Is PBS Relevant?
One of the most difficult aspects of caring for an ailing elder parent is getting their shattered financial affairs in order. As I try to pay down my mom’s Past Due accounts I find that there’s no comfort zone to speak of; the moment I think I have everything paid off — bam! — the mailman delivers a surprise.
Today’s unpleasant surprise was a solicitation from the local PBS affiliate. It turns out that mom has been making regular donations; in fact, she has an “annual membership” with PBS Las Vegas. Okay. Fine. But first of all, she doesn’t even watch public broadcasting. She’s addicted — and I mean addicted — to Court TV.
Don’t get me wrong. I love PBS. I grew up with their programming. As a teen PBS introduced me to Monty Python’s Flying Circus and repeat broadcasts of The Ernie Kovacs Show. In my later years I have greatly enjoyed the Masterpiece Theater imports — my favorite being the magnificent Foyle’s War – and the American Masters series. But is the Corporation For Public Broadcasting even relevant today?
There was a time when PBS filled a void in television programming. But today? You want wildlife documentaries? Go to the National Geographic Channel or Animal Planet. Educational programing? It’s all over the channel line-up: Discovery, The Travel Channel, History Channel. We have 24-hour channels devoted to cooking, gardening, children’s programming, politics.
So, I ask you: Who the hell needs PBS in the 21st century?
March 13, 2008 at 12:21 pm
So, I ask you: Who the hell needs PBS in the 21st century?
Il Divo?
March 13, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Sesame Street? Although I honestly can’t imagine that there aren’t several cable networks out there who wouldn’t carry them.
March 13, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Sesame Street is a perennial but we don’t need to keep an entire outdated broadcasting network alive, with public donations (From Viewers Like You) to have Sesame Street.
March 13, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Good luck with your mom. I think about you often.
…
March 13, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Thanks, K.
March 13, 2008 at 7:54 pm
me!
For 15 years I haven’t had cable. Zero TV. So, I get two channels. KCET, out of LA and the local channel.
It’s kind of Huell H. redux around here, I swear. And great documentaries, now and again.
oh, Rodg. I know how it is with your mom, sort of. In the last few years, it was all about taking care of our parents to the end.
Like Kitty, ditto.
March 14, 2008 at 6:46 pm
My grandparents. Never had cable, satellite or even a VCR for that matter. My grandfather is the most intelligent man I’ve ever know - can talk any topic to death with clear certainty. All from PBS and a lifetime subscription to National Geographic magazine.
Pay the bill.
March 14, 2008 at 8:16 pm
So you’re positing, Jill, that PBS has nostalgic value and should hence be kept on public life support?
March 15, 2008 at 5:23 am
No, Roger. I’m saying there are people out there that watch it every day, still counting on all those programs that regular stations don’t offer. My grandparents, to this very day…
March 15, 2008 at 9:43 am
On April 7, 2009, the switch from free analog TV to digital transmission will be completed. Millions of rabbit-ear antenna users will receive nothing but static on their TV sets unless they buy a new digital television or set-top converter boxes to keep getting signals, rendering the entire “free” or “public” TV model obsolete.
Don’t get me wrong, Jill. I love PBS. But their role in contemporary broadcasting, their value as a useful tool for alternative programming of lasting cultural value, has been severely diminished and undermined.
In the past, PBS “pledge drives” operated on the dire warnings that if viewers did not send pledges to support programming, well, “valuable” shows like “Nature” or “Nova” would have to be axed. Not a threat anymore. If PBS axes “Nature”, I’ll just take my thirst for nature documentaries to The National Geographic Channel. Got a hankering for some space exploration news? NASA has their own 24-hour channel.
PBS is about as relevant today as Edward R. Murrow or Captain Kangaroo, an important chapter in the history of television broadcasting that has lingered too long at the dance.
That’s just my opinion.
March 17, 2008 at 1:39 am
Life was better when there were only 13 channels.
Because people watched things together, and looked forward to PBS or Movie of the Week or?
My TVs are boxes I watch DVD movies on now, and it’s because of the programs.
I thought about getting that satellite TV thing, but picking out movies is better…
I know, retro, winnie the pooh and all that.
Rotary phones. An idea whose time has come, redux. It would be glam.
People would talk not text. There would be conversations and no possible “colony collapse disorder” from the signals things are exuding, and…
Oh well. I’m a green what can I say? Deep Blue Green but not Vegan.
Also, fiberoptics is a two way street. We have now entered the era Aldous Huxley and George Orwell imagined once. Wow. Brave New World.
March 17, 2008 at 7:44 am
Viva Huxley, Val, viva Huxley.