Does Anyone Watch PBS?

Jump to Last Post 1-8 of 8 discussions (17 posts)
  1. kathyinmn profile image60
    kathyinmnposted 11 years ago

    With the government planning to cut back on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) if they get in, I was wondering how many of us watch PBS? Not all of have children, and not all children like the PBS children’s programming. 

    PBS dose have some interesting adult programming such as Nova, Antiques Road Show, Masterpiece, and some sitcoms they run such as in the past was “As Time Goes By”, (I loved that) now they are showing “Call the Midwife” . Masterpiece Classics has had some awesome programs on it Just one that I adore and wish I could afford to buy is “Cranford”, ah well, maybe someday.
     
    Do you watch PBS? If so, what do you watch?

    1. psycheskinner profile image83
      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Sure.  I watch a lot of the history shows to learn more about the US (as an immigrant).  I also watch the music concerts and the British comedies.

    2. jponiato profile image88
      jponiatoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "The Red Green Show."

    3. twosheds1 profile image60
      twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I watch it frequently. Frontline is without doubt the best show of its kind in TV history, and I watch it regularly. I also watch Nova, Downton Abbey and Sherlock. Ken Burns' documentaries (e.g. The Civil War) aired on PBS as well. I think, though, they aim a lot of their programming towards older folks (my local PBS station still shows the Lawrence Welk show!). They need to aim more programming at younger groups to maintain their relevance.

      1. eternals3ptember profile image60
        eternals3ptemberposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Frontline, well said twosheds

    4. profile image0
      Peelander Gallyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      PBS is more interesting to me than popular sitcoms or shows like Dancing With the Stars any day of the week, and I'm young. I grew up with already-dated Britcoms like Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served? and Chef! and wish they were on Netflix. More recent favourites include Independent Lens, Antiques Roadshow, Nature, Nova, etc.

      People and corporations should be and are responsible for most of the funding, but what the government provides is pretty inconsequential. The fact that there's even a debate about it just proves how effectively politicians and lobbyists are able to distract people from real issues.

  2. Backwater Sage profile image58
    Backwater Sageposted 11 years ago

    I love PBS. It is good that the government subsidizes it a little, but they don't carry the load. Most of the funding is private from individuals, corporations and organizations . . . the "Puplic". Brace up, the government is going broke. There is no way around it, take a clue.

    Like every other aspect of life, we, the public need to step up and shoulder the load. We have to watch out for each other, and work together. Times will be tough. Don't be cry babies. Forget the government.

    http://youtu.be/oXo6G5mfmro

    1. psycheskinner profile image83
      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      280 million,which is--depending on how you count is 12-19% of the budget, is probably the difference between being able to operate and not being able to operate.

  3. Uninvited Writer profile image80
    Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

    I do watch PBS. And I'm in Canada. American Experience is one of the best documentary series' ever, I have learned so much from watching that show.

    The entire amount given to PBS is used up by the Pentagon in 6 hours. Being in a country where some networks are subsidized by the government I don't see the big deal. And PBS offers so much more. The first round of cutbacks in I think the 1980s changed some of the programming on PBS, and brought in more pledge drives. But it still has some amazing shows... and of course Britcoms and Wallander...

  4. profile image0
    spopovitchposted 11 years ago

    i used to watch PBS all the time in the 90's when i was a child and i still love PBS and i cant believe this so called goverment is going to do something like this, PBS is the best.

  5. classicalgeek profile image80
    classicalgeekposted 11 years ago

    I watch PBS many hours each week: Nova, occasionally Nature, all the mysteries, costume dramas, home repair shows, comedies, the history shows, and many sewing and cooking shows.

    PBS is my major source of learning to cook, sew, and do stuff around the house. I even got inspired to attempt to learn to pull sugar, from watching one of the independent films!

  6. kathyinmn profile image60
    kathyinmnposted 11 years ago

    I watched PBS for years and when I could aford it, I did give to PBS.

    Yes we may have to carry the load a little more, but we get so much wonderful programing. PBS will not die just becouse the goverment will be cutting back.

    Keep watching and keep enjoying it.

  7. kathleenkat profile image82
    kathleenkatposted 11 years ago

    Not all of us have TVs and cable, either.

    And what percentage of people that do actually watch PBS? IMO the government shouldn't be paying for something that only reaches a small portion of the population. Public radio is great, as everyone can tune in in one way or another. Cars, cell phones, internet, mp3 players...boom boxes come cheap nowadays. Even if you don't have one of those, you can undoubtedly find a friend or an establishment that listens to the radio.

    1. profile image0
      Peelander Gallyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Most people have TV's. Educational programming on PBS reaches a lot of kids who are too poor for cable, as was my case.

      1. kathleenkat profile image82
        kathleenkatposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Most people have TVs? And what percentage of these 'most people' have children? And what percentage of these people with children will put on PBS?

        The loss of PBS being detrimental to poor children? It would be nice if people didn't rely on TV to educate their kids, but that's a completely different issue.

        1. classicalgeek profile image80
          classicalgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          It's not just children who benefit. Think of all the people on SNAP who buy junk because they don't know how to cook. PBS provides instruction on cooking and it's free over the air and on the internet. In the same way, PBS also provides instruction on home maintenance and repair, as well as stunning documentaries on history, current events, literature, music, and many other subjects. Even their dramas teach history, and face it, we'd all be poorer for never having experienced Monty Python.

  8. aware profile image69
    awareposted 11 years ago

    loves PBS
    the roadshow
    nova
      the news hour

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)