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Over 100 PBS local stations start streaming on YouTube TV
- larnmar 7y agoCan anyone explain why PBS television stations are local rather than nationwide? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a local program on one, but they seem to have a huge extra layer of bureaucracy in order to broadcast the same programs in a hundred different locations.
- reaperducer 7y agoCan anyone explain why PBS television stations are local rather than nationwide? The stations are locally-owned. Usually by a college, school district, or local government entity. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a local program on one Almost all PBS stations have local programming, even in small markets. Some of them award-winning programs. And a lot of the "national" shows are actually productions of local stations. For example, Masterpiece is WGBH/Boston (in partnership with other broadcasters). Sesame Street started out as WNET/Newark. Some PBS stations do a good job of providing unique programming to small markets. For example, in the 90's WVIA/Scranton aired Star Trek reruns because they weren't available in that market.
- lozaning 7y agoCant let you leave my boy Huell Howser and his California Gold program produced at KCET off this list.
- jonny_eh 7y agoDon't forget Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting from WIPB in Muncie, Indiana.
- cable2600 7y agoAlso Doctor Who, Blake's Seven, and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, as well as Red Dwarf.
- auiya 7y agoGeorgia Outdoors is an incredible show local to the state of Georgia. http://www.gpb.org/television/shows/georgia-outdoors http://www.gpb.org/television/shows/georgia-outdoors
- theremightbe 7y agoAlso a really common type of local program is programming about gardening and other outdoor activities. They'll focus on plants that'll grow in the local climate and usually have specials to tell people that now is the best time to plant some plant or another because the ground has finally thawed or whatever. I've also seen specials about nearby state parks and birdwatching type programs.
- hateful 7y agoIt's a broadcast station, meaning that they can only serve customers in the range of their antenna. The programming itself is syndicated - and maybe created by a different company as well as the local advertising. I suspect that you'll have a lot of stations streaming the same thing at different times.
- Spooky23 7y agoNo way, they do a ton of local programming. PBS is is really amazing institution.
- TurkishPoptart 7y agoIt certainly is. I watch Newshour almost every day. It's a way better unbiased source of news than reading Twitter all day, that's for damn sure. Skies above CNN, MSNBC, and Fox combined.
- blacksmith_tb 7y agoMy instinct is the tie-in with public radio stations... which do a fair amount of local reporting (at least mine does). Presumably the cost of producing video programs is high enough that most local stations haven't traditionally done that.
- toast0 7y agoCBS (for example) stations are also local; but with many stations corporate owned and many stations owned by a small handful of companies that operate in many markets. PBS stations are owned by local non-profits or often educational institutions and those have less of a motivation/ability to expand to multiple stations and multiple jurisdictions.
- akira2501 7y agoThis is a little flip of me.. but, mostly because Nixon's administration wanted it that way. [0] [0] https://current.org/1979/02/the-nixon-administration-public-broadcasting-papers-summary-of-1972/ https://current.org/1979/02/the-nixon-administration-public-...
- iamnothere 7y agoMany Americans don't like the idea of a national state-funded propaganda outlet. Not that a national PBS would necessarily be like that, but it has happened in many other countries, and it's a valid concern. Edit: there are a number of other reasons as well, including the difficulty of coordinating national broadcasts at the time that PBS was founded. Major networks were once also primarily driven by local affiliates, with some differences in local programming. The US is a big place.
- TurkishPoptart 7y ago>Many Americans don't like the idea of a national state-funded propaganda outlet. Not if you frame it like that, no.
- heavyset_go 7y ago> Many Americans don't like the idea of a national state-funded propaganda outlet This exists[1], but it isn't PBS. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America
- paganel 7y agoThere's also Radio Free Europe [1], but I don't think that's what the OP had in mind, as neither BoA nor Radio Free Europe broadcast in the US afaik. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe/Radio_Liberty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe/Radio_Libert...
- iamnothere 7y agoIt's not aimed at a domestic audience, and until recently this was enforced by law. VOA is also explicitly propaganda, at least under Bernays's more neutral definition of propaganda: it is intended to influence foreign populations to view the US in a favorable light, using what VOA considers to be the most accurate point of view. Propaganda isn't just Soviet posters describing the abundant harvest. Any widely broadcast messages with an explicit goal to influence populations, even if the messages are accurate, is propaganda. The recasting of propaganda as "evil lies" (or "fake news") has poisoned the well when it comes to discussion of accurate propaganda, which still exists and is in use every day.
- heavyset_go 7y ago> Can anyone explain why PBS television stations are local rather than nationwide? Local PBS channels cover local content. It's the same reason local news isn't broadcast nationwide. PBS itself does nationwide coverage of news along with creating other content, which is syndicated.
- lucky_cloud 7y agoI work for a PBS station. There are many bureaucratic hurdles, but distribution is actually one of the things we do best. As some others have commented, the local/national split works well for PBS and NPR. The model is similar to how local broadcast affiliates work (like your local ABC or CBS station) but is more mutually beneficial. I can try to answer any specific questions you have, if you want.
- gtirloni 7y agoI would expect PBS, of all TV stations, to be less constrained by distribution contracts and to be able to stream their content worldwide. Instead, they choose Youtube TV which is US-only.
- wnevets 7y agowhy would you expect that?
- gtirloni 7y ago"The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. It is a nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational television programming to public television stations in the United States..." (emphasis mine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS
- jdlyga 7y agoYouTube TV is nice, but is missing all the Viacom cable channels that are on the other streaming services (Comedy Central, MTV, etc).
- cgy1 7y agoAs far as I am aware, having Viacom channels is the exception rather than the rule for streaming cable providers. Along with Youtube TV, Hulu TV, Playstation Vue, and Fubo TV also do not carry Viacom channels.
- judge2020 7y agoYep, the only carrier is AT&T TV which only comes from AT&T's negotiating weight with U-Verse and DirecTV.
- throwaway1777 7y agoSling also has Viacom.
- briandear 7y agoIt’s missing the Weather Channe and that’s a huge miss.
- iamaelephant 7y agoUS-only, not interested.
- kleer001 7y agoyou don't vpn ?
- aidenn0 7y agoFWIW VPN is insufficient for youtube.tv; in addition to geo-ip it requires your browser to report a location. IIRC there's a firefox addon that can report an arbitrary location. IANAL, but it seems to me intentionally instructing your browser to report a false location in order to get access to services you would otherwise be denied would count as wire-fraud.
- shantly 7y agoI still just want one simple place to stream all (most, or half, even, would be great, for that matter) of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and pre-Elmoization Sesame Street for my kids. Anything else would be a welcome bonus but I mostly just want those.
- Ericson2314 7y agoCan you tell me more about the Elmoization of Sesame Street?
- netfl0 7y ago> It premiered on November 16, 1998, as part of the show's structural change and originally ran fifteen minutes at the end of each episode until 2009, but was then rebooted in 2017. It was designed to appeal to younger viewers and to increase ratings, which had fallen in the past decade. The segment is presented from the perspective of a three-year-old child as represented by its host, the Muppet Elmo, performed by Kevin Clash in the original series and Ryan Dillon in the 2017 reboot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- vhold 7y agoSesame street was considerably funkier, psychedelic and kind of gritty. Elmo was a herald of a much cleaner and sort of infantilized Sesame Street. The massive commercial success of the Elmo toys especially made it feel like it had become very commercial and a lot less grassroots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4
- MisterOctober 7y agoTotally -- the "Bridgekeeper," that animated circle bit with Phillip Glass music in the background, "123456789101112" with Pointer Sisters, Cab Calloway, and generally more realish kids and grown-ups on the set -- as a kid, I always felt like Sesame Street was cool and hip, as opposed to some "kid's show" that was talking down to me
- itgoon 7y agoPBS Digital Studios is one of the best things on YouTube. I particularly like SpaceTime, Eons, and Crash Course. There are many others, too. https://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios https://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios
- droithomme 7y agoSo, it's part of tv.youtube.com, which costs $49.99 per month plus tax?
- electriclove 7y agoNot sure why you are getting downvoted. PBS has always been free to watch over the air. The article talks about how great it is to have PBS available for streaming on Youtube TV. But it doesn't mention YouTube TV is a subscription only service starting at $50/month. This is similar to a cable provider offering 100+ PBS channels to its $50/month subscription. Call me cheap, but I don't want to pay $50/month to be able to stream PBS.
- Jaymoon85 7y ago- PBS Passport : $5/month - PBS Kids* : $4.99/month - PBS Masterpiece* : $5.99/month - PBS Living* : $2.99/month $19/month for all of these, is still better than $50 for Youtube TV, if all you care about is PBS programming. * Requires Amazon Prime
- droithomme 7y agoSure that's cool, but without a rooftop antenna, I get 2 different PBS stations, each which have 3 digital channels, so I get 6 PBS channels. Most programming is in full HD and higher resolution than streaming which always seems to add extra levels of compression. These are the ONLY stations I get without rooftop because PBS transmitters have more geographical coverage than any other network in the US. With my super big-ass gigantic antenna on a 50 ft tall pole, I get a bunch of other networks as well, again with higher resolution than typical cable or streaming. But the point is that even without any antenna, most people get at least one PBS station, which typically will have at least 3 channels multiplexed in their band. The announcement above seems to be an ad for youtube's $50 streaming service. Anyone who has that service already knows what it carries. Anyone wanting to sign up for that service based on PBS alone should just turn on their TV and see what happens. It's useful though for Americans living out of the country.
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- systematical 7y agoI watch PBS NewsHour everyday on YouTube. It's great!
- adultSwim 7y agoAnother news show you may want to check out is Democracy Now. I always watch or listen to the first ~10 minutes, where they do headlines.
- systematical 7y agoI've caught it on occasion through the local PBS affiliate channel and feel its high quality like the News Hour. I just never think to check it. Is that available on YouTube?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hooande 7y ago90% of what I watch on tv is PBS. I could see myself switching to YouTube TV just for this. Granted PBS is over the air for free and all of their shows are online for $5/mo. but I like my local station's lineup selections, etc
- lucky_cloud 7y agoThe $5/month (or more) will get you more than what's currently free to stream, and you'll support your local station. (for disclosure, I work for a PBS station)
- anderber 7y agoI pay $5 a month to my local PBS but it ticks me off that if I want to stream the live channel I have to pay YouTube TV. I'd gladly pay $10-$15 a month for just my local PBS channels in HD. My antenna isn't always reliable to pick them up, which puts me in the spot of paying my local PBS vs YouTube TV. Aside from that, I love PBS.
- lucky_cloud 7y agoFrom my understanding of the distribution infrastructure, this would actually not be very hard to implement. That's not my area of focus though, so I could be wrong. If enough people were to ask for it, it would probably be considered.
- electriclove 7y agoWould you pay $50/month of it? That's how much YouTube TV costs and it seems like that is the only way to get these 100+ PBS channels. It does come with a lot of other channels.
- magwa101 7y agoFEEEUCK YEAH. tv.youtube is great
- werber 7y agoWhat are great local shows in your area on PBS?
- lucky_cloud 7y agoThere are lots of good local food/cooking shows. They are cheap to produce and popular with viewers.
- pkamb 7y agoTwo Apple TV apps I have recently discovered and love using: Pluto.tv: replicate the cable guide experience. Endless episodes of things like This Old House, MST3k, and vintage game shows. I much prefer Pluto content to modern HGTV-type cable shows, and it scratches the same itch of "just watch whatever's on". - https://pluto.tv/ https://pluto.tv/ Kanopy: use your library card or university ID to stream indie movies and documentaries. Free kids programming. Lots of PBS. - https://www.kanopy.com/ https://www.kanopy.com/ - https://www.kanopy.com/kids https://www.kanopy.com/kids
- williesleg 7y agoPluto tv reminds me of those telemarketers that won't stop calling. Once I signed up I got endless spam and phishing attempts in my inbox making it almost unusable.
- pkamb 7y agoHmm, I never actually signed up. It works without sign-in. The commercials aren't great. I wish I could pay to have it cut to the (cool!) Pluto.tv splash screens rather than see ads.
- stallmanite 7y agoI have to chime in with another recommendation for Pluto. The app is noticeably snappier than anything else on my 3 different models of Roku. (Weird since it’s free and Hulu, HBO, Sling et al should have plenty of money for development.). Sling especially has dark patterns selling DVR space and loses audio sync constantly. Pluto is rock solid by comparison.
- taurath 7y agoRoku tends to have poor quality (outsourced) apps when companies have invested in a multiplatform system - brightscript doesn’t interoperate well with anything else so its usually an outsourced project.
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- aluminussoma 7y agoIt will be interesting to see what changes these streaming services bring to TV consumption and the Internet in the next decade. Comcast and other providers are losing subscribers to YouTube TV and Hulu. I suspect this will cause internet prices in the US to rise since these companies will want to make up the shortfall.
- johnklos 7y agoThat's all fine and dandy until they get some copyright infringement complaints, Google takes away all of their money, and they have nobody to complain to since Google doesn't have people.
- jdkee 7y agoThe Sunday night lineup: Masterpiece, Monty Python, The Two Ronnies (or Dave Allen At Large), Doctor Who for an hour and a half until 12:30 ensuring you were tired for school the next morning. Thank God for WTTW 11.
- mister_hn 7y agoDo you know if is there any Kodi Plugin for YouTube TV?
- pryelluw 7y agoAbout two years ago I did some work for PBS that might be related to this. The objective was to turn their catalog into a static feed that could be consumed by table top boxes. An interesting aspect of the project was that their catalog was fairly well normalized. I was expecting the usual mess of data structures. It was built with vanilla Django. No rest framework because the feed was rendered to static files served by S3. During our discussions I brought using Go for its performance and resilience. That was (correctly) decided against and we went with Django. Why Django? It's easy to wrap up periodic jobs as commands and runnning them with django celery.
- cable2600 7y agoThe local PBS station in my area has a weak signal but has three to four different channels, one for kids by the way PBS Kids. I'd like to watch it on Youtube instead.
- fiftythree219 7y agoMan, say what you want but YouTube was just a damn brilliant invention.
- bblpeter 7y agoWould have to agree
- crazykatz1997 7y agoIt's great to see PBS finding new ways to reach out to audiences through different streaming services. This is a very smart and strategic way to grow it's audience.
- Allower 7y agoShould have picked a different platform >_<
- sjg007 7y agoThis is awesome and really seals the deal for me wrt to youtube tv. It was the one missing channel for me. For local cable operators I think there is a big opportunity though to develop their own apple tv apps to stream IPTV so that the remain relevant. I have pretty fast local internet and youtube tv for less than the bundled package. They are already streaming IPTV to small boxes connected to a TV so it seems like apple tv integration should be easy.