Public television and radio broadcasters are bracing for their most difficult budget battle in a decade as the House considers a measure that would slash more than $200 million from national programming, educational grants and local station operations.
Late Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would reduce next year’s federal allocation to public broadcasting by 46%. The measure would cut $100 million from next year’s budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private nonprofit that distributes federal funds to local stations. The CPB funds make up about 15% of public broadcasting revenue.
Money earmarked to help local stations undergo digital conversion and to upgrade PBS’ satellite system would also be cut. And funds for public television’s “Ready to Learn” programs  shows like “Sesame Street,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Postcards From Buster”  are on the chopping block.
…We see this as a direct attack on public broadcasting in America,” said John Lawson, president of the Assn. of Public Television Stations.
Democrats, who succeeded in restoring $400 million in federal funding for the 2008 fiscal year, view the cuts as a politically motivated rebuke of a public broadcasting system seen by some Republicans as too liberal. They vowed to launch a grass-roots effort to fight the measure.
This is “ideological extremism that threatens to maim a treasured institution,” Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said.
Now enter the emotional factor (ooooooooh!)
“The Public Broadcasting System represents the last stronghold of quality child-oriented programming. Does the Republican Party really want to give Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Clifford The Big Red Dog the ax?” he asked (more…)
Despite the station’s obvious Liberal slant, I personally like much of the programing on PBS and NPR. Shows like Frontline, Masterpiece theater, or children’s programing like Sesame Street, or Arthur are in no trouble of disappearing off of the TV screen.
What many politicians who are pro PBS will not tell us, the American Public is how much revenue does brands like the Sesame Street actually generate for PBS—and I am not just talking about the show. If you have kids, you know that for the most part wherever kids items are sold, you are bound to see the Sesame Street product line within the mix. Anything from books, videos, games, clothes, etc. are all familiar territory for this brand. The same goes for Arthur, Caillou, Clifford, and other programing geared towards kids.
The bottom line here is that like any good television series, if it has proven itself in the ratings, someone will pick it up. I doubt very seriously that these programs will disappear if PBS were to fold. NPR may have a bit of a challenge with the dynamic of satellite radio.
I think that if we want to reduce the national deficit, at some point we have to begin to ask ourselves which is more important, funding television or some local school that is in dire need of books. We cannot have it all on the American dollar. There are real limits.
Why is the government in the business of television production, I will never know. Once again, another tax-draining project never sanctioned by the Constitution.
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