual operating revenue comes from federal sources, and about twenty-five percent comes from state and local taxes.

So, now that you know the history to PBS, you can truly appreciate it when you watch the channel!