Programming pioneers. In the past and today, PBS is home to path-breaking creators and shows.
In 1970, our first broadcast, THE FRENCH CHEF, was one of America’s first cooking shows and set the stage for modern favorites like AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN and HOMEMADE LIVE!
From our start, educational children’s programming has been a cornerstone of programming. This includes SESAME STREET (America’s longest running children’s program), MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD (which inspired DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and DONKEY HODIE), READING RAINBOW, and WISHBONE.
Our KIDS programming is still breaking barriers, including CARL THE COLLECTOR, the first PBS KIDS series centering on an autistic main character.
We have long been a place for meaningful debate across the political spectrum.
PBS NEWS HOUR traces its roots back to daily news programs by Robert MacNeiland Jim Lehrer that first aired on PBS in 1975.
FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER started in 1966 under the same name and was hosted by William F. Buckley Jr.
FRONTLINE first aired in 1983 and has won multiple awards for reporting on topics of the day from terrorism to concussions in major league sports.
We have been the home of some of the most compelling science series ever broadcast. These include NOVA (first aired in 1974), COSMOS: A PERSONAL JOURNEY (1980), and NATURE (1982).
MASTERPIECE has been home to some of the most celebrated anthology series since 1971. These include SHERLOCK, DOWNTON ABBEY, WOLF HALL, ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, VICTORIA, and UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS.
PBS is synonymous with documentaries on American history.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE premiered in 1998 and has produced nearly 400 episodes about moments in our country’s history.
Ken Burns has produced dozens of documentary series proudly distributed by PBS. Programs that have helped all Americans better understand subjects from The Civil War to Mark Twain to baseball. In November 2025, PBS and Ken Burns will begin celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States with a six-part series titled THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
What we think of today as reality television began on PBS with AN AMERICAN FAMILY (1973). FRONTIER HOUSE(2002), COLONIAL HOUSE (2004), and TEXAS RANCH HOUSE (2006) furthered the genre using historical situations to heighten the drama.
And, we have been the home of countless long- running history and culture programs. These include ANTIQUES ROADSHOW (1997), AUSTIN CITY LIMITS (1976), GREAT PERFORMANCES (1972), and FINDING YOUR ROOTS (2012).
PBS is for every American. That’s why we reach every community in America.
58% of all U.S. television households (over 130 million people) tune into PBS member stations over the course of a year.
60% of our audience lives in rural communities.
Americans across the political spectrum watch PBS. Nearly two-thirds of our audience identifies as Republican or Independent (63%).
PBS is not for one political side or the other. It’s for everyone.
65% of Americans who voted for the current Administration say PBS is either underfunded or adequately funded. That’s because in reality, PBS and our member stations have programming that caters to viewers of all backgrounds and political affiliations across the nation.
For example, FIRING LINE with Margaret Hoover creates a forum for people with a wide range of views to respectfully share ideas.In recent years this has included Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, political pundit Bill O’Reilly, Senator Joni Ernst, Governor Chris Sununu, Secretary for the Interior Doug Burgum, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott, and many more.
In 2020, the White House provided grant funding for PBS’s Ready to Learn (RTL) Program to develop a collection of innovative early learning content – and it had incredibly successful results. (See appendix for results of several studies on this success.)
In 2025 and for the 22nd year in a row, Americans ranked PBS and our member stations as #1 in public trust among a consideration set that included commercial cable and broadcast television, newspapers, streaming services, and others.
PBS provides value to communities and families. In fact, 85% of Americans agree that PBS stations provide an excellent value to their local community.
PBS Member Stations are often the only independent, locally owned media in a community and they are responsible for creating content in communities that often get overlooked.
In Wyoming, that means a special on how miners grapple with their mental health.
In Iowa, it’s a documentary on the development of the tractorin the 20th century.
During major events such as the solar eclipse, PBS in Texas (KLRN) hosted a viewing party in partnership with community groups, the local community college, and NASA. More than 6,500 people showed up, including nearly 2,000 students.
PBS is available to families and caregivers for FREE.
PBS KIDS is available on your local PBS station, the PBS KIDS channel, the PBS KIDS Video app, mobile and connected-TV devices, the PBS KIDS YouTube channel, pbskids.org, and more (no subscription required).
PBS KIDS averages 364 million monthly streams across digital video platforms and more than 40 million games played on the PBS KIDS Games app monthly.
PBS takes a small federal investment to guarantee local programming and equal access.
For about $1.60 per person per year, public broadcasters provide free, non-commercial programming and essential local services that reach nearly all Americans. (See appendix for more on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s funding.)
This funding is also why some of PBS’s most cherished offerings are possible.
Documentaries thrive on PBS because we don’t rely on advertisers. Often being longer and less commercially profitable, we are able to provide a platform for programs that otherwise would not be aired free to the American public.
Some of the most significant costs for local member stations are infrastructure and production of local content and these would likely be most impacted, meaning less local content and jeopardizing stations’ ability to reach their viewers with that content, as well as critical information during emergencies.
Most of the funding for PBS goes to locally owned and operated Member Stations – many of which could not support their rural and underserved communities without it.
Without funding, many smaller stations in rural areas that rely on federal funding for a much larger portion of their budgets than the system average of 15% will not be able to operate.
Appendix
More about PBS’s Reach and Value
Each month, PBS reaches more than 36 million adults on linear primetime television.
Over the course of a year, PBS stations reach nearly 20 million Hispanic viewers, 19 million Black viewers, and over 7 million Asian viewers.
60% of our audience lives in rural communities.
PBS is viewed in 87% of non-internet homes and 56% of low-income homes.
PBS reaches more children and more children from low-income homes than any of the children’s TV networks in a year.
PBS offers extensive on-demand and online content.
There are more than 15 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, 53 million viewers on YouTube, and nearly 43 million impressions on social media accounts—and more than 16 million viewers watch videos on PBS’s sites and apps.
PBS KIDS videos average 13 million monthly video users, and more than 364 million monthly streams across digital video platforms each month.
PBS General Audience (non-PBS KIDS) content averaged nearly 17 million monthly streams across owned digital properties in the fourth quarter of 2024, and YouTube contributed an additional 284 million streams over the quarter.
It also found that RTL literacy materials were particularly effective at promoting children’s vocabulary and language, sound knowledge, and alphabet knowledge. (Hurwitz, 2018)
Preschool children living in low-income households learned critical science and engineering concepts and practices from THE CAT IN THE HAT media supportedby RTL.(EDC/SRI, 2019)
Parents and caregivers also showed greater comfort and confidence in supporting their children with math concepts and problem-solving strategies. (EDC/SRI, 2015)
More about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) Appropriation
More than 70% of the total appropriation goes directly to public TV and radio stations.
5% is for CPB’s operations.
6% is for things like programming royalties, music licensing, and other system support.
$32 million goes to the national programming schedule for a host of beloved educational shows distributed nationally by PBS and key producing stations.
The statute allocates some of the remaining funds(a relatively small amount) for independent producers, children’s educational programming, and other programming. PBS receives a portion of this.
