Viewers Like You

"PBS is not the Public Broadcasting System. It is the Public Broadcasting Service; we are obligated to serve the public in a number of decidedly unsexy ways. From the early morning, when preschoolers have a broad array of commercial-free shows, to the news-making conversations of Charlie Rose as we end our day, our underfunded enterprise produces the best children's, science, nature, public affairs, arts and history programs on television.
"'NewsHour' each evening reaches more than twice the readership of the New York Times. 'Frontline' is perhaps the best series on television, period. PBS recently broadcast the groundbreaking New York Philharmonic performance from North Korea. Every day, PBS serves, and belies those feeble arguments that still question our necessity."

Ken Burns defends PBS in the Los Angeles Times.