@sneakypete
I like PBS. I grew up watching Sesame Street and Fred Rogers, and I still watch. I like “Antiques Roadshow” and they do have good dramas on Sunday night. I just saw a series on mental illness last week which was really good.
@Gefn I started watching PBS waaaay back in the 60's,when the tv viewing schedules were pretty damn slim,and all the tv's were still in black and white. Mostly out of boredom and having nothing else to watch or do.
I would tune in and there would be a program starting about truly boring crap like "The sex live on the Argentinian Serial Killer Butterfly (or some such mind-numbingly boring title),and damned if it wouldn't pull me in within 15 minutes and make me wonder why I never thought it wouldn't be interesting.
Then I discovered things like Masterpiece Theater,and was hooked.
Flat out,you see VERY interesting things on your local PBS station that you will NEVER see anywhere else. For this alone,it earns every tax-payer dollar it costs.
ANYBODY that can watch a series like MI-5,Danger UXB,Poldark,Unforgotten,Victoria,Ripper Street,Wolf Hall,Les Misérables (the drama,NOT the freaking musical!),Prime Suspect,with Helen Mirren!,Wallander,etc,etc,etc, and can then tell you it is boring and not worth the taxpayer money is either a fool or a liar.
Quite possibly both.