REIMAGINING DOCUMENTARY STORYTELLING AND EXPANDING CONTENT AND PREMIERES ACROSS THE FORM
March 26 Launch Includes the Premiere of Independent Lens Feature "The Inquisitor”
(SAN FRANCISCO) March 26, 2026 - PBS and ITVS, the award-winning co-producer of independent documentary films and the PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS, announced today the launch of the new PBS DOCUMENTARIES YouTube channel. The channel will debut an expansive, diverse collection of documentaries across all forms of nonfiction storytelling. The launch is part of a broader effort to serve public audiences through increased accessibility, while building a centralized, scalable hub that elevates PBS’s nonfiction content, features the best in feature-length independent film, and strengthens the public media system for the future.
A core mission of the partnership for PBS DOCUMENTARIES is to amplify storytelling from PBS stations, production partners, and independent filmmakers nationwide, spotlighting local communities with national resonance. PBS DOCUMENTARIES is planning to release over 100 new videos yearly with expanded content that includes feature documentary storytelling and short docs from brands and trusted filmmakers like INDEPENDENT LENS, POV, BBC Studios, REEL SOUTH, and VOCES, science and history specials created for the PBS National Programming Schedule, as well as digital-first content from PBS Digital Studios. PBS, ITVS, and its stations have amassed more than two billion views on YouTube just in 2025 alone. PBS DOCUMENTARIES reflects a shared they are. It will also create an important new platform for documentary expanded opportunities for storytellers.
The channel launch debuts with the YouTube premiere of the INDEPENDENT LENS documentary "The Inquisitor." Directed by the EmmyⓇ Award-nominated filmmaker Angela Lynn Tucker, "The Inquisitor" highlights the legacy of groundbreaking Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan, unraveling how her public influence shaped U.S. politics, while exploring the complexities of her hidden personal identity. Following on March 30, INDEPENDENT LENS’s "Keep Quiet and Forgive" directed by Sarah McClure will premiere on the channel. The film follows an Amish child sexual assault survivor who breaks her silence, igniting a nationwide movement of Amish survivors seeking justice and reform.
In April, PBS DOCUMENTARIES will release three premieres alongside their broadcast debuts. OUR NEW WORLD (April 1), a two-part documentary series from Boréales and Terra Mater Studio GmbH explores nature's astonishing adaptive abilities and how humans can support them. With "The Tallest Dwarf" (April 6), filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman searches to find her place within the little people community, exploring dwarfism within her own family and the diverse experiences of other little people. And behind the Kentucky Derby's glamour, "Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing" (April 13) paints an intimate portrait of the unseen “groom” workers that sustain the elite horse-racing industry, showing how wealth, class, and race come together in the United States.
On May 6, "Life on Earth: Attenborough's Greatest Adventure," a BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC and PBS, will be released on PBS DOCUMENTARIES. The film reveals the little-known story of David Attenborough's greatest undertaking: a three-year, hair-raising odyssey around the world, traveling to 40 countries across a million miles, to film over 600 species, resulting in a new kind of blockbuster series—LIFE ON EARTH. And on May 11, Suzannah Herbert’s critically-acclaimed "Natchez" will premiere alongside its broadcast debut on INDEPENDENT LENS. The film captures the clash between history and memory through a small Mississippi town reliant on antebellum tourism to survive, exploring who has the right to share America’s story.
Other titles coming to PBS DOCUMENTARIES this spring include encore episodes of NATIVE AMERICA and POV documentary shorts "Chasing Time" and "Songs of Black Folk." The hit PBS Digital Studios series RITUAL from Louisiana Public Broadcasting and INDEPENDENT LENS will return for a second season, highlighting historic cultural topics while uncovering rituals hidden in tradition. The immersive journey is hosted by Tarriona “Tank” Ball, with additional content to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
"PBS and our member stations are America's home for documentary storytelling. This channel gives us the opportunity to meet new audiences where they already are and bring them into a deeper relationship with the extraordinary work our stations and partners produce," said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. "ITVS and INDEPENDENT LENS have long shared our commitment to highlighting a range of independent voices. Together, we are building something that strengthens the entire public media system and creates more opportunities for the American people to access our documentary programs."
“PBS remains one of the most trusted institutions in America, and documentaries are a cornerstone of its commitment to civic engagement," said ITVS President and CEO Carrie Lozano. “Through this partnership, we’re thrilled to expand our shared public-service mission into digital spaces to reach new audiences.”
PBS and PBS Digital Studios provide a wide variety of digital programming on YouTube. Its themed channels include PBS DOCUMENTARIES, PBS FOOD, PBS TERRA (science and nature), PBS ORIGINS (history), and PBS STORIED (arts and humanities). PBS DOCUMENTARIES will replace PBS VOICES, becoming the new home for the original documentary series SUBCULTURED, PRIDELAND, and RITUAL. This channel will continue to serve PBS VOICES’ primary audience, ages 18 to 45, while expanding its documentary offering.
PBS DOCUMENTARIES can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@pbsdocumentaries.
About PBS Digital Studios
PBS Digital Studiosproduces original, digital programming designed to engage, enlighten, and entertain online audiences. The PBS Digital Studios network has more than 35 million subscribers on YouTube, generating an average of 50 million views each month. Since 2012, it has launched over 120 original series and has accumulated over five billion lifetime views on YouTube. Series include the Webby Award-winning BE SMARTand SOUND FIELD, as well as popular series such as WEATHERED, EONS, MONSTRUMand SPACE TIME. For more information on PBS Digital Studios, visit PBS.org.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, 16 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, 56 million viewers on YouTube, and 10 million followers on social media, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature, and public affairs and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. As the number one educational media brand, PBS KIDShelps children ages 2 to 8 build critical skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality content on TV—including a PBS KIDS channel—and streaming free onpbskids.organd the PBS KIDS Video app, games on the PBS KIDS Games app, and in communities across America. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS LearningMediafor digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, Facebook, Instagram, or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroomor by following PBS Communications on X.
About ITVS
Independent Television Service (ITVS) is the largest co-producer of independent documentaries in the United States. For more than 30 years the San Francisco nonprofit has funded and partnered with documentary filmmakers to produce and distribute untold stories. ITVS incubates and co-produces these award-winning titles and premieres them on our Emmy Award-winning PBS series, INDEPENDENT LENS. ITVS titles appear on PBS, WORLD, NETA, and can be streamed on various digital platforms including the PBS app. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Park Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation. For more information, visit itvs.org.
About Independent Lens
INDEPENDENT LENS is an award-winning documentary series that fosters understanding, seeks to build empathy, and encourages a more united society. Produced by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS documentaries have premiered on PBS for 25 years and streamed on YouTube, helping Americans foster deeper connections between communities and themselves. From the Oscar-nominated "I Am Not Your Negro" to the Peabody-acclaimed docuseries "Philly D.A." and the Emmy Award-winning "The Invisible War," INDEPENDENT LENS provides viewers with in-depth, nuanced storytelling reflecting the experiences of people from a variety of voices and communities. Funding is provided by the Action Circle for Independent Lens with major funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Acton Family Giving, Ford Foundation, and Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, with additional support from Artemis Rising Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Park Foundation, Brandt Jackson Foundation, the deNovo Initiative, and RandomGood Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Stream anytime on the PBS app or YouTube. Learn more at pbs.org/independentlens.
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