PBS Distribution (PBSd), formerly known as PBS Ventures, PBS Home Video, and Public Media Distribution, is the home video distribution unit of American television network
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
. The company releases and sells
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
s of PBS series and movies and
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...
series in various formats.
[PBS Distribution (PBSd)](_blank)
. accessed April 16, 2017.
It is jointly owned by the
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
and the
WGBH Educational Foundation
The WGBH Educational Foundation (also known as GBH since August 2020) is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and op ...
. PBSd manages the PBS Masterpiece channel on Amazon's Prime Video Channels.
It is currently distributing PBS programs and movies on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
,
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
,
digital downloads, and
streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
and
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...
programs on DVD and digital downloads.
[ In 2017 independent films produced by PBSd were added for theatrical distribution and home video releases.][PBS.org: "PBS & PBS Distribution Announce Plans to Expand Theatrical Distribution Efforts for Independent Film"](_blank)
January 19, 2017. accessed April 16, 2017.
History
Established in 1977, the PBS Home Video, Inc. company originally distributed and sold VHS and Betamax
Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
tapes simply on their own.
Starting in 1990, PBS secured a deal with Pacific Arts
The Pacific Arts Corporation, Inc. is a company formed by Michael Nesmith circa 1974 to manage and develop media projects.
History
Pacific Arts Corporation, Inc. began as Pacific Arts Productions, Inc. when incorporated on October 18, 1974, as ...
to distribute PBS Home Video's products. In 1994, PBS moved to distribution through Turner Home Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
. In 1996, when Turner Home Entertainment's parent company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
merged with Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
, distribution was through Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
until 2004, when distribution moved to Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global.
The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
.
PBS Home Video became independent again in 2011, and was renamed PBS Distribution—PBSd. It is jointly owned by PBS and the WGBH Educational Foundation
The WGBH Educational Foundation (also known as GBH since August 2020) is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and op ...
.[ It is currently distributing PBS programs and movies on ]DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
, Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
, digital downloads, and video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
and PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...
programs on DVD and digital downloads.[ In 2017 independent films produced by PBSd were added for cinema and home video releases. PBS International offers factual content for broadcast, cable, and satellite services internationally.
On November 1, 2011, ]PBS UK
PBS America is a British free-to-air television channel derived from the American public television broadcaster PBS. Similar to the BBC and Channel 4, it is a joint venture between entrepreneur David Lyons and PBS Distribution, a joint venture ...
was launched on BSkyB. Canadian-born entrepreneur David Lyons and PBS Distribution formed a joint venture to run the channel.
Independent films
After a backlash from filmmakers over WNET
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
's attempts to move independent documentary series to its secondary station, PBS took feedback from the documentary community and developed an indie film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
strategy.
Through Independent Lens
''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...
, PBS acquired Stanley Nelson
Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences.
He is a recipient of the 2013 N ...
’s documentary film '' The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution''. The history of The Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
was especially timely due to the contemporary Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement's growth. The film was first released in theaters in late 2015, then had a special nationwide public television
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
premiere in late 2016.
PBSd expanded its operation to included theatrical distribution of documentary films by hiring Erin Owens as PBS Distribution's Head of Theatrical Distribution; and Emily Rothschild
Emily may refer to:
* Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name
Music
* "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily''
* "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...
as Director of Theatrical Acquisitions and Marketing. Owens and Rothschild had just worked with PBS on Stanley Nelson's ''The Black Panthers'' distribution.
The operations expansion of PBSd was announced at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on 19 January 2017.[ The company plans to get theatrical and non-theatrical rights for up to six feature-length documentaries to release per year.]
PBSd put British show, '' Jamestown'' as a streaming first run on PBS Passport and PBS Masterpiece as of March 23, 2018.
See also
*
*
References
External links
Official PBS Distribution − PBSd website
Bill Reed papers
at the University of Maryland libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
. Reed was one of the creators of PBS Video, and his papers contain documents on video and home video unit of the network.
Robert M. Reed papers
at the University of Maryland libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
. Reed was the executive director of PBS Video from 1969-1976.
{{Authority control
Home video companies of the United States
Public Broadcasting Service
WGBH Educational Foundation
DVD companies of the United States
Film distributors of the United States
Home video distributors
Video on demand services
Companies based in Arlington County, Virginia
Companies based in Boston
American companies established in 1977
Entertainment companies established in 1977
Mass media companies established in 1977