OCT 5, 1970: The Public Broadcasting Service is founded after having first been established in Nov 1969. As a non-commercial station based in Virginia, PBS as a nonprofit organization is predominantly funded by member station dues, telethons & pledge drives, donations from private foundations & individual citizens, and corporate sponsorships -- while also being tied to public school districts and entities owned by US state governments. From the first mergings with TV channels in New Jersey/New York (WNET), WGBH (Boston), WNED (Buffalo/Toronto), and further distribution including Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington-DC, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco, PBS's fledgling profile was considerably raised in May 1973 with its coverage of the US Senate Committee Hearings into the President Richard Nixon/Watergate scandal which for 7 months drew huge public interest. The long line of programs have included educational fare and kids content like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, The Electric Company, Barney & Friends, and Curious George; news shows such as Frontline, PBS News Hour, Amanpour and Company, Nightly Business Report, and Washington Week; science/nature/history content such as Nature, Nova, and Secrets of the Dead; documentaries from Ken Burns; Masterpiece Theatre; American Experience; The Lawrence Welk Show; The Dick Cavett Show; BBC sitcoms, police & period piece dramas; Antiques Roadshow; Great Performances; Austin City Limits; Independent Lens; Julia Child's The French Chef; and Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting. The company's first logo was designed in Sept 1971 and then changed in Sept 1984 with ongoing variations beginning in 1989. In 2011, the first promotional breaks & identification spots were incorporated starting with the first slots airing after 15min. segments. For the high praise PBS has garnered for the network's reputation & show variety contributing to cultural fabric, it has also faced criticism through accusations of slanted political/ideological bias. In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (14290) to end federal funding for PBS and its radio counterpart NPR (National Public Radio) alleging unfair news coverage & defamation, repeatedly calling them "the enemy of the people". By Sept, this had amounted to a $1.1 billion descrease and a 21% drop in revenue. In national surveys afterwards, the vast majority of Americans were against the move by the White House (who also went after CBS TV & 60 Minutes, MSNBC, Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal) saying the 2 outlets were among the most trusted media institutions in the country. To date, PBS has memberships with 354 TV Stations in all 50 US states, 4 US territories, 6 countries and throughout Europe -- all via express broadcasting rights by access on cable/digital/streaming services.
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