4 ms·

Can 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

Can 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 ago
Can 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 ago
  Cant let you leave my boy Huell Howser and his California Gold program produced at KCET off this list.
- jonny_eh 7y ago
  Don't forget Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting from WIPB in Muncie, Indiana.
- cable2600 7y ago
  Also Doctor Who, Blake's Seven, and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, as well as Red Dwarf.
- auiya 7y ago
  Georgia 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 ago
  Also 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 ago
It'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 ago
No way, they do a ton of local programming. PBS is is really amazing institution.
- TurkishPoptart 7y ago
  It 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 ago
My 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 ago
CBS (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 ago
This 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 ago
Many 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 ago
    There'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 ago
    It'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 ago
I 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.

reaperducer 7y ago

Can 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 ago
Cant let you leave my boy Huell Howser and his California Gold program produced at KCET off this list.
jonny_eh 7y ago
Don't forget Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting from WIPB in Muncie, Indiana.
cable2600 7y ago
Also Doctor Who, Blake's Seven, and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, as well as Red Dwarf.
auiya 7y ago
Georgia 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 ago
Also 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 ago

It'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 ago

No way, they do a ton of local programming. PBS is is really amazing institution.

TurkishPoptart 7y ago
It 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 ago

My 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 ago

CBS (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 ago

This 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 ago

Many 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 ago
  There'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 ago
  It'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 ago

I 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.