Today's PBS - America's Largest Classroom, the Nation's Largest Stage
and a Trusted Window to the World
Every day, PBS and more than 350 member stations fulfill our essential mission to the American public, providing trusted programming that is uniquely different from commercial broadcasting, treating its audience as citizens, not simply consumers. In fact, PBS has been rated as the most trustworthy institution among nationally known organizations for nine consecutive years.
PBS invites everyone to explore new ideas and broaden personal horizons -- with content that expands the minds of children, programs that ensure the worlds of music, theater, dance and art remain available to all Americans, documentaries that open up new worlds, and non-commercialized news programs that provide citizens with multiple perspectives on world events and cultures.
PBS is a private, nonprofit corporation, founded in 1969, whose members are America’s public TV stations -- noncommercial, educational licensees that operate 354 PBS member stations and serve all 50 states, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa. Of the 161 licensees, 84 are community organizations, 52 are colleges/universities, 20 are state authorities and five are local educational or municipal authorities.
Strong On-Air Reach Across America
- Over the course of a year, 91% of all U.S. television households - and 236 million people - watch PBS. The demographic breakdown of PBS' full-day audience reflects the overall U.S. population with respect to race/ethnicity, education and income. (Nielsen NPower, 9/20/2010-9/18/2011)
- In a typical month, nearly 123 million people watch their local PBS stations. (Nielsen NPower, 10/2011)
- In a year, 79% of all kids age two to 11, totaling 32.7 million, watch PBS. (Nielsen NPower, 9/20/2010-9/18/2011)
- The PBS KIDS block was up 18% for kids age two to five for the '10-11 season compared to the '09-10 season, and the PBS KIDS GO! block was up, as well - 14% for kids age four to eight for '10-11 compared to the previous season. (Nielsen NPower, 9/20/20010-9/18/2011 vs. 9/21/2009-9/19/2010)
- PBS had four of the top 10 programs among mothers of young children in June 2012, including CURIOUS GEORGE, SESAME STREET, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!, and SUPER WHY!. PBS also had four of the top 10 programs for kids age two to five -- CURIOUS GEORGE, CAT IN THE HAT, SUPER WHY! and DINOSAUR TRAIN. (Nielsen NPower, 6/2012)
- PBS' primetime audience is significantly larger than many commercial channels, including Bravo (PBS' audience is 104% larger), TLC (75%), Discovery Channel (70%), HGTV (58%), HBO (54%), A&E (36%) and History Channel (6%). In addition, PBS' primetime rating for news and public affairs programming is 60% higher than that of CNN. (Nielsen NPower, 9/20/2010-9/18/2011)
- PBS averaged a 1.33 primetime rating during the 2010-2011 season, an increase of 4% over the previous season.
Source: Nielsen NPower, 9/20/2010-9/18/2011 vs. 9/21/2009-9/19/2010.
Innovation and Growth on Digital Platforms
- Americans watched nearly 137 million videos across all of PBS' web and mobile platforms in June 2012; more than half (56%) of these streams were delivered on a mobile platform. (Google Analytics, 6/2012)
- Combined, PBS had 22.6 million unique visitors to its sites in June. (Google Analytics, 6/2012)
- The majority of PBS.org's online video viewers are between the ages of 18 to 49, who spend an average of 17 minutes per video, far above the industry average of six minutes. (Google Analytics, 5/2012)
- In any given month in 2011, more than 30% of all video minutes consumed on kids' sites were on PBSKIDS.org. (comScore Video Metrix, 2011)
- In June, PBSKIDS.org was the No. 1 kids site for total videos viewed for the fifth consecutive month. In addition, 235 million minutes, or 30% of all kids video minutes, were spent on the site (comScore Video Metrix, 6/2012)
- In total, PBS' general audience and kids apps for iPad and iPhone have been downloaded more than 2.3 million times. (iTunes)
- More than 74 million videos were streamed on the PBS KIDS Video for iPhone/iPad apps in June, accounting for 56% of KIDS total streams. (Google Analytics, 6/2012)
Helping to Close the Achievement Gap
- Research has shown that PBS content helps children learn.
- A University of Pennsylvania study confirmed that children increased literacy skills by 46% after watching as few as two episodes of SUPER WHY. These children were then able to transfer the knowledge they gained into other contexts when tested.
- Children who watched SESAME STREET in preschool spend more time reading for fun in high school, and they obtain higher grades in English, math and science. PBS children's programming teaches important educational and life skills, cultivating and challenging the critical thinkers and innovators of tomorrow.
- A University of Pennsylvania study confirmed that children increased literacy skills by 46% after watching as few as two episodes of SUPER WHY. These children were then able to transfer the knowledge they gained into other contexts when tested.
- PBS LearningMedia (http://www.pbslearningmedia.org) is a free, online media-on-demand service developed for educators featuring photos, video, audio files and more with lesson plans, background essays, and discussion questions. The service features a robust content library with close to 20,000 assets designed and aligned to core standards for classroom and student achievement across math, science, reading/language arts, social studies, health/physical education, as well as world languages.
Highly Valued by the American Public
PBS annually commissions research to measure its performance and value as judged by its most important stakeholder — the American public. With local independent stations rooted in communities across the country, public media is unrivalled in its commitment to optimize the power and potential of media to strengthen our democracy, build stronger communities and improve lives.
Recent national studies confirm that PBS is (visit this link for source and full details):
- #1 in public trust
- An "excellent" use of tax dollars
- The most fair network
- The #1 educational TV/media brand, for PBS KIDS
- The safest on-air and online destination, for PBS KIDS
Four Decades of Innovation from PBS
2011 PBS LearningMedia launches as a next generation digital education service, delivering unprecedented access to a robust, world-class library and available free to all preK-16 classrooms.
2010 PBS initiatives support the growth of public media on digital platforms – from auto-localization of pbs.org to APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that facilitate digital distribution of content.
2009 PBS video players launch on pbs.org, offering hundreds of full-length programs free of charge for general audiences, preschoolers and older children.
2008 PBS is the first television broadcast system to implement file-based digital content distribution, improving efficiency and quality.
2002 PBS.org becomes the most trafficked dot-org website in the world.
1998 PBS becomes the first national broadcaster to distribute HD programming to member stations for broadcast.
1996 PBS inaugurates the first all-digital TV broadcast facility in the U.S.
1995 PBS becomes one of the first major broadcasters to launch a website.
1990 PBS launches Descriptive Video Service for blind and visually impaired viewers.
1975 Public television station WTTW in Chicago, in the PBS series Soundstage, becomes one of the first stations to use stereo television.
1975 PBS launches the first satellite interconnection system.
1972 PBS pioneers closed captioning for hearing-impaired viewers.
July 2012
