Posted on 09/23/2003 6:45:45 AM PDT by bedolido
Unsatisfied with its $390 million annual grant from Congress, PBS has begun interrupting Sesame Street reruns and documentaries on Armenian culture to continue its relentless pursuit for private donations. This year's efforts have been particularly intense, given the cost of complying with the Federal Communications Commission's requirement that stations convert to a digital broadcasting format. Congress provided an additional $48.7 million to aid that transition, but public broadcasting officials have estimated the conversion's total price tag at nearly $1.7 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunspot.net ...
Even if they are the products of the socialist ba*tards at PBS, they often represent the best of what TV can accomplish.
Flame away, but PBS does a better job presenting non commercial science, documentary and purely educational TV than any for profit network - even though it's run by Godless commies.
In some parts of Canada, PBS actually does a better job of presenting regional programming than our so-called public broadcaster, the CBC, as this 2000 Fraser Institute article will attest.
In a recent pledge drive, the PBS affiliate station KSPS in Spokane, Washington boasted that 50 percent of its non-government income comes from Alberta. (The station receives only 18 percent in federal grants; 82 percent is from private funders). Lest anyone argue that Albertan’s are overly generous when it comes to public broadcasting, a 1996 Angus Reid poll found that Albertans supported cutbacks to the CBC by a 2 to 1 margin. Further, only 22 percent of Albertans thought that the 1996 round of cuts went too far, while 21 percent said the CBC should be cut even further. This was the highest support for cuts to CBC in the country.
The PBS affiliate in Spokane has a number of programs that cater to the Alberta audience. They have a program called “Northwest Profiles” which “explores the four states and two Canadian provinces that make up the KSPS neighbourhood, discovering where to be and who to see... with Public Television.” In addition to the regular feature that often highlights Alberta and British Columbia, PBS offered four specials directed to Canadian audiences. The program “Over Canada... explores the changing seasons of many remote Canadian areas [which] are filmed and set to the music of some of the country’s most popular artists.” There are two series on the main cities in Alberta, “Remembering Calgary” and “Remembering Edmonton,” which “explore the history of the cities through films, photographs and memorabilia.” In addition, there is the program “Spirit of Alberta,” which “explores the scenery, landmarks, and towns that make Alberta what it is.”
A search of CBC’s programming website uncovered no Alberta-centred programming. There were no programs that were based in Alberta that were broadcast to the nation on a regular basis. Indeed, outside of local news, there were no Alberta-based programs aired in Alberta. Moreover, the CBC had no specials on Alberta on its programming schedule.
While Calgarians can receive local news coverage from CBC, it appears that very few Calgarians actually tune into the public broadcaster’s newscast. In the last three of Broadcast Bureau of Measurement’s “Top 20” lists for Calgary, the only CBC programs that made the list were the 1998 CFL Grey Cup game which Calgary won, and Hockey Night in Canada. No other CBC program was among the top 20 programs watched in Calgary, not even the local or national news. In contrast, the private local newscast from CFCN station is regularly among the top 10, and is often in first place.
Within CBC’s national newscasts, Albertans are poorly represented. In a 1996 study of the news agenda on CBC, we found that CBC’s news coverage of central Canada is more likely to be concerned with serious matters, whereas the news from Western Canada tends to be more sensational. In general, politics dominate the news agenda in Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritime provinces, while the news from BC and the Prairies emphasizes crime and catastrophes.
The PBS programs on Alberta provide affectionate looks at the region’s frontier past. On the other hand, CBC’s current news and public affairs programming emphasizes a “Wild West” image of the region. Rather than evoking the tradition of self-reliant homesteading in the province, CBC’s current affairs coverage reports on crime and catastrophes. While half of CBC’s attention to Ontario focused on politics or economics, just 37 percent of the broadcaster’s coverage of Alberta focused on these issues. Moreover, while CBC’s attention to crime in Ontario amounted to 12 percent of the that province’s coverage, 17 percent of Alberta’s coverage was on crime. This, despite the fact that Ontario has a higher crime rate than Alberta.
In contrast, CBC had five programs that originated in Atlantic Canada. Three of the programs are seen nationally, the teen show “Street Cents,” the comedy “This Hour has 22 Minutes,” and the children’s program “Theodore Tugboat.” In addition, the Atlantic provinces have regionally broadcast programs, including “Land and Sea,” and “In the Garden.” In case anyone believes that programming and support for CBC are unrelated, they need look no further than the Angus Reid poll mentioned above. In it, the strongest opposition to CBC cuts was found in Atlantic Canada, where 55 percent were opposed (25 percent strongly).
What is probably most ironic about the comparison of PBS and CBC coverage is that CBC is mandated by the 1991 Broadcast Act to provide Canadian regional programming. Section 3(1)(m) (ii) demands that CBC “reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions.” Despite the regulations requiring that it provide such service, CBC’s television programming is woefully inadequate in this respect. In contrast, PBS, which has no such mandate, but which does need to obtain funding from its viewers, provides at least some acknowledgement of the region. In this case, the market satisfies the goals of the Broadcast Act much more effectively than does government regulation.
That some PBS programming caters to Albertan audiences reflects the network’s high regard for Alberta viewers. That CBC provides no Alberta-focused programming reflects that network’s low regard for Alberta viewers. Although PBS is a public broadcaster, it requires voluntary contributions from its viewers, which means that it takes viewers’ interests into consideration when making its programming decisions. At the same time, CBC is funded primarily by involuntary tax dollars, which enables it to ignore the interests and needs of Albertans.
I do not mean this as a flame, but PBS is commercial TV. PBS airs just as many commercials as any other network. True, for now, PBS commercials are shorter in duration, but that too will change.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
LOL, yah, DirecTV Plus with sports, HBO/Starz. I get right around 1,000,000 channels, give or take a few.
Most are total cr*p. It's excruciatingly simple, on any give night, to find *NOTHING* on except Trading Spaces, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
I don't watch PBS much, but shows like Nova and Frontline, specifically, can be stunningly well done, unlike some of the fare on, for example, the Biography Channel, or Discovery Times.
If *my* tax dollars are involved, I'd rather they go to producing in depth educational and documentary programming, than funding needle exchanges or sending illegal aliens to Stanford.
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