PBS / PBS HD Discussion...

8bitbytes

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Sep 8, 2003
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Carried over from a thread now closed...

Originally Posted by 8bitbytes

It can't do either.

If it came down to market forces to determine if PBS was on the air, it would go away rather quickly. It's only on because of tax dollars and funding by the rich who subscribe to its politics. Take both of those away and you may hear complaints but the ratings will be insufficient to keep it on the air and therefore those who loved it would lament the loss of such high quality programming but have no recourse.

Originally posted by GaryPen

Other than you being totally, completely, and unequivocally wrong, I would agree with you.

It is the donors and corporate underwriters that support it. And why do they do that? Because of the high quality of programming. And, because that quality brings in the dollars, it indeed stands on its own. (even if they don't produce crap like...oh...I dunno...Lost.)

If broadcast networks, or almost any number of national "cable" channels, were to rely solely on viewer financial support, how many do you think would actually stand on their own? I don't remember the last time I even watched ABC. I only watch NBC for two half hour sitcoms, and CBS for Letterman. Occasionally Fox when my wife forces me to watch Idol (against my will, I might add.) Otherwise, it's only a handful of "cable" channels and some HBO OnDemand.

Oh yeah, and a fair amount of PBS (HD OTA). Very few shows can compare to Nova, Nature, or Soundstage. Even the formerly educational Discovery channels have turned to crap with reality shows. And, now National Geographic is joining suit, calling themselves NatGeo. I guess Americans are just too dumb to pronounce "National Geographic" in its entirety?

One of the best, if not THE best, HD channels in existence is PBS HD. And, I think you find that I am not alone in that assessment.

Gary, rather than assume I'm attacking PBS, how about listening to what I said.

First of all, the funding(From the PBS website):
Funding for PBS programs comes from a variety of sources - member stations' dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, government agencies, foundations, corporations and private citizens.

Yes there are membership dues collected by local locations and those help pay the operating costs of each local station, the majority of what PBS broadcasts and its ability to do so comes from LARGE individual donations, corporations, and the government. Individuals donate for several reasons and high quality programming might be on that list but the quality is in the message, not the HD nature of the programming. Corporations donate mainly because it helps their community status and works well with their tax structures as well as occasionally benefiting from the message in some of the programming. Without the govt, who can say for sure whether PBS would survive - probably - but not as it exists today.

Secondly, the quality of the programming.
I wholeheartedly agree that there is programming on PBS that cannot be matched by other broadcast sources today in its technical and artistic quality as well as content. These values are and added reward for the support that is given by the multiple entities mentioned above gain from their donations but is not necessarily the primary reason for the support. The high quality nature of the HD broadcasts, while amazing and engaging, is not enough to keep PBS on the air. It wasn't enough to keep "the channels not to be mentioned" on the air either.

If the nature and quality of the shows on PBS was the primary reason funding was provided and why the network stayed on the air, you would see all the other networks imitating those shows. Sadly, they are not because Joe Sixpack controls the airwaves in that realm and would not miss PBS when it went away without the large, substantial donations from the govt, corporations, and foundations.
 
This really has nothing to do with Dish Network, nor Dish HD, so I am moving it to another area where it fits more properly. :)

Don't turn it into a flame fest.
 
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