I just wanted to draw awareness to the fact that Public Broadcasting is no longer accessible to every American. I'm not a technician but I know that even with post-digital conversion TV sets, ordinary consumer antennas are no longer sufficient to receive public broadcast channels. As it stands now, one is required to have expensive outdoor antennas if they wish to receive these channels "over the air". Needless to say, this isn't accessible to ALL Americans, especially low income families or renters. This wasn't an issue before the conversion. There are paid "passport" programs with each individual member stations but even that doesn't allow people to receive live broadcasts. I am aware that this issue falls on the FCC and individual stations, but there should be advocates who will protect the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. It seems like this has fallen through the cracks.
Who will advocate for access?
Received:
California
Workbench Page Type:
Month and Year:
June, 2022
Comment:
Thank you for contacting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Your interest in public broadcasting is greatly appreciated. As part of CPB’s universal service mandate, CPB is committed to seeing that public television programming continues to be accessible to the American public. We are interested in finding the best and most efficient way that this can be accomplished so that maximum resources can be put toward local programming, engagement with the community and other work that only public television can provide. Thank you again for your concern and support of public broadcasting.