The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 () issued the
congressional corporate charter
In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where it exists) form the company's constitutio ...
for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
(CPB), a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
nonprofit corporation
A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...
funded by taxpayers to disburse
grants
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
to
public broadcasters in the United States, and eventually established 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 ...
(PBS) and
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR). The act was supported by many prominent Americans, including
Fred Rogers
Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...
("Mister Rogers"), NPR founder and creator of ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''
Robert Conley, and Senator
John O. Pastore of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, then chairman of the
Senate Subcommittee on Communications, during
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
hearings in 1967.
The act charged the CPB with encouraging and facilitating program diversity, and expanding and developing non-commercial
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
. The CPB would have the funds to help local stations create innovative programs, thereby increasing the service of broadcasting in the public interest throughout the country.
Background
A need of improvement to educational television -- as radio was not initially considered in further improvement of noncommercial broadcasting -- begin in 1964 in the Democratic Party Platform with calls for a bolstering of education in general and a line dedicated to the enhancement of educational television throughout the U.S. Public interest in educational television was brought about by the proposals by the
Carnegie Commission on Educational Television The Carnegie Commission on Educational Television was established in 1965 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in the United States. This commission was created to research the role noncommercial educational television played on society in Americ ...
and the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
.
Provisions
Title I of the Public Broadcasting Act details the costs of upgrading educational broadcasting, both for radio and television, as well as establishes how much of the money budgeted to educational broadcasting can be granted to broadcasters in each state and how that granted money is used.
Title II establishes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) as a nonprofit corporation tasked with aiding in the creation, development, and funding of noncommercial educational television and radio networks and programming, as well as creating programming for noncommercial educational networks to use and broadcast to the public. Created programs that are controversial should be objective and present a balance of opinions. Likewise, the corporation cannot support any political candidate nor any political party. The CPB was granted $9 million to use during its first year of operation, no more than $250,000 of which was to be granted by the CPB to noncommercial educational stations. The Act also calls for the establishment of a Board of Directors made up of 15 individuals chosen by the president and confirmed by Senate whose duty it is to initially set up the CPB and to continue to facilitate its actions. These directors serve six year terms, two of which may be served consecutively.
[Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, 47 USCS § 390 ''et seq.'' (1967).]
Title III allows and grants money for a study to be done by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in order to ascertain how educational broadcasting can be improved further.
Minor amendments were also made to other areas of the
Communications Act of 1934
The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934 and codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the Federal Radio Commission with ...
-- previously only containing language pertaining to and directly addressing television -- to include radio broadcasting in its oversight.
Legislative History
On April 11th, 1967, the Senate Subcommittee on Communications held their hearing on the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. In the proceedings of the hearing, all of the witnesses who appeared voiced their support for the general purposes of the bill, and the majority supported the passage of the legislation as it was currently drafted. The majority of witnesses' testimonies focused on providing the legislators with information about how the CPB should operate in regards to specific topics related to the witnesses' fields of expertise, but not necessarily ideas or suggestions that warranted the addition, removal, or editing of any of the bill's provisions. Some voiced concern over the government involvement in the operations of the would-be Corporation for Public Broadcasting, worrying that the provisions of the bill that established the apolitical nature of the corporation were not strong enough. Several other witnesses whose backgrounds were in the commercial broadcasting industry urged the committee to authorize the immediate use of satellite technology by the CPB.
The debate of the bill on the Senate floor was mostly in favor of the passage of the bill as passed by committee with a few amendments which aligned with the original intent of the bill; however, the same was not the case in the House. On the House floor during debate, an amendment proposed by
Samuel L. Devine
Samuel Leeper Devine (December 21, 1915 – June 27, 1997) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served in the United States House of Representatives as Representative of the 12th congressional district of Ohio from January 3, 1 ...
would have removed Title II, the establishment of the CPB, from the bill but divide $5 million equally amongst all noncommercial broadcasting stations. The amendment was defeated by a roll-call vote of 167-194. A similar amendment proposed by
Albert Watson simply deleted Title II and was likewise rejected with a teller vote of 111-120. Both rejected bill-killing amendments were supported by a coalition of
Southern Democrats
Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally mu ...
and Republicans.
![L](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/L.B._Johnson_signing_Public_Broadcasting_Act_of_1967.jpg)
The act was originally to be called the "Public Television Act" and focus exclusively on television, worrying supporters of public radio. However, in a sudden change of fortune, Senator
Robert Griffin of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
suggested changing the name to the "Public Broadcasting Act" when the bill passed through the Senate. This set the path for the incorporation of
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) in 1970. After several revisions, including last-minute changes added with
Scotch Tape, The
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
passed the bill 266-91 on September 21, 1967, with 51 members voting "present" and two not voting.
When President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
signed the act into law on November 7, 1967, he described its purpose as:
It announces to the world that our nation wants more than just material wealth; our nation wants more than a 'chicken in every pot.' We in America have an appetite for excellence, too. While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man's spirit. That is the purpose of this act.[Remarks of President Lyndon B. Johnson Upon Signing the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967](_blank)
at cpb.org
It will give a wider and, I think, stronger voice to educational radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
by providing new funds for broadcast facilities. It will launch a major study of television's use in the Nation's classrooms and its potential use throughout the world. Finally — and most important — it builds a new institution: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
Most political observers viewed the Act as a component of Johnson's "
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...
" initiatives intended to increase governmental support for health, welfare, and educational activities in the U.S. The support that the Act and similar legislation addressing other matters received reflected the
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
consensus of the period.
Educational Television
In addition to the progress made by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, other areas such as
educational television
Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable telev ...
(ETV) made headway as well. The
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) had reserved almost 250
channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
frequencies for educational stations in 1953, although, seven years later, only 44 such stations were in operation.
However, by 1969, the number of stations had climbed to 175.
Each week, the National Education Television and Radio Center (renamed
National Educational Television
National Educational Television (NET) was an American non-commercial educational, educational terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It o ...
in 1963) aired a few hours of relatively inexpensive programs to educational stations across the country. These programs were produced by a plethora of stations across the nation, such as
WGBH WGBH may refer to:
* WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation
** WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
WTTW
WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and
KQED in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Unfortunately, with the growth of
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
radio and television, the more poorly-funded educational programming was being largely ignored by the American public. The higher budgets of the commercial networks and stations were making it difficult for the educational programs to attract viewers' attention, due to their smaller budgets and, thus, lower production values.
Networks and stations that previously aired a modest amount of educational programming began to eschew it in the early 1960s in favor of a near-total emphasis on commercial entertainment programs because they lured more people, and thus more
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
dollars. Locally-run,
nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
television and radio tried to "fill in the gaps"
but, due to the technological gap created by budget constraints (typically caused by being no more than a line item on a municipality, state, or university's annual budget that could not be adjusted in the middle of a year to address arising needs), it was increasingly difficult to produce programming with high production values that viewers had become accustomed to.
In 1965, the increasing distance between commercial and educational programming and audience size led to the
Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...
ordering its Commission on Education Television to conduct a study of the American ETV system and, from that study, derive changes and recommendations for future action regarding ETV. The report created from the study was published about two years later and became a "catalyst and model"
for the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
With the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, smaller television and radio broadcasters, operated usually by community organizations, state and local governments, or universities, were able to be seen and heard by a wider range of
audiences
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
, and new and developing broadcasters were encouraged to display their knowledge to the country. Before 1967, commercial radio and television were mostly used by major networks and local broadcasters in order to attract advertisers and make as large a profit as possible, often with little or no regard to the general welfare of their audiences, except for news broadcasts shown only a few hours per day and public-affairs programs that aired in low-rated timeslots such as Sunday mornings, when a considerable segment of the American public attended religious worship. Smaller stations were unable to make much impact due to their lack of funds for matters such as program production, properly functioning equipment, signal transmission, and promotion in their communities at large.
The act provided a window for certain broadcasters to get their messages, sometimes unpopular ones, across and, in some cases, straight to the point, without fear of undue influence exerted by commercial or political interests. Even people who had no access to
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
(at the time of the Act's adoption, a medium used to receive and amplify distant TV signals for clear viewing and not available everywhere in the U.S.; the first cable-only network did not appear until 1972, with
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
) were usually provided with public television as an alternative viewing option to the
Big Three television networks
In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their longev ...
of the time; only some larger markets had
independent television stations
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
prior to the late 1970s.
Many adults and children today would have grown up without some of the more well-known
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 ...
shows, such as ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' and ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...
,'' without this legislation. Some other shows, aimed at adults, provide information to address everyday needs or concerns. To increase funding, stations began offering privileges and merchandise as rewards to induce
private household donations; however, these were generally targeted at larger audiences than those who normally watched. This became a source of controversy among some in the industry in later years, particularly beginning in the 1970s with reductions in Federal funding that occurred because of political and economic changes from the days of the Act's 1967 inception.
Concepts
Public broadcasting
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 ...
includes multiple
media outlets
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
, which receive some or all of their funding from the public. The main media outlets consist of radio and television. Public broadcasting consists of organizations such as CPB,
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
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, organizations independent of each other and of the local public television and radio stations across the country.
CPB was created and funded by the federal government; it does not produce or distribute any programming.
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 ...
is a private, nonprofit corporation, founded in 1969, whose members are America's public TV stations — noncommercial, educational licensees that operate nearly 360 PBS member stations and serve all 50 states,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
,
U.S. Virgin Islands,
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
.
The nonprofit organization also reaches almost 117 million people through television and nearly 20 million people online each month.
NPR is a
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
news organization and radio program producer, with member stations and supporters nationwide.
See also
*
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
*
Freedom of speech in the United States
In the United States, freedom of speech and expression is strongly protected from government restrictions by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, many state constitutions, and state and federal laws. Freedom of speech, also ca ...
References
External links
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
* Dedicated public servant Dean W. Coston helped write the Public Broadcasting act and ensured the inclusion of radio programming
His papersmay be found 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 ...
.
{{Authority control
1967 in law
90th United States Congress
United States federal communications legislation
United States federal education legislation
Media legislation
History of mass media in the United States