Inside PBS Blog

In the midst of rapidly changing technology and an equally changing society, Congress passed legislation that created an institution to harness the power of television and radio for the purpose of enriching lives.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law on November 7, 1967. In addition to providing support for broadcast stations and producers making educational programming, the act created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. When signing the act into law, President Johnson said, "The Corporation will assist stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good music, in broadcasting exciting plays, and in broadcasting reports on the whole fascinating range of human activity. It will try to prove that what educates can also be exciting."

Educational television stations and programming were operating around the country prior to this legislation -- the first educational television station in the U.S. was founded at the University of Iowa as early as 1933. In creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting Act made a path for networks of educational stations to come together as the Public Broadcasting Service.

The birth of PBS in 1969 formalized an alliance among the nation's educational networks and stations. (Today, PBS boasts 356 member stations serving communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.) Local stations were able to strengthen their programming by pooling resources and supporting a national stream of television programming. PBS shows like NOVA and The Newshour with Jim Lehrer might not be possible if not for local stations uniting to produce these shows.

As PBS approaches its 40th birthday in 2009, some of the people who were there at its founding are still actively engaged in public broadcasting. For example, Bill Moyers (of Bill Moyers Journal) was a legislative aide in the Lyndon Johnson administration when the Public Broadcasting Act was written. Moyers helped write the legislation as a young White House staff member. And the same year that PBS began operating, a company called the Children's Television Workshop premiered a little show called Sesame Street. Wayne Godwin, PBS'chief operating officer, remembers working at public television and radio stations when PBS was in its infancy.

What are you memories of PBS? Do you remember when the Public Broadcasting Act was signed in 1967? What were your first experiences with PBS? And what are your hopes for its future?