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 member stations, independent producers, and other program producers worldwide. 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
Ford Foundation
. 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 Performances
(begun 1972), the science-oriented
Nova
(begun 1974), and the current-affairs show
Washington Week in Review
(begun 1967; later titled
Washington Week
). 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 1976),
Live from the Metropolitan Opera
(later titled
The Metropolitan Opera Presents
; 1977?2006),
This Old House
(begun 1979),
Mystery!
(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),
The American Experience
(begun 1988; later titled
American Experience
), and
Antiques Roadshow
(begun 1997). 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.
In addition to managing the National Program Service, which provides programming to member stations, PBS and its
subsidiaries
engage in a number of other activities. Some of these endeavours have included offering college-credit television courses, providing instructional programs for elementary- and secondary-school students, selling goods and services to raise funds for PBS and member stations, offering high-speed
data
delivery to homes and businesses, distributing video recordings of public television programs for both public institutions (such as schools and libraries) and the retail market, and researching and developing technical systems for the network and its member stations. In 2005 the company helped launch PBS KIDS Sprout, a
cable television
channel geared toward preschool children.