PBS: Please Show Me What I Came to See
Don’t get me wrong, I like PBS plenty. But I’m really getting sick of all the pledge drives they’ve been having over the last few years. It’s not the actual interruptions and begging that gets under my skin though, as much as the fact that more and more often, PBS channels are showing special programming during these near weekly pledge drives.
Why are they intent on alienating their regular viewers by constantly preempting the very shows that draw them in? If I tune in every week to see the hijinx at Grace Bros., I’m not going to be happy when I tune in one Saturday and instead see the corpses of ’60s era pop stars wheezing through their old anthems, or the spectacle of Suze Orman’s prodigious choppers yelling at me about being smart with money, or some lame Celtic Woman concert.
If you want my money to continue bringing me the shows I want to see, show me the shows I want to see—not some special program that’s not even remotely related.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:17 pm
As a retired, longtime staffer of a major-market PBS station, and as a longtime media researcher and writer, I suggest that you courteously call or e-mail your local PBS station, and it will likely address your pledge-drive complaints in a timely and informative manner.
And when you do that be aware of the fact the Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and/or Bush 2 administrations, combined with GOP-controlled Congresses, have chronically underfunded public TV and radio, have likewise underfunded the federally mandated conversion to digital broadcasting which costs PBS and each PBS station millions of dollars, and have at the same time given or continued massive direct and indirect subsidies to commercial broadcasting which far exceed those of public broadcasting.
Among major Western nations the U.S. ranks at the bottom for government support of public broadcasting. Despite that our public networks remain devoted to creating well-educated, well-informed, well rounded citizens, while commerical networks remain devoted to corrupting our airwaves and maximizing their profits.
When was the last time you publicly complained about their massive taxpayer-subsidized mergers and their corrosive, mind-numbing programs? When was the last time you contacted your members of Congress to protest all of that? And when was the last time you financially supported your local public stations? If you haven’t done all three of those things, you’re not functioning as a responsible radio listener and TV viewer.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Maybe I’m not getting my point across clearly. It’s probably the stupid title/headline…
I don’t see anything wrong with pledge drives and understand the necessity, but if you have to have them, don’t take away the shows I regularly tune in to see and show something entirely unrelated during the drive. It just annoys me and makes me more likely to switch off. I’m sure many people feel the same way.
I have supported PBS a few times, though not within the last year or so.
I think this blog is obviously in part a critique of corrosive, mind-numbing programs.
I have contacted members of Congress, and occasionally have voted specifically with related issues in mind.
I think I”m doing okay as a responsible viewer.
I understand where you’re coming from though. I know it’s not easy for PBS to do the great job they do considering the lack of funding. And maybe for every jerk like me complaining about this issue, there are 100 other people clamoring for more ’60s rock group reunion and Celtic Woman specials.