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159-738: WNET (channel 13), branded Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN ), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey , United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educational Broadcasting Corporation and later as WNET.org), it is a sister station to the area's secondary PBS member, Garden City, New York –licensed WLIW (channel 21), and two class A stations: WMBQ-CD (channel 46), and WNDT-CD (channel 14, which shares spectrum with WNET). The WNET Group also operates New Jersey's PBS state network NJ PBS , and
318-423: A PBS Passport member benefit subscription. On July 1, 2016, Amazon Prime Video and PBS Distribution entered into a multi-year agreement which saw several PBS Kids series on other streaming services move to Amazon Prime Video. PBS Distribution partnered with MultiChoice to launch PBS KIDS on May 22, 2019, on DStv and GOtv subscription platforms across its Sub-Saharan Africa footprint. In mid-2021,
477-580: A natural monopoly . The FCC controlled telephone rates and imposed other restrictions under Title II to limit the profits of AT&T and ensure nondiscriminatory pricing. In the 1960s, the FCC began allowing other long-distance companies, namely MCI, to offer specialized services. In the 1970s, the FCC allowed other companies to expand offerings to the public. A lawsuit in 1982 led by the Justice Department after AT&T underpriced other companies, resulted in
636-590: A "chief" that is appointed by the chair of the commission. Bureaus process applications for licenses and other filings, analyze complaints, conduct investigations, develop and implement regulations, and participate in hearings . The FCC has twelve staff offices. The FCC's offices provide support services to the bureaus. The FCC leases space in the Sentinel Square III building in northeast Washington, D.C. Prior to moving to its new headquarters in October 2020,
795-523: A 2012 speech to 850 top executives from PBS stations, Senior Vice President of Digital Jason Seiken warned that PBS was in danger of being disrupted by YouTube studios such as Maker Studios . In the speech, later described as a "seminal moment" for public television, he laid out his vision for a new style of PBS digital video production. Station leadership rallied around his vision and Seiken formed PBS Digital Studios , which began producing educational but edgy videos, something Seiken called "PBS-quality with
954-764: A PBS Julia Child channel be added to Pluto TV in the United States. The channels "PBS Antiques Roadshow", "Julia Child", "Antiques Road Trip" and "PBS Nature" were added to a number of American FAST platforms in January 2023. Antiques Road Trip later became available in Australia. The channels "PBS Food" (in the United States) and "PBS History" (in the UK and Australia) launched on certain FAST platforms in late 2023. The channel "PBS Retro"
1113-608: A WNDT-NET merger. The newly formed Corporation for Public Broadcasting (created by an act of the United States Congress ) initially supported NET's network role, while providing government funding for programming. But that move was followed two years later by the establishment of the Public Broadcasting Service as the CPB's own distribution system—which was a direct threat to NET's territory. It has been intimated that
1272-446: A YouTube sensibility". The studio's first hit, an auto-tuned version of the theme from one of their most famous television programs, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood , was one of YouTube's 10 most viral videos of 2012. By 2013, monthly video views on PBS.org had risen from 2 million to a quarter-billion, PBS.org traffic had surpassed that of the CBS, NBC, and ABC web sites, PBSKids.org had become
1431-468: A billion dollars. Gibney was not invited to appear at the round-table and was quoted as saying, "Why is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors? And why did the station allow Koch to offer a critique of a film he hadn't even seen? Money. Money talks. They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no opportunity to defend it." Koch did not make the large donation to WNET and resigned from their board on May 16, 2013. In September 2013, WNET launched
1590-613: A commercial television station owned by Atlantic Television, a subsidiary of Bremer Broadcasting Corporation. Frank V. Bremer, the CEO, also owned two North Jersey radio stations, WAAT (970 AM) and WAAT-FM (94.7 MHz). The three stations were based in the Mosque Theatre at 1020 Broad Street in Newark. WATV was the first of three new stations in the New York City television market to sign on
1749-470: A decade. "One disputatious moment in a many-year history does not a conspiracy make," he declared. In April 2015, WNET relented and restored both strands to their original slots. In June 2015, a media furor forced WNET to postpone the third season of Finding Your Roots when the Sony Pictures hack revealed via hacked emails that a subject of the series, Ben Affleck , had lobbied for material relating to
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#17328546177511908-433: A distance education and how-to service operated between 2000 and 2006, and was largely succeeded by Create (a similarly formatted network owned by American Public Television). The 24-hour PBS Kids Channel has had two iterations in the age of digital television ; one which existed between 1999 and 2005 (being superseded by PBS Kids Sprout), and the current version which was launched in 2017. World began operations in 2007 as
2067-572: A facility in Manhattan to ETMA and NET to use as a studio. The FCC approved the transfer in October, and converted channel 13's commercial license to non-commercial. The outgoing New Jersey governor, Robert B. Meyner , addressing state lawmakers' concerns over continued programming specific to New Jersey, and fearing the FCC would move the channel 13 allocation to New York City, petitioned the United States courts of appeals on September 6, 1961, to block
2226-508: A few last-minute issues arose to cause further delays, the transfer became final on December 22. Later that evening, WNTA-TV signed off for the final time. ETMA and NET then went to work converting the station, which they said would return with its new educational format within three months. Ten months later, channel 13 was ready to be reborn under new call letters, WNDT (for "New Dimensions in Television"). With Edward R. Murrow —then director of
2385-570: A few manufacturers made sets with built-in UHF tuning. Even for those who could access UHF stations, reception was marginal even under the best conditions. With assistance from the University of the State of New York , ETMA had attempted to purchase channel 13 and convert it into a non-commercial station in 1957, when Bremer Broadcasting first put the station on the block; this bid was later withdrawn. This time ETMA
2544-680: A genre-based schedule (for example, drama series encompass the Sunday schedule, while science-related programs are featured on Wednesdays). PBS broadcasts children's programming under the PBS Kids branding as part of the service's (and including content supplied by other distributors not programmed by the service, its member stations') morning and afternoon schedule. As the children's programs it distributes are intended to educate as well as entertain its target audience, PBS and its stations have long been in compliance with educational programming guidelines set by
2703-463: A grant of $ 3.5 million from the Arnold Foundation, with a stated interest in 'public employee benefits reform', flunks PBS's own 'perception test', which is part of the service's Funding Standards and Practices." In late 2014, WNET programming chief Stephen Segaller received widespread criticism for proposing to push the multi award-winning documentary strands Independent Lens and POV out of
2862-438: A larger proportion of PBS-distributed programming to the primary member station, with the secondary members being allowed to carry a lesser number of program offerings from the service's schedule. Unlike public broadcasters in most other countries, PBS cannot own any of the stations that broadcasts its programming; therefore, it is one of the few television programming bodies that does not have any owned-and-operated stations . This
3021-432: A network could demand any time it wanted from a Network affiliate . The second concerned artist bureaus. The networks served as both agents and employers of artists, which was a conflict of interest the report rectified. In assigning television stations to various cities after World War II , the FCC found that it placed many stations too close to each other, resulting in interference. At the same time, it became clear that
3180-680: A new Federal Communications Commission, including in it also the telecommunications jurisdiction previously handled by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Title II of the Communications Act focused on telecommunications using many concepts borrowed from railroad legislation and Title III contained provisions very similar to the Radio Act of 1927 . The initial organization of the FCC was effected July 17, 1934, in three divisions, Broadcasting, Telegraph, and Telephone. Each division
3339-596: A newly installed digital transmission system, were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 . Gerard (Rod) Coppola, channel 13's head transmitter engineer, was among those who died when the north tower collapsed. His remains were discovered on December 25, 2001. For the next ten months, WNYE-TV, headquartered in Brooklyn , became WNET's surrogate transmitter and airwave: for those without cable, repeats of WNET's prime time schedule were broadcast on WNYE until Channel 13 could re-establish transmission facilities back at
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#17328546177513498-426: A prime time slot and onto a secondary station, WLIW (Channel 21). Over 2,000 documentarians signed a petition, stating that WNET's action would lead to the shows being marginalized by PBS affiliates nationwide and have a severe effect on cutting edge documentary filmmaking. Among the prominent opponents of rescheduling POV and Independent Lens were filmmakers Alex Gibney and Laura Poitras , who had campaigned against
3657-438: A program to ensure they honored all future federal grant requirements and agreeing to not receive $ 1,015,046 in federal grant money that was about to be awarded, WNET Vice President and General Counsel, Robert Feinberg, said to The New York Times : "This is not a scenario we want to repeat and we have no intention of repeating it." In November 2012, WNET was scheduled to air Alex Gibney 's film Park Avenue: Money, Power and
3816-451: A relative owning slaves be removed from the show. Those edits, which violated PBS ethics standards, brought strong criticism from the media to WNET and the producers of the show. PBS issued a statement saying "the series co-producers violated PBS standards by failing to shield the creative and editorial process from improper influence, and by failing to inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck's efforts to affect program content". The statement promised
3975-597: A schedule of programming with greater emphasis on the people and events of New Jersey, compared to the other commercial television stations. NTA also sought to make channel 13 the center of a new commercial network, though during its run the NTA Film Network offered only one night of "in-pattern" network programming, Friday nights in 1957–58, and for most purposes WNTA served as the New York showcase for nationally syndicated programming and produced several such entries, notably
4134-538: A series called The Pension Peril , examining the economic sustainability of public pensions and promoting cuts to their funding. On December 18, 2013, Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of WNET was quoted in a press release saying "this is the type of complex public policy story that only public television covers in an in-depth and ongoing way. WNET is poised to lead and further the dialogue about this challenging situation all across public media, on PBS, public radio, and online". On February 12, 2014 PandoDaily reported that
4293-551: A service operated by PBS but is now managed by American Public Television. PBS has also restructured its satellite feed system, simplifying HD02 (PBS West) into a timeshift feed for the Pacific Time Zone , rather than a high-definition complement to its formerly primary SD feed. PBS Kids Go! was proposed as a replacement broadcast network for the original 1999–2005 version of the PBS Kids Channel; however, plans to launch
4452-408: A set schedule of programming, particularly in regard to its prime time schedule, member stations reserve the right to schedule PBS-distributed programming in other time slots or not clear it at all if they choose to do so; few of the service's members carry all its programming. Most PBS stations timeshift some distributed programs. Once PBS accepts a program offered for distribution, PBS, rather than
4611-482: A similar move by WNET in 2012. TV producer Norman Lear wrote an op-ed in The New York Times accusing WNET and PBS of a ratings-chase that "could devastate independent documentary film making". He criticized the broadcaster for "threatening, for the second time in four years, to downgrade documentaries, which are at the heart of its public mission." Many of the subjects POV and Independent Lens covered – like
4770-410: A situation he found "perplexing". These efforts later were documented in a 2015 Harvard Case Study. In 2017, Christine Calvosa replaced Bray as the acting CIO of FCC. On January 4, 2023, the FCC voted unanimously to create a newly formed Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs within the agency, replacing the existing International Bureau. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel explained that
4929-544: A skeleton crew of engineers remaining during that time to keep the stations on the air; however, they, too, would have to go on furloughs at the start of 2010. In 2011, WNET moved its studios and offices to Worldwide Plaza. WNET has been broadcasting digital-only since June 12, 2009. On July 1, 2011, WNET took over the programming of New Jersey Network 's television stations, which were relaunched as NJTV (now NJ PBS ). The network features increased coverage of news and issues pertinent to New Jersey, as well as programming from
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5088-559: A source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism, and PBS strives to market a consistent national lineup. However, PBS has a policy of "common carriage", which requires most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common programming schedule to market them nationally more effectively. Management at former Los Angeles member KCET cited unresolvable financial and programming disputes among its major reasons for leaving PBS after over 40 years in January 2011, although it would return to PBS in 2019. Although PBS has
5247-581: A top building sign visible off the Richmond Highway . On August 4, 2020, the Amazon Prime Video platform added a "PBS Documentaries" package. As of that time it offered four separately-subscribable selections of PBS programming in the United States, "PBS Documentaries", "PBS Living" (also on Apple TV), "PBS Masterpiece" (also in Canada) and "PBS KIDS". In the UK, a "PBS America" documentaries package
5406-508: Is The Lawrence Welk Show , which has aired continuously in reruns on PBS (through the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority ) almost every weekend since 1986. Reruns of programs originally produced for public television are common, especially with former PBS shows whose hosts have retired or died (for example, The Joy of Painting and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ). Children's programming (such as Clifford
5565-478: Is NETA (formerly SECA), whose properties have included The Shapies and Jerry Yarnell School of Fine Art . In addition, the member stations themselves also produce a variety of local shows, some of which subsequently receive national distribution through PBS or other distributors. Rerun programming , especially domestic programming not originally produced for public television, is generally uncommon on PBS or its member stations. The most prominent exception to this
5724-571: Is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programs to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline , Nova , PBS News Hour , Masterpiece , Sesame Street , and This Old House . PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , pledge drives , and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. All proposed funding for programming
5883-474: Is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio , television , wire, satellite , and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access , fair competition , radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security . The FCC was formed by the Communications Act of 1934 to replace
6042-445: Is available on Amazon Prime Video. On September 3, 2020, PBS began to offer a livestream of their member stations for free via its website (as well as the websites from the member stations), on smart TVs, and on their mobile apps. However, only a small handful of stations currently do not have a livestream of their stations set up. Jefferson Graham of USA Today called it, "Arguably the best bargain in streaming". July 1, 2021 saw
6201-422: Is charged with the responsibility of programming local content such as news, interviews, cultural, and public affairs programs for its individual market or state that supplements content provided by PBS and other public television distributors. In a commercial broadcast television network structure, affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for carrying network programming, and
6360-540: Is funded entirely by regulatory fees. It has an estimated fiscal-2022 budget of US $ 388 million. It has 1,482 federal employees as of July 2020. The FCC's mission, specified in Section One of the Communications Act of 1934 and amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (amendment to 47 U.S.C. §151), is to "make available so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on
6519-546: Is not the only distributor of public television programming to the member stations. Other distributors have emerged from the roots of companies that maintained loosely held regional public television stations in the 1960s. Boston -based American Public Television (which, among other names, was formerly known as Eastern Educational Network and the American Program Service) is second only to PBS for distributing programs to U.S. non-commercial stations. Another distributor
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6678-625: Is one of the largest producers of educational television programming, including shows like American Experience , Arthur (with Canada-based CINAR ), Masterpiece Theatre , Nova , Antiques Roadshow and Frontline , as well as many other children's and lifestyle programs. News programs are produced by WETA-TV ( PBS News Hour ) in Washington, D.C. , WNET in New York City and WPBT in Miami . Newark, New Jersey/ New York City member WNET produces or distributes programs such as Secrets of
6837-534: Is partly due to the origins of the PBS stations themselves, and partly due to historical broadcast license issues. Most PBS member stations have produced at least some nationally distributed programs. Current regularly scheduled programming on the PBS national feed is produced by a smaller group of stations, including: PBS has spun off a number of television networks , often in partnership with other media companies. PBS YOU ,
6996-544: Is responsible for governing and setting policy for PBS, consisting of 27 members: 14 professional directors (station managers), 12 general directors (outside directors), and the PBS president. All PBS Board members serve three-year terms, without pay. PBS member stations elect the 14 professional directors; the board elects the 12 general directors and appoints the PBS president and CEO; and the entire board elects its officers. As of March 2015 , PBS maintains current memberships with 354 television stations encompassing 50 states,
7155-619: Is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source. PBS has over 350 member television stations , many owned by educational institutions , nonprofit groups both independent or affiliated with one particular local public school district or collegiate educational institution, or entities owned by or related to state government . PBS was established on November 3, 1969, by Hartford N. Gunn Jr. (president of WGBH ), John Macy (president of CPB ), James Day (last president of National Educational Television ), and Kenneth A. Christiansen (chairman of
7314-501: Is the only children's programming block on U.S. broadcast television. As PBS is often known for doing, PBS Kids has broadcast imported series from other countries; these include British series originally broadcast by the BBC and ITV . Through American Public Television, many PBS stations also began airing the Australian series Raggs on June 4, 2007. Some of the programs broadcast as part of
7473-686: The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by then-Senator Sam Brownback , a former broadcaster himself, and endorsed by Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan who authored a similar bill in the United States House of Representatives . The new law stiffens the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $ 325,000 for each violation by each station that violates decency standards. The legislation raised
7632-489: The FCC repack , WNET relocated from channel 13 to channel 12. WNET has produced, created and/or presented a number of PBS shows. This includes, but is not limited to: *indicates a program that was originally presented by Connecticut Public Television . **indicates a program that was originally presented by Maryland Public Television . WNET has also produced programming for public television stations distributed outside of
7791-637: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally allocated to the city, UHF channel 25, would not be nearly adequate enough to cover a market that stretched from Fairfield County, Connecticut , in the north to Ocean County, New Jersey , in the south. Prior to 1964, when the FCC required television manufacturers to include UHF tuners in newer sets as per the All-Channel Receiver Act passed in 1961, most viewers could not view UHF stations except with an expensive converter; only
7950-449: The Federal Communications Commission in response to the enactment of the Children's Television Act of 1990 . Many member stations have historically also broadcast distance education and other instructional television programs, typically during daytime slots; though with the advent of digital television, which has allowed stations to carry these programs on digital subchannels in lieu of
8109-559: The Ford Foundation to help keep the station running. NET originally wanted to merge its operations with WNDT, which would have given the station a direct line of funding as well as make channel 13 NET's flagship station. The Ford Foundation, which supported both groups, stopped the proposed mergers on at least two different occasions in 1962 and 1965. Events that began in 1967 led the Ford Foundation to change its stance and push for
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#17328546177518268-531: The Hudson Hotel at 237 West 58th Street in Manhattan, while retaining the Gateway Center studios for a few more years. In 1987, channel 13 celebrated its silver anniversary with a series of rebroadcasts of older programs titled Thirteen Revisited . In 1998, WNET moved to 450 West 33rd Street , straddling the railroad tracks going into Pennsylvania Station . Channel 13's transmitter facilities, including
8427-613: The United States Information Agency —as host of the maiden broadcast, ETMA—now the Educational Broadcasting Corporation—flipped the switch on September 16, 1962. The return of channel 13 as WNDT gave the New York City market its first educational station, and with a dial position on the coveted VHF band (in many other cities, including large ones, educational stations had to make do with UHF frequencies). New York's non-commercial UHF channel, on
8586-495: The United States Senate for five-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The U.S. president designates one of the commissioners to serve as chairman. No more than three commissioners may be members of the same political party . None of them may have a financial interest in any FCC-related business. Commissioners may continue serving until the appointment of their replacements. However, they may not serve beyond
8745-536: The Vietnam War , almost managed to cut NET's $ 20 million funding grant in half. This led both the Ford Foundation and the CPB to threaten NET with funding withdrawal in early 1970, unless it merged its operations with WNDT. Not long after, the Ford Foundation brokered the merger of WNDT and NET, which took effect on June 29, 1970. Channel 13's call sign was changed to the present WNET on October 1, 1970. NET ceased network operations three days later, with PBS taking over
8904-488: The breakup of the Bell System from AT&T. Beginning in 1984, the FCC implemented a new goal that all long-distance companies had equal access to the local phone companies' customers. Effective January 1, 1984, the Bell System's many member-companies were variously merged into seven independent "Regional Holding Companies", also known as Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), or "Baby Bells". This divestiture reduced
9063-550: The 11th "most popular charity/non-profit in America" from over 100 charities researched in the study conducted by the industry publication, with 38.2% of Americans over the age of 12 choosing "love" and "like a lot" for PBS. Since the mid-2000s, Roper Opinion Research polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as the most-trusted national institution in the United States. A 2016–2017 study by Nielsen Media Research found 80% of all US television households view
9222-457: The 1960s All-Channel Receiver Act ), to make UHF viable against entrenched VHF stations. In markets where there were no VHF stations and UHF was the only TV service available, UHF survived. In other markets, which were too small to financially support a television station, too close to VHF outlets in nearby cities, or where UHF was forced to compete with more than one well-established VHF station, UHF had little chance for success. Denver had been
9381-470: The 1980s onward, the national PBS network has not typically carried sporting events, mainly because the broadcast rights to most sporting events have become more cost-prohibitive in that timeframe, especially for nonprofits with limited revenue potential; in addition, starting with the respective launches of the MountainWest Sports Network (now defunct) and Big Ten Network in 2006 and 2007 and
9540-664: The American Dream produced by Independent Lens . The film compared the wealth gap between the New York residents of Park Avenue in the Bronx and the wealthy residents of an exclusive Manhattan apartment block at 740 Park Avenue , including David Koch , a billionaire businessman and political activist. At the time Koch was a board member of WNET and was planning on making "a seven-figure donation—maybe more" to WNET. A furor erupted when The New Yorker revealed in May 2013 that to appease Koch,
9699-474: The Arts. TV Lab provided artists with equipment to produce video pieces through an artist-in-residence program. The Independent Documentary Fund and Video Tape Review series were both produces of TV Lab. TV Lab ended in 1984 when the CPB withdrew funds. Since 1979, the station has been known on-air as "Thirteen". It continued to include Newark in its legal IDs (though logos for national productions read "New York") until
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#17328546177519858-547: The Big Red Dog and DragonflyTV , the latter of which is also syndicated on commercial television) is rerun extensively. In 2020 and 2021, PBS served as the over-the-air home to select specials from the Peanuts library , under sublicense from Apple ; the deal was not renewed in 2022. Launched as PTV on July 11, 1994, PBS Kids is the brand for children's programs aired by PBS. PBS Kids, launched in 1999 and operated until 2005,
10017-571: The CPB's creation was an attempt to curb NET's production of controversial documentaries and replace it with a less controversial, government-friendly broadcaster, less hostile in particular to the Johnson , and later the Nixon administrations (NET ignored the demand and continued with the production of the critically acclaimed documentaries). At one point, President Nixon, frustrated with NET's documentaries criticizing his administration, especially its handling of
10176-731: The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, and made substantial modifications to Title VI in the Cable Television and Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. Further modifications to promote cross-modal competition (telephone, video, etc.) were made in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, leading to the current regulatory structure. Broadcast television and radio stations are subject to FCC regulations including restrictions against indecency or obscenity. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, beginning soon after
10335-751: The Dead , Nature , and Cyberchase . PBS also works with other networks for programming such as CNN International for Amanpour & Company which is a co-production of CNN International and WNET. PBS member stations are known for rebroadcasting British television costume dramas , comedies and science fiction programs (acquired from the BBC and other sources) such as Downton Abbey ; 'Allo 'Allo! ; Are You Being Served? ; The Benny Hill Show , Red Dwarf ; The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ; Father Ted ; Fawlty Towers ; Harry Enfield & Chums ; Keeping Up Appearances ; Monty Python's Flying Circus ; Mr. Bean , The Vicar of Dibley ,
10494-552: The District of Columbia and four U.S. possessions; as such, it is the only television broadcaster in the United States—commercial or non-commercial—which has station partners licensed in every U.S. state (by comparison, none of the five major commercial broadcast networks has affiliates in certain states where PBS has members, most notably New Jersey ). The service has an estimated national reach of 93.74% of all households in
10653-664: The Empire State Building. Some time later, in February 2003, WNET completed its merger with Long Island PBS broadcaster WLIW (licensed to Garden City and based in Plainview ), combining the two stations into one operation. While most of the two stations' operations have been merged, they still have separate studio facilities, separate governing boards, and conduct separate fundraising efforts. During 2009, WNET's parent company, WNET.org, sustained financial difficulties, and in January,
10812-522: The FCC a legal basis for imposing net neutrality rules (see below), after earlier attempts to impose such rules on an "information service" had been overturned in court. In 2005, the FCC formally established the following principles: To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice; Consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to
10971-584: The FCC in the newly created post of associate general counsel/chief diversity officer. Numerous controversies have surrounded the city of license concept as the internet has made it possible to broadcast a single signal to every owned station in the nation at once, particularly when Clear Channel, now IHeartMedia , became the largest FM broadcasting corporation in the US after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law - owning over 1,200 stations at its peak. As part of its license to buy more radio stations, Clear Channel
11130-437: The FCC indicated that the public largely believed that the severe consolidation of media ownership had resulted in harm to diversity, localism, and competition in media, and was harmful to the public interest. David A. Bray joined the commission in 2013 as chief information officer and quickly announced goals of modernizing the FCC's legacy information technology (IT) systems, citing 200 different systems for only 1750 people
11289-545: The FCC leased space in the Portals building in southwest Washington, D.C. Construction of the Portals building was scheduled to begin on March 1, 1996. In January 1996, the General Services Administration signed a lease with the building's owners, agreeing to let the FCC lease 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m ) of space in Portals for 20 years, at a cost of $ 17.3 million per year in 1996 dollars. Prior to
11448-403: The FCC said that nearly 55 million Americans did not have access to broadband capable of delivering high-quality voice, data, graphics and video offerings. On February 26, 2015, the FCC reclassified broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service, thus subjecting it to Title II regulation, although several exemptions were also created. The reclassification was done in order to give
11607-459: The FCC's re-allocation map of stations did not come until April 1952, with July 1, 1952, as the official beginning of licensing new stations. Other FCC actions hurt the fledgling DuMont and ABC networks. American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) forced television coaxial cable users to rent additional radio long lines , discriminating against DuMont, which had no radio network operation. DuMont and ABC protested AT&T's television policies to
11766-510: The FCC, which regulated AT&T's long-line charges, but the commission took no action. The result was that financially marginal DuMont was spending as much in long-line charge as CBS or NBC while using only about 10 to 15 percent of the time and mileage of either larger network. The FCC's "Sixth Report & Order" ended the Freeze. It took five years for the US to grow from 108 stations to more than 550. New stations came on line slowly, only five by
11925-559: The Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts between September 2001 and January 2008. The suit asserted that WNET had used grant money that was given for the production of programs including American Masters , Great Performances and Cyberchase for other purposes. WNET settled the lawsuit in June 2010 by paying back the United States government $ 950,000, pledging to instate
12084-455: The Internet, cable services and wireless services has raised questions whether new legislative initiatives are needed as to competition in what has come to be called 'broadband' services. Congress has monitored developments but as of 2009 has not undertaken a major revision of applicable regulation. The Local Community Radio Act in the 111th Congress has gotten out of committee and will go before
12243-606: The Koch brothers' influence on American politics in Alex Gibney's film, Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream — have been controversial, leading the Indie Caucus, a group of Independent filmmakers to speculate if the provocative subjects they explored might also be relegating them to the more obscure TV schedule. Segaller said it was "preposterous" to suggest that WNET had a censorship agenda when both programs had run for more than
12402-583: The Los Angeles market ; KCET served as the market's primary PBS member until it left the service in January 2011, at which time it was replaced by KOCE). KCET rejoined PBS in 2019, thus giving the Los Angeles area four different member stations. For these cases, PBS utilizes the Program Differentiation Plan, which divides by percentage the number of programs distributed by the service that each member can carry on their schedule; often, this assigns
12561-548: The PBS system, including: WNET was also one of the original co-producing entities of the PBS NewsHour , along with Washington, D.C. PBS member station WETA-TV and MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. The show debuted in 1975 as a local news-analysis program, The Robert MacNeil Report . Jim Lehrer , a frequent guest on MacNeil's show, became co-host the following year, when the show was picked up by other PBS stations. WNET produced weekend editions of PBS NewsHour alongside WETA-TV for
12720-554: The Portals, the FCC had space in six buildings at and around 19th Street NW and M Street NW. The FCC first solicited bids for a new headquarters complex in 1989. In 1991 the GSA selected the Portals site. The FCC had wanted to move into a more expensive area along Pennsylvania Avenue . In 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act , which abolished the Federal Radio Commission and transferred jurisdiction over radio licensing to
12879-539: The Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center were built at the southwest corner of 66th Street and Broadway ; this facility houses two television studios. The space can also accommodate lectures, screenings and concerts. The facility is named in honor of James S. Tisch and his wife, Merryl H. Tisch, whose $ 15 million gift was, at that time, the single largest donation from individuals in WNET's history. On May 9, 2017, it
13038-404: The U.S., in which network-affiliated stations were initially owned by companies that owned few to no other television stations elsewhere in the country. In some U.S. states, a group of PBS stations throughout the entire state may be organized into a single regional "subnetwork" (such as Alabama Public Television and Arkansas PBS ); in this model, PBS programming and other content is distributed by
13197-442: The United States (or 292,926,047 Americans with at least one television set). PBS stations are commonly operated by nonprofit organizations , state agencies, local authorities (such as municipal boards of education), or universities in their city of license ; this is similar (albeit more centralized in states where a licensee owns multiple stations rebroadcasting the main PBS member) to the early model of commercial broadcasting in
13356-484: The United States accelerated an already ongoing shift in the FCC towards a decidedly more market-oriented stance. A number of regulations felt to be outdated were removed, most controversially the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. In terms of indecency fines, there was no action taken by the FCC on the case FCC v. Pacifica until 1987, about ten years after the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that defined
13515-664: The WNET and PBS libraries. The transfer of programming to WNET was part of Governor Chris Christie 's plan for the New Jersey government 's exit from public broadcasting. As part of the deal, WNET airs NJTV's nightly statewide newscast, NJ Today (which was renamed NJTV News on November 4, 2013), to meet its local programming obligations since it still operates on a frequency allocated to Newark. Previously, it had aired NJN's newscast, NJN News , which it co-produced with NJN from 1978 to 1981 (the program continued to air on WNET even after NJN took full control over its production). In 2014,
13674-599: The WNTA stations up for sale in February 1961. At least three prospective purchasers expressed interest in WNTA. The most prominent was the New York City-based group Educational Television for the Metropolitan Area (ETMA), a consortium of businesspeople, cultural leaders and educators who intended to turn channel 13 into New York City's educational station. By this time, it was obvious that the non-commercial frequency that
13833-431: The air during 1948, and was also the first independent station . One unusual daytime program, Daywatch, consisted of a camera focused on a teletypewriter printing wire service news stories, interspersed with cutaways to mechanical toys against a light music soundtrack. Another early series by the station was Stairway to Stardom (1950–1951), one of the first TV series with an African-American host. WATV's transmitter
13992-479: The anthology drama series Play of the Week ; the talk show Open End , hosted by David Susskind ; children's show The Magic Clown ; and a popular dance program emceed by Clay Cole . The station continued to lag behind New York's other independent stations— WNEW-TV (channel 5), WOR-TV (channel 9) and WPIX (channel 11)—in terms of audience size, and NTA incurred a large debt load. National Telefilm Associates put
14151-422: The basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable charges." The act furthermore provides that the FCC was created "for the purpose of the national defense" and "for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications." Consistent with
14310-572: The book value of AT&T by approximately 70%. The FCC initially exempted "information services" such as broadband Internet access from regulation under Title II. The FCC held that information services were distinct from telecommunications services that are subject to common carrier regulation. However, Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required the FCC to help accelerate deployment of "advanced telecommunications capability" which included high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video, and to regularly assess its availability. In August 2015,
14469-399: The channel in 2012). However, the original programming block still exists on PBS, filling daytime and in some cases, weekend morning schedules on its member stations; many members also carry 24-hour locally programmed children's networks featuring PBS Kids content on one of their digital subchannels. A revived version of the PBS Kids Channel was launched on January 16, 2017. As of 2019, PBS Kids
14628-448: The channel was added to Australia's Foxtel subscription platform. At the summer 2019 Television Critics Association press tour day for PBS on July 29, 2019, it was announced that MVPD YouTube TV would begin to carry PBS programming and member stations in the fall of 2019. Member stations have the choice of having their traditional channel on the service with its full programming schedule received by Google over-the-air and uploaded to
14787-444: The commission in 1934 comprised the following seven members: The complete list of commissioners is available on the FCC website. Frieda B. Hennock (D-NY) was the first female commissioner of the FCC in 1948. The FCC regulates broadcast stations, repeater stations as well as commercial broadcasting operators who operate and repair certain radiotelephone , radio and television stations. Broadcast licenses are to be renewed if
14946-401: The company pared its workforce from 500 employees to 415, due to severe problems with its budget and fundraising. In October, WNET announced that its studios at 450 West 33rd Street would soon be up for sale, as it no longer needed the extra space. In November, WNET announced that all WNET.org employees would take an unpaid furlough for three to five days between Christmas and New Year's Day, with
15105-414: The conversion, Congress established a federally sponsored DTV Converter Box Coupon Program for two free converters per household. The FCC regulates telecommunications services under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Title II imposes common carrier regulation under which carriers offering their services to the general public must provide services to all customers and may not discriminate based on
15264-608: The department of broadcasting at the University of Florida ). It began operations on October 5, 1970, taking over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with Newark, New Jersey station WNDT to form WNET . In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations . Around the same time, the groups started out the National Public Affairs Broadcast Center (later National Public Affairs Center for Television), which offered news and national affairs to
15423-427: The designated VHF channels, 2 through 13, were inadequate for nationwide television service. As a result, the FCC stopped giving out construction permits for new licenses in October 1948, under the direction of Chairman Rosel H. Hyde . Most expected this "Freeze" to last six months, but as the allocation of channels to the emerging UHF technology and the eagerly awaited possibilities of color television were debated,
15582-607: The digital signals of some member stations, while HD02 (PBS West) serves as a secondary HD feed. With the absence of advertising , network identification on these PBS networks was limited to utilization at the end of the program, which includes the standard series of bumpers from the "Be More" campaign. While not operated or controlled by PBS proper, additional public broadcasting networks are available and carried by PBS member stations. The following three are also distributed by PBS via satellite. Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission ( FCC )
15741-455: The dominant US children's site for video, and PBS had won more 2013 Webby Awards than any other media company in the world. On May 8, 2013, full-length episodes of PBS' prime time, news and children's programs were made available through the Roku streaming player; programming is available on Roku as separate streaming channels for "PBS" and " PBS KIDS " content. Some content is only available with
15900-421: The end of November 1952. The Sixth Report and Order required some existing television stations to change channels, but only a few existing VHF stations were required to move to UHF, and a handful of VHF channels were deleted altogether in smaller media markets like Peoria , Fresno , Bakersfield and Fort Wayne, Indiana to create markets which were UHF "islands." The report also set aside a number of channels for
16059-413: The end of the next session of Congress following term expiration. In practice, this means that commissioners may serve up to 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 years beyond the official term expiration listed above if no replacement is appointed. This would end on the date that Congress adjourns its annual session, generally no later than noon on January 3. The FCC is organized into seven bureaus, each headed by
16218-486: The end of the digital television transition. After delaying the original deadlines of 2006, 2008, and eventually February 17, 2009, on concerns about elderly and rural folk, on June 12, 2009, all full-power analog terrestrial TV licenses in the U.S. were terminated as part of the DTV transition , leaving terrestrial television available only from digital channels and a few low-power LPTV stations. To help U.S. consumers through
16377-440: The episode would be withdrawn from distribution and that the series would employ "an independent genealogist to review all versions of program episodes for factual accuracy". After the suspension of the series, Adweek commented: "The network clearly understands that its integrity has been thrown into question by this controversy. Even if they understood where the producers of the show were coming from when they decided to entertain
16536-408: The exception of Sprout, some of these services, including those from PBS member stations and networks, have not made contracts with Internet-distributed over-the-top MVPD services such as Sling TV and the now defunct PlayStation Vue . With the transition to over-the-air digital television broadcasts, many of the services are also often now available as standard-definition multicast channels on
16695-498: The facts and the optics. We all take very, very seriously any suggestion that there's a perception problem about the integrity of our work or the sources of our funding, and we came to the conclusion that it's better to err on the side of caution". WNET and PBS issued a joint statement saying the series would go on hiatus and WNET would return the $ 3.5 million grant it had received from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Segaller said in
16854-446: The fate of channel 13. The pendulum quickly shifted in favor of channel 13 going non-commercial, and the commercial suitors withdrew their interest. On June 29, 1961, ETMA agreed to purchase WNTA for $ 6.2 million. About $ 2 million of that amount came from five of the city's six remaining commercial VHF stations (WPIX was the lone holdout), all of whom were pleased to see a competitor eliminated. In addition, CBS later donated
17013-481: The film's introduction by Stanley Tucci with a new introduction calling the film "controversial" and "provocative". Immediately after the broadcast, they aired a statement from Koch Industries criticizing the film as "disappointing and divisive", although a Koch spokesperson said David Koch had only watched the trailer. WNET followed the statement with an on-air round-table discussion where the moderator repeatedly mentioned that Koch's philanthropic contributions totaled
17172-423: The fine ten times over the previous maximum of $ 32,500 per violation. The FCC has established rules limiting the national share of media ownership of broadcast radio or television stations. It has also established cross-ownership rules limiting ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, in order to ensure a diversity of viewpoints in each market and serve the needs of each local market. In
17331-598: The first post-Freeze construction permits. KFEL (now KWGN-TV )'s first regular telecast was on July 21, 1952. In 1996, Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , in the wake of the breakup of AT&T resulting from the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust suit against AT&T. The legislation attempted to create more competition in local telephone service by requiring Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers to provide access to their facilities for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers . This policy has thus far had limited success and much criticism. The development of
17490-614: The following day. The station continued to produce some shows for the national PBS schedule with the NET branding until early 1972, when they began to be identified as "WNET/13" programs; a formal consolidation of the corporation's separate national and local production facilities occurred later that year. Following the merger, David Loxton established the TV Lab in 1972 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and New York State Council on
17649-435: The house floor with bi-partisan support, and unanimous support of the FCC. By passing the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress also eliminated the cap on the number of radio stations any one entity could own nationwide and also substantially loosened local radio station ownership restrictions. Substantial radio consolidation followed. Restrictions on ownership of television stations were also loosened. Public comments to
17808-446: The identity of the customer or the content of the communication. This is similar to and adapted from the regulation of transportation providers (railroad, airline, shipping, etc.) and some public utilities. Wireless carriers providing telecommunications services are also generally subject to Title II regulation except as exempted by the FCC. The FCC regulates interstate telephone services under Title II. The Telecommunications Act of 1996
17967-608: The intent to expand the in-program breaks to the remainder of the schedule if successful. In 2011, PBS released apps for iOS and Android to allow viewing of full-length videos on mobile devices. Vern Seward of The Mac Observer calls the PBS iPad App, "...cool on so many levels." An update in 2015 added Chromecast support. "PBS UK" was launched as a paid subscription channel in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2011, featuring American documentary programming sourced from PBS. Better identifying its subject matter, this channel
18126-518: The largest U.S. city without a TV station by 1952. Senator Edwin Johnson (D-Colorado), chair of the Senate's Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee , had made it his personal mission to make Denver the first post-Freeze station. The senator had pressured the FCC, and proved ultimately successful as the first new station (a VHF station) came on-line a remarkable ten days after the commission formally announced
18285-516: The late 1990s. Since then, it has identified mostly as "New York", though it is still legally licensed to Newark. Even after becoming a noncommercial station, channel 13 retained its original studios and offices at the Mosque Theater in Newark. The station eventually moved to the Gateway Center office building, also in Newark. In 1982, more than 20 years after becoming the New York area's flagship public television station, WNET moved its operations to
18444-900: The later launches of the Pac-12 Network and ESPN's SEC Network and ACC Network , athletic conferences have acquired rights for all of their member university's sports programs for their cable channels, restricting their use from PBS member stations, even those associated with their own universities. From 1976 to 1989, KQED produced a series of Bundesliga matches under the banner Soccer Made in Germany , with Toby Charles announcing. PBS also carried tennis events, as well as Ivy League football. Notable football commentators included Upton Bell , Marty Glickman , Bob Casciola , Brian Dowling , Sean McDonough and Jack Corrigan . Other sports programs included interview series such as The Way It Was and The Sporting Life . The board of directors
18603-502: The main PBS feed or exclusively over online, many member stations/networks have replaced distance education content with children's and other programming. Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio , PBS does not have a central program production arm or news division. All of the programming carried by PBS, whether news, documentary or entertainment, is created by (or in most cases produced under contract with) other parties, such as individual member stations. Boston member WGBH-TV
18762-486: The move was done to improve the FCC's "coordination across the federal government" and to "support the 21st-century satellite industry." The decision to establish the Space Bureau was reportedly done to improve the agency's capacity to regulate Satellite Internet access . The new bureau officially launched on April 11, 2023. The commissioners of the FCC are: The initial group of FCC commissioners after establishment of
18921-495: The negative effects of media concentration and consolidation on racial-ethnic diversity in staffing and programming. At these Latino town hall meetings, the issue of the FCC's lax monitoring of obscene and pornographic material in Spanish-language radio and the lack of racial and national-origin diversity among Latino staff in Spanish-language television were other major themes. President Barack Obama appointed Mark Lloyd to
19080-419: The network pays its affiliates a share of the revenue it earns from advertising. By contrast, PBS member stations pay fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization. Under this relationship, PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial broadcasting counterparts. Scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly depending on the market. This can be
19239-484: The network were folded in 2006. Programming from the PBS Satellite Service has also been carried by certain member stations or regional member networks to fill their overnight schedules (particularly those that have transitioned to a 24-hour schedule since the late 1990s), in lieu of providing programming sourced from outside public television distributors or repeats of local programming (program promotions shown on
19398-463: The network's programs over the course of a year. However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public television stations, a large proportion of which may come from its member stations —including WGBH-TV , WETA-TV , WNET , WTTW , WQED , WHYY-TV , Twin Cities PBS — American Public Television , and independent producers. This distinction regarding the origin of different programs on
19557-482: The newly emerging field of educational television , which hindered struggling ABC and DuMont 's quest for affiliates in the more desirable markets where VHF channels were reserved for non-commercial use. The Sixth Report and Order also provided for the "intermixture" of VHF and UHF channels in most markets; UHF transmitters in the 1950s were not yet powerful enough, nor receivers sensitive enough (if they included UHF tuners at all - they were not formally required until
19716-466: The objectives of the act as well as the 1999 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the FCC has identified four goals in its 2018–22 Strategic Plan. They are: Closing the Digital Divide, Promoting Innovation, Protecting Consumers & Public Safety, and Reforming the FCC's Processes. The FCC is directed by five commissioners appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by
19875-629: The original run of Doctor Who , and Sherlock . However, a significant amount of sharing takes place. The BBC and British broadcasters such as Channel 4 often cooperate with PBS stations, producing material that is shown on both sides of the Atlantic . Less frequently, Canadian, Australian and other international programming appears on PBS stations (such as The Red Green Show , currently distributed by syndicator Executive Program Services); public broadcasting syndicators are more likely to offer this programming to U.S.-based public television stations. PBS
20034-1107: The originating member station, retains exclusive rebroadcasting rights during an agreed period. Suppliers, however, retain the right to sell the program's intellectual property in non-broadcast media such as DVDs , books, and sometimes PBS- licensed merchandise . The evening and primetime schedule on PBS features a diverse array of programming including fine arts ( Great Performances ); drama ( Masterpiece , Downton Abbey , American Family: Journey of Dreams ); science ( Nova , Nature ); history ( American Experience , American Masters , History Detectives , Antiques Roadshow ); music ( Austin City Limits , Soundstage ); public affairs ( Frontline , PBS NewsHour , Washington Week , Nightly Business Report ); independent films and documentaries ( P.O.V. , Independent Lens ); home improvement ( This Old House ); and interviews ( Amanpour & Company , Tavis Smiley , The Dick Cavett Show ). In 2012, PBS began organizing much of its prime time programming around
20193-558: The originating station in the subnetwork to other full-power stations that serve as satellites as well as any low-power translators in other areas of the state. Some states may be served by such a regional network and simultaneously have PBS member stations in a certain city (such as the case with secondary member KBDI-TV in Denver , which is not related to Colorado member network Rocky Mountain PBS and its flagship station and primary Denver PBS member, KRMA-TV) that operate autonomously from
20352-594: The other hand, signed on as WNYE-TV four-and-a-half years later in April 1967. Richard Heffner was appointed as WNDT's first general manager, serving in that position in its first year; Heffner continued to appear on channel 13 as producer and host of the public affairs program The Open Mind until his death in December 2013. During the transition, and after the inaugural broadcast, WNDT faced an immediate crisis. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
20511-577: The passage of the Communications Act of 1934, that the inherent scarcity of radio spectrum allows the government to impose some types of content restrictions on broadcast license holders notwithstanding the First Amendment. Cable and satellite providers are also subject to some content regulations under Title VI of the Communications Act such as the prohibition on obscenity, although the limitations are not as restrictive compared to broadcast stations. The 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President of
20670-466: The power of the FCC over indecent material as applied to broadcasting. After the 1990s had passed, the FCC began to increase its censorship and enforcement of indecency regulations in the early 2000s to include a response to the Janet Jackson " wardrobe malfunction " that occurred during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII . Then on June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law
20829-430: The president of WNET, Neal Shapiro , called Koch offering him the opportunity to screen Gibney's film before broadcast and rebut it after it aired with a written statement. Shapiro said to The New Yorker that he "just called David Koch. He's on our board. He's the biggest main character. No one else, just David Koch. Because he's a trustee. It's a courtesy. I can't remember doing anything like this [before]". WNET replaced
20988-516: The profile of the fledgling PBS network. In 1991, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting resumed funding for most PBS shows that debuted prior to 1977, with the exceptions of Washington Week in Review and Wall Street Week (CPB resumed funding of Washington Week in 1997). In 1994, The Chronicle of Philanthropy released the results of the largest study on the popularity and credibility of charitable and non-profit organizations. PBS ranked as
21147-630: The radio regulation functions of the previous Federal Radio Commission . The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission . The FCC's mandated jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia , and the territories of the United States . The FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation, oversight, and leadership for similar communications bodies in other countries in North America. The FCC
21306-475: The regional member network. As opposed to the present commercial broadcasting model in which network programs are often carried exclusively on one television station in a given market, PBS may maintain more than one member station in certain markets, which may be owned by the licensee of the market's primary PBS member station or owned by a separate licensee (as a prime example, KOCE-TV , KLCS and KVCR-DT —which are all individually owned—serve as PBS stations for
21465-614: The report was the breakup of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which ultimately led to the creation of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), but there were two other important points. One was network option time, the culprit here being the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). The report limited the amount of time during the day and at what times the networks may broadcast. Previously
21624-496: The request, PBS and the veracity of all that's included in their documentaries, requires decisive action that conveys just how serious this infraction was". The series returned to the air in January 2016. The station's signal is multiplexed : PBS The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial , free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia . PBS
21783-558: The sale of WNTA-TV. The court ruled in the state's favor two months later. The unsettled deal almost caused National Telefilm Associates to reconsider its decision to sell the station altogether, and NTA made plans to go forward: WNTA-TV made a play to acquire broadcast rights for the New York Mets baseball team for its inaugural 1962 season. Faced with either consummating the transaction or seeing it canceled, ETMA settled their differences with New Jersey officials on December 4, 1961. After
21942-439: The satellite feed advertise upcoming programs as being aired on PBS during the timeslot card normally used as a placeholder for member outlets to insert local airtime information). Some or all of these services are available on a digital cable tier of many cable providers, on a free-to-air (FTA) satellite receiver receiving from PBS Satellite Service , as well as via subscription-based direct broadcast satellite providers. With
22101-900: The second half of 2006, groups such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Latino Media Council, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Institute for Latino Policy , the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and others held town hall meetings in California, New York and Texas on media diversity as its effects Latinos and minority communities. They documented widespread and deeply felt community concerns about
22260-738: The service presents a frequent source of viewer confusion. In December 2009, PBS signed up for the Nielsen ratings audience measurement reports, and began to be included in its primetime and daily "Television Index" reports, alongside the major commercial broadcast networks. In May 2011, PBS announced that it would incorporate breaks containing underwriter spots for corporate and foundation sponsors, program promotions and identification spots within four breaks placed within episodes of Nature and NOVA , airing episodes broken up into segments of up to 15 minutes, rather than airing them as straight 50- to 55-minute episodes. The strategy began that fall, with
22419-559: The service's children's lineup or through public broadcast syndication directly to its members have subsequently been syndicated to commercial television outlets (such as Ghostwriter and The Magic School Bus ). Many PBS member stations and networks—including Mississippi Public Broadcasting ( MHSAA ), Georgia Public Broadcasting ( GHSA ), Maine Public Broadcasting Network ( MPA ), Iowa PBS ( IGHSAU ), Nebraska Public Media ( NSAA ), and WKYU-TV ( Western Kentucky Hilltoppers )—locally broadcast high school and college sports. From
22578-539: The service, a YouTube TV-only feed provided by the station with some programming substitutions due to lack of digital rights, or a PBS-provided feed with limited localization, though with no local programming or pledge drive programming. In 2019, PBS announced plans to move its headquarters to another building in the Crystal Gateway complex, while remaining in Crystal City, Virginia , and did so in 2020, which included
22737-736: The service. The group was later merged into member station WETA-TV in 1972. Immediately after public disclosure of the Watergate scandal , on May 17, 1973, the United States Senate Watergate Committee commenced proceedings; PBS broadcast the proceedings nationwide, with Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer as commentators. Although all of the Big Three TV Networks ran coverage of the hearings, PBS re-broadcast them on prime time . For seven months, nightly "gavel-to-gavel" broadcasts drew great public interest, and raised
22896-581: The sole sponsor of The Pension Peril was former Enron trader John D. Arnold who had financially backed efforts to cut public employee pension benefits. Stephen Segaller, WNET's vice president for programming told The New York Times on February 13, 2014, that he had "absolute conviction" that the Laura and John Arnold Foundation was an admissible funder and the funding did not violate PBS' "perception" rule. On February 14, Segaller told The New York Times that WNET had reversed course after discussing with PBS "both
23055-501: The statement, "We made a mistake, pure and simple". PBS ombudsman , Michael Getler , commented that PandoDaily's article "shines a light, once again, on what seems to me to be ethical compromises in funding arrangements and lack of real transparency for viewers caused, in part, by the complicated funding demands needed to support public broadcasting, and in part by managers who make some questionable decisions". Getler added that WNET "went seriously wrong" and that their "decision to accept
23214-435: The station meets the "public interest, convenience, or necessity". The FCC's enforcement powers include fines and broadcast license revocation (see FCC MB Docket 04-232). Burden of proof would be on the complainant in a petition to deny. The FCC first promulgated rules for cable television in 1965, with cable and satellite television now regulated by the FCC under Title VI of the Communications Act. Congress added Title VI in
23373-411: The station's management and other non-union employees to produce the three-hour inaugural broadcast. Immediately afterwards, channel 13 went off the air again, as the strike continued for nearly two weeks. The striking workers returned WNDT to the air after ten days and on September 28, the labor dispute was settled. However, the station's financial resources were drained, requiring an infusion of cash from
23532-600: The website NJ Spotlight through an outsourcing agreement. WNET and WLIW share studios at One Worldwide Plaza in Midtown Manhattan with an auxiliary street-level studio in the Lincoln Center complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side ; WNET's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center . WNET commenced broadcasting on May 15, 1948, from a transmitter located atop First Mountain in West Orange, New Jersey , as WATV,
23691-619: The weekday editions until 2022 when WETA assumed production for the weekend edition in addition to the weekday editions. In 2010, the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York , filed a lawsuit asserting that the WNET subsidiary, the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, misused grant money worth $ 13 million, donated by the National Science Foundation , the National Endowment for
23850-461: Was added to Roku's live TV channel lineup in the United States on April 23, 2024, airing PBS Kids shows from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Even with its status as a non-profit and educational television network, PBS engages in program distribution, providing television content and related services to its member stations, each of which together cooperatively owns the network. Unlike the affiliates for commercial TV networks, each non-profit PBS member station
24009-497: Was announced that WNET would resume broadcasting from Lower Manhattan at One World Trade Center by the end of the year. In 2019, WNET acquired New Jersey news website NJ Spotlight. The following year, it merged NJ Spotlight with NJTV's newsroom, with the NJTV newscasts becoming NJ Spotlight News . NJ Spotlight would merge with NJTV News in 2020. On March 25, 2021, WNET.org was reorganized as The WNET Group. On July 2, 2020, at 9 a.m. during
24168-516: Was competing with NTA founding president Ely Landau , who had formed a syndicate to buy the station after resigning from NTA; and David Susskind, who received financial backing from Paramount Pictures . ETMA's initial bid of $ 4 million was rejected by NTA, but the citizens' group remained persistent. With the support and guidance of National Educational Television (NET), ETMA later received an endorsement from newly appointed FCC chairman Newton N. Minow , who established public hearings to discuss
24327-519: Was concerned about the use of teachers—some of whom were union-certified performers—on non-commercial television, and how they would be compensated should their work be distributed nationally. AFTRA called a strike on the morning of WNDT's debut. Engineers and technicians who were members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) refused to cross the AFTRA picket line, leaving
24486-441: Was forced to divest all TV stations. To facilitate the adoption of digital television, the FCC issued a second digital TV (DTV) channel to each holder of an analog TV station license. All stations were required to buy and install all new equipment ( transmitters , TV antennas, and even entirely new broadcast towers ), and operate for years on both channels. Each licensee was required to return one of their two channels following
24645-406: Was largely funded by satellite provider DirecTV . The original channel ceased operations on September 26, 2005, in favor of PBS Kids Sprout , a commercial digital cable and satellite television channel originally operated as a joint venture between PBS, Comcast , Sesame Workshop and Apax Partners ( NBCUniversal , which Comcast acquired in 2011, later acquired the other partners' interests in
24804-541: Was led by two of the seven commissioners, with the FCC chairman being a member of each division. The organizing meeting directed the divisions to meet on July 18, July 19, and July 20, respectively. In 1940, the Federal Communications Commission issued the "Report on Chain Broadcasting " which was led by new FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly (and Telford Taylor as general counsel). The major point in
24963-591: Was moved to the Empire State Building in November 1953. On October 6, 1957, Bremer Broadcasting announced it had sold its stations for $ 3.5 million to National Telefilm Associates (NTA), an early distributor of motion pictures for television, joining its NTA Film Network . On May 7, 1958, channel 13's call sign was changed to WNTA-TV to reflect the new ownership; the radio stations also adopted these call letters. NTA's cash resources enabled WNTA to produce
25122-472: Was renamed " PBS America " on July 4, 2012. The channel has subsequently become available in other parts of Europe and Australia. On February 28, 2012, PBS partnered with AOL to launch Makers: Women Who Make America , a digital documentary series focusing on high-achieving women in male-dominated industries such as war, comedy, space, business, Hollywood and politics. PBS initially struggled to compete with online media such as YouTube for market share. In
25281-463: Was the first major legislative reform since the 1934 act and took several steps to de-regulate the telephone market and promote competition in both the local and long-distance marketplace. The important relationship of the FCC and the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Company evolved over the decades. For many years, the FCC and state officials agreed to regulate the telephone system as
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