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The Public Broadcasting Service ('''PBS''') is a Non-profit Public Broadcasting Television service with 354 member TV Station s in the United States , with some member stations available over the air and by cable in Canada . While the term broadcast covers radio, PBS only covers TV; for radio the United States has National Public Radio , American Public Media , and Public Radio International . PBS was founded in 1969, at which time it took over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET) (which merged with station WNDT Newark, New Jersey to form WNET ). It commenced broadcasting on Monday, October 5 , 1970 . In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations . PBS is a non-profit, private corporation which is owned collectively by its member stations. About PBS , PBS.org, accessed 2006-11-25 However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation For Public Broadcasting , a separate entity funded by the U.S. federal government. Its headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia . ORGANIZATION PBS is not a broadcast network in the sense in which that term is usually used in the United States , although it is more like U.S. broadcast networks than other public broadcasters that own their stations. Unlike the commercial television broadcast model of American networks such as NBC , CBS , ABC , or Fox , in which affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for network programming, PBS member stations pay substantial fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization. This relationship means that PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial counterparts. Scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly from market to market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism and PBS strives to market a consistent national line-up. However, PBS has a policy of "common carriage" requiring most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common schedule, so that they can be more effectively marketed on a national basis. Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio , PBS has no central program production arm or news department. All of the programming carried by PBS, whether news, documentary, or entertainment, is created by (or in most cases produced under contract with) other parties, such as individual member stations. WGBH in Boston is one of the largest producers of educational programming. News programs are produced by WETA-TV in Washington, D.C. and WPBT in Miami . '' Shining Time Station '', the '' Charlie Rose '' interview show, '' Nature '', '' Cyberchase '', and '' The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer '' come from or through WNET in New York . Once a program is offered to and accepted by PBS for distribution, PBS (and not the member station that supplied the program) retains exclusive rights for rebroadcasts during the period for which such rights were granted; the suppliers do maintain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as DVD s, books, and sometimes PBS Licensed Merchandise (but sometimes grant such ancillary rights as well to PBS). PBS stations are commonly operated by Non-profit organizations, state agencies, local authorities (e.g., municipal boards of education), or Universities in their community of license. In some states, PBS stations throughout the entire state may be organized into a single regional "subnetwork" (e.g., Alabama Public Television ). Unlike Canada 's CBC / SRC , PBS does not own any of the stations that broadcast its programming. This is partly due to the origins of the PBS stations themselves, and partly due to historical license issues. In the modern broadcast marketplace, this organizational structure is considered outmoded by some media critics. A common restructuring proposal is to reorganize the network so that each state would have one PBS affiliate which would broadcast state-wide. However, this proposal is controversial, as it would reduce local community input into PBS programming, especially considering how PBS stations are significantly more community-oriented, according to the argument, than their commercial counterparts. PROGRAMMING See Also: List of programs broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service PBS' evening schedule emphasizes areas including:
PBS (as PBS Kids ) has distributed a number of highly regarded Children 's shows such as:
PBS Kids has also imported British children's series (for example, '' Tots TV '', '' Teletubbies '', '' Boohbah '', '' Thomas The Tank Engine '' and '' TUGS ''), as well as children's shows from Canada (i.e., '' The Big Comfy Couch '', '' Theodore Tugboat '', '' Wimzie's House '' and '' Zoboomafoo ''). On June 4, 2007, their first imported Australian children's TV series debuted on PBS-- Raggs . Some of the programs had moved to commercial television (for example, '' Ghostwriter '', and '' The Magic School Bus ''). However, PBS is not the only distributor of public television programming to the member stations. Other distributors have emerged from the roots of the old companies that had loosely held regional public television stations in the 1960s. Boston -based American Public Television (former names include Eastern Educational Network and American Program Service) is second only to PBS for distributing programs to U.S. non-commercial stations. Another distributor is NETA (formerly SECA), whose properties have included '' The Shapies '' and '' Jerry Yarnell School Of Fine Art ''. In addition, the member stations themselves also produce a variety of local shows, some of which subsequently receive national distribution through PBS or the other Distributors . PBS stations are known for rebroadcasting British television Costume Drama s and Comedies (acquired from the BBC and other sources) — these shows are generally seen on Saturday evenings, generally regarded as the least-watched evening of the week due to viewers doing outside activities such as going to a movie, a concert, or other functions; so much of the exposure (or lack thereof) of American audiences to British television (particularly Comedies ) comes through PBS it has been joked that PBS means "Primarily British Series". However, a significant amount of sharing takes place. The BBC and other media outlets in the region such as Channel 4 often cooperate with PBS stations, producing material that is shown on both sides of the Atlantic . Although less frequently, Canadian, Australian, and other international programming appears on PBS stations (such as '' The Red Green Show '', currently distributed by syndicator Executive Program Services); the public-broadcasting syndicators are more likely to offer this programming to the U.S. public stations. It also uses the new slogan "On" then the station name. Stations that have produced PBS-distributed programming include:
''See article: List Of Programs Broadcast By Public Broadcasting Service '' CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY PBS has been the subject of some Controversy .
Political/ideological bias
PBS NETWORKS PBS has also spun off a number of , network identification on these PBS networks were limited to utilization at the end of the program, which includes the standard series of Bumpers from the "Be More" campaign. PBS KIDS See '' PBS Kids ''. REFERENCES FURTHER READING
SEE ALSO
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