Free Republic

PBS Facing CrisisInfighting, Low Ratings, Lack of Hits Put Added Pressure on Public TV By John MotavalliSpecial to TelevisionWeek It once was the only place to go for high-quality television programming. There are still many good shows on the Public Broadcasting System, but viewers now have numerous other choices, especially those who have cable TV, and PBS has experienced years of slow but steady audience erosion. Now, after a decade of failed efforts to reverse the tide and rescue the system, PBS is in crisis mode. America's public television service is beset from within and without, facing defections from...

HOLLYWOOD -- Anyone watching Fox's new primetime sudser "The OC" would think Orange County is chock-a-block with fabulous beach houses, big cars and beautiful young people. But it's also the only county in the country that is on the verge of having to sell off its cash-strapped public broadcasting station to the highest bidder. It may not be the last. There are some 350 public service broadcast licenses scattered around the country, and it's arguable that joint operations in larger markets where there are signal and audience overlap might be a wise course for some of these perennially penny-pinched outlets....