• by Philip Leigh , June 1, 2010

Public broadcasting offers high quality programming. Presently most of us watch it via one of about 400 local PBS affiliates. However, the most popular shows like "Charlie Rose," "Masterpiece Theater," "Antiques Roadshow,"and "Nova" are produced by only a few originators. Increasingly the creators are also putting many of those shows on the Internet, where they can be watched at the viewer's convenience without needing the local affiliate. 

Last year Congress gave the Corporation for Public Broadcasting $400 million. About $360 million passed through to local affiliates. They generally used the money to purchase programs such as those noted above. However, the grants only represent about 20% of the typical affiliates' overall budget. The other 80% was mostly used to fund affiliate operating overhead. Most of that 80% came from (1) prominent corporate underwriters, (2) grants from the individual states, and (3) "viewers like you."

As methods of connecting TV sets to the Internet gain traction, public television will face two significant challenges.

One will be the relevance of local affiliates. Except for news broadcasts, most popular PBS shows are prerecorded. Internet distribution is ideal for pre-recorded shows because it permits viewers to watch any time, as opposed to a scheduled broadcast time. It also permits consumers to browse and search the entire inventory of available shows before selecting one. Finally, when fans of each particular show are looking for an episode to watch, they are more likely to visit the website of the program originator instead of the local PBS affiliate.

For example, viewers who like Charlie Rose are more likely to visit the eponymous charlierose.com than WXYZ.com. Additionally, at the Rose website they can browse, search, and select any interview spanning an approximate twenty year period.  

A second challenge is that the Internet can provide even higher quality programming than PBS.  For example, although "Nova" science programs have some great episodes on physics, viewers desiring an even more thorough understanding may prefer MIT's free OpenCourseware that includes video demonstrations of instructional experiments. Similarly, episodes of PBS' "American Experience" might find they are competing with free videos from the Yale University Department of History. Finally, YouTube offers competitive cultural programming like top-quality symphonic performances. For example, consider this brilliant excerpt from "Scheherazade" by a Venezuelan youth orchestra.  In short, the Internet is gradually appropriating public television's original educational mission

To remain relevant, local PBS affiliates must take two actions.

First, they must create valuable programming germane to their communities. Although this is a traditional objective, the effort must now be raised to the nth degree.

One way is to invite local citizens to create documentaries and shows for submission. After evaluation, the bad ones can be declined, the better ones  posted to the affiliate's website, and the best put on the broadcast channel as well. Additionally, interviewing selected local new-media businesses would help station personnel and local citizens understand how media is likely to change. Since the best way to predict the future is to invent it, such knowledge can help the affiliates fashion a better future. Finally, station personnel can learn how to create more of their own shows with lower-production-cost equipment and smaller crews.

Second, a local affiliate's website must be central to its survival strategy. Should broadcasting ultimately become largely redundant, the website will likely become the affiliate's most valuable media property. Therefore, it's crucial that citizens find value and feel engaged at the website. This could be accomplished by encouraging visitor commentary, much like what's popular now at The New York Times and Wall Street Journal websites, both of which also offer abundant video. Another way is to encourage local residents to create video content as noted earlier. A picturesque website incapable of engaging visitors is like a ghost town. It will ultimately be abandoned, even by those who built it

As Robert Gallagher put it, "Change is inevitable -- except from a vending machine."