GEOFF BENNETT: An historic bicentennial anniversary is upon us.

The humble pint is now 200 years old.

That staple measurement of bar life was first introduced back in 1824 to placate British drinkers who claimed taverns were cheating them of precious ale.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, now those taverns, the public houses, are facing a crisis.

What happens when the public no longer heads to the pub?

From Southern England, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant bellies up to the bar.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Heritage in motion.

Happy 200th birthday to the pint, a humble measure that helped put the great in Britain.

You Americans also have the pint.

As you all know, size matters, and ours is 20 percent bigger than yours.

But the institution that has lubricated the nation for centuries is facing an existential crisis.

The pub has become an endangered species.

ROB HOLDWAY, Environmental Consultant: The pub is very important, not only architecturally.

This is over 100 years old, this pub, but it's also important, like, to bring people together.

We're all equal in here.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Rob Holdway is an environmental consultant.

ROB HOLDWAY: So you get everybody from heart surgeons right the way down to people who clear rubbish.

But we're all equal, so we all socialize and we have a good time.

And this is all predicated on a good landlord.

Steve Platel's gastro pub is confronting a perfect storm.

Britons lost the pint habit during COVID lockdowns and restrictions.

STEVE PLATEL, Landlord, Station Hotel Brighton: We're just waiting to see what the next disaster is, really.

It's -- it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Post-COVID, drinkers haven't returned.

Rising prices for life's essentials have made most people poorer.

STEVE PLATEL: If it carries on the way it is, only the strong pubs will stay, and all the rest will just fall by the wayside.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Seventy miles away, the King George V has expired after providing merriment for more than 300 years.

Once a brothel, then a naval officers mess in Napoleonic times, John Brice's glorious pub in a former garrison town may be lost forever.

JOHN BRICE, Landlord, King George V Pub: I used to come here when it was really busy and you would meet all these soldiers and sailors and hear lots of wonderful stories.

And so, to me, this was a great place to come and chat and meet people and have a drink as well, of course.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The pub is for sale, and Brice hopes the next owners can revive it, against the odds.

JOHN BRICE: After COVID, people haven't got used to going into the back street, the local pub anymore.

When they close, they're not reopening, and I think that's the greatest loss to British society, to people meeting, chatting, talking to each other.

Society is changing.

And I think we're losing that personal touch we will never get back again.

MALCOLM BRABANT: So just how bad is it?

How many others are facing the last call?

The numbers are sobering.

According to Britain's Campaign for Real Ale, 1,300 pubs closed last year.

That's a rate of virtually four every single day.

Three out of four pubs failed to make a profit, 20,000 jobs were lost, and 64 million fewer points were poured.

This pub is proof that resurrection is possible.

It was closed for five years, but, nine years ago, the residents of one of Brighton's poorest districts revived it with events like these, when families can get a free meal once a week.

Gemma Etheridge is the operations manager.

GEMMA ETHERIDGE, Operations Manager, The Bevy: It's massively important.

And I think it does make a big difference, especially with cost of living crisis and shopping prices going up and everything.

It's so important that families get to socialize, they get a meal for their children that saves them buying a meal for the evening.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The pub is a godsend for mother of three Taylor Heather.

TAYLOR HEATHER, Pub Customer: We're here every single week.

Every time that it's on, we're always here.

We don't have to worry about what we need or what to have.

And the kids love it.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Although the pub claims it has the cheapest pints in the city, it struggles to break even and relies on government subsidies for its charitable work.

WARREN CARTER, Pub Committee Chairman: We are here for the community's benefit.

We're not here to make a profit, which is just as well, because we never do.

People call it family.

They're not the sort of family you would want around for Christmas dinner, but you get to know people and you can help them out.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Warren Carter leads the committee that runs the pub.

WARREN CARTER: This government has just screwed pubs with tax and everything, makes it impossible, and then, when you're hit by our bills.

Gas and electric double, tripled.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Appeals to the government to reduce the tax burden on pubs resonate across the country and especially with Steve Platel.

STEVE PLATEL: Everyone says, we love the great British pub, we don't want it to go.

But you need to support with your feet.

It's not -- it's one good thing saying we want the British pub to still be here, but if you don't go to it, eventually, they will start disappearing.

ROB HOLDWAY: People take the pub for granted, and they underestimate the importance to the local community.

That's definitely true, and bringing people together, and that sort of like release that you get from having a good pint, a good,quality meal, and just basically enjoying yourself.

It's a good -- it's a very important part of society, just like the church is for some people as well.

MALCOLM BRABANT: But pub life is not the religion it once was in Britain.

And no matter how hard they work, landlords face a potentially bitter future.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Southern England.