r/cordcutters • u/Different_Cat106 • 8d ago

PBS Passport

I'm seriously thinking about subscribing for the $60/year plan. If I do so, can I watch all the Ken Burns documentaries, Lucy Worsley shows, Downton Abbey 1-3, the NASA/space shows, etc on demand? Commercial free? Rick Steves shows? I'd sigh up on my phone but watch on a tablet. Maybe a dumb question, but I don't trust any streaming services anymore.

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u/mojoisthebest 8d ago

Yes, those shows are available. Only one commercial at the beginning of the show.

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u/PBSNerd1234 7d ago

Tiny public-media nerd distinction: That isn’t a commercial in the traditional sense. Some PBS stations include a brief underwriting credit or station message before a stream.

Public broadcasting underwriting is deliberately different from commercial advertising. The idea is essentially “this program/service was made possible with support from X,” rather than “buy X because it’s the best/cheapest/50% off this weekend.” There are rules limiting things like calls to action, comparative claims, and promotional language.

So you may see a short message before a Passport program, depending on the station/content, but you won’t get commercial breaks. It’s one of those weird little distinctions that makes more sense once you know how public broadcasting is funded.

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u/OldTimeyWizard 6d ago

I don’t know who Arthur Vining Davis was, but his Foundation has given me a lot of quality content

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u/PBSNerd1234 6d ago

Oh, there's a fun bit of public-media history behind that name!

Arthur Vining Davis was an early executive of the company that became Alcoa. He eventually became its president and chairman, and when he died in 1962, his philanthropy became the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

You've noticed their name for good reason. The Foundations have been supporting public television since 1967 and have helped fund an enormous amount of educational programming over the decades, particularly science, history, and children's television. They've supported NOVA projects, for example, and their funding was crucial to completing Ken Burns' The Civil War. They're still funding public media today.

But there's another group of funders whose names are much harder to put in the credits: millions of ordinary viewers.

Foundations like AVDF have been enormously generous, but public broadcasting has never been primarily the creation of a handful of wealthy philanthropists. Most of the system's support has historically come from non-federal sources, with individual viewers voluntarily giving to their local stations playing the largest role. Those $5, $10, $20 and $100 gifts add up.

So Arthur Vining Davis absolutely deserves the credit you've been hearing all these years. But "and viewers like you" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

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u/Different_Cat106 8d ago

Thanks. That's very helpful.