Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, October 13th, 2023

When was the last time you watched a PBS program?

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, October 13th, 2023. 

PROGRAMMING NOTE
My apologies for the late newsletter today. Some personal stuff pushed everything back a bit and I am ready for the weekend.

HEY, REMEMBER PBS?
I receive a lot of email questions about various TV shows, and today I got one that threw me a bit. It was a question about the upcoming Ken Burns two-part documentary The American Buffalo. And it surprised me because it is rare for me to ever get a question about PBS.

To be clear, I love a lot of their programming. I think they do important work and the fact that the 24-hour family channel PBS Kids is available in most major markets as a digital network for free over-the-air viewers is invaluable. But for all of their worthwhile programming, the PBS audience feels stuck in time and positioned outside the streaming-first world we live in.

I think that's due to the confluence of several different factors. Fewer TV viewers are watching over-the-air programming and even fewer of those own a stand-alone DVR like a Tablo. For those viewers, if they don't watch a PBS show live, they probably won't see it.

And as you all already know, the overall audience for linear TV continues to plummet. And while that broadcast audience can be expanded by viewing on one of the next-day apps or streaming services, that option isn't available for most PBS viewers. Right now, YouTube TV is the only virtual cable system that carries a national PBS feed. So if you are a subscriber to Hulu Live TV, Sling TV or other services, you don't have access to current PBS programming.

Much of this is the result of the somewhat wonky way PBS is organized. The network of more than 330 member stations is essentially a clearing house for programming created by outside programmers and member stations. Yes, there is a national PBS programming slate, but it's difficult to offer just a national PBS feed. Local stations (which depend on paid memberships for their survival) don't want a national network feed widely available because it would undercut the viewers' willingness to become a member of their local station. And because of some wonky content rights issues, apparently offering digital cable systems a local PBS affiliate feed isn’t possible.

The solution was to create PBS Passport, a more-or-less subscription service that is tied to local PBS station memberships. If you want to watch most recent PBS programming in the PBS app or on PBS.com, you'll need a PBS Passport membership. Which you can receive for free if you pony up at least $5 a month to your local PBS station.

In one aspect, the PBS Passport scheme is a great membership retention tool. It gives members a reason to keep up their membership and tbh, paid members are the most likely viewers for many PBS programs.

The challenge is that while PBS Passport does a nice job of servicing current members, it also serves as a barrier for bringing in the next generation of viewers. If you don't already have enough of a connection to PBS to be a member, how are you going to be exposed to their programming? If it basically doesn't exist outside the OTA signal and PBS Passport, how is the network (and local stations) going to build the next generation of viewers?

All of this has led to this weird situation in which most PBS programming just doesn't exist in the minds of many TV viewers. Most TV critics don't write about their programming, you don't see much chatter on social media or in just casual conversations with friends. For entirely too many people, PBS has slipped off of their radar and that's a shame.

There is one other factor that is impacting coverage of PBS programming and it is a bit of inside baseball, but after speaking with a few other TV critics, it does matter.

In theory, TV critics should cover as much television as possible. But in this world where there are so many choices, the decision about what shows to write about is primarily impacted by viewer interest. But in a crowded media environment, it also comes down to time and convenience.

Speaking for myself, I have a lot of shows I *could* be watching ahead of their premiere. And once the ones I absolutely have to write about are taken out of the equation, the decision about which of the other 50 screeners I could watch comes down in part to convenience. How easy is it for me to watch the screener? Is there some super-complicated multi-factor sign-in that is only going to work half of the time? Or in most cases, the determining factor for me is whether or not I can watch the screener on my TV. 

There are still a few networks who don't have a dedicated press screening app or don't use an outside service to post their preview programs into a TV screener app. And that always makes it less likely I am going to review their programs. I know it sounds petty or unfair. But I spend 10-12 hours a day on my computer. I don't want to spend another two hours of screentime watching an episode of some TV series. Yes, I might be able to cast the laptop screen to my TV, but that tends to an often frustrating experience. I've even plugged an HDMI cord directly into my TV in a pinch. But I really have to want to watch a show to go through those extra steps.

For the most part, PBS makes it screeners available through the PBS Press web site. The upside is that it's easy to navigate and generally error-free. But it's also a web site and as much as I hate to admit it, I often don't have the motivation at the end of a long day to spend another hour on my computer watching an episode of Nature.

So what is the answer to all of this? It's not my call, all I can do is highlight my observation that PBS is losing the battle with their next generation of viewers. And posting a bunch of videos on YouTube is not going to solve the problem.

In the meantime, remember to watch Annika, Hotel Portofino and World On Fire on Sunday on PBS. And the Ken Burns miniseries American Buffalo on Monday. 

ODDS AND SODS
* In a piece for Essence, Tayler Adigun talked with several fans of the HBO hit series Insecure and found that their perspectives on the show have changed since it premiered 7 years ago.

* Friday afternoon, a coalition of Hollywood Labor organizations released a joint statement supporting SAG-AFTRA, and called on the studios to resume negotiations.

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND THIS WEEKEND:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13TH:
* Creepshow Season Four Premiere (Shudder)
* Curious Caterer: Fatal Vows (Hallmark Movies And Mysteries)
* Everybody Loves Diamonds Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Goosebumps Series Premiere (Disney+/Hulu)
* John Carpenter's Suburban Screams Series Premiere (Peacock)
* Lessons In Chemistry (Apple TV+)
* Ljobon (Chaos) (Netflix)
* Natural Light (Film Movement+)
* Next At The Kennedy Center: Robert Glasper's Black Radio (PBS)
* Raid The Cage Series Premiere (CBS)
* Ready To Love: Make A Move Series Premiere (OWN)
* Serenata de las Estrellas Series Premiere (Roku Channel)
* The Conference (Netflix)
* Shining Vale Season Two Premiere (Starz)
* The Burial (Prime Video)
* The Burning Bed Series Premiere (Paramount+) 
* The Changeling Season One Finale (Apple TV+)
* The Conference (Netflix)
* The Puppetman (AMC+/Shudder)
* War In The Holy Land: A PBS News Special Report (PBS)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14TH:
* Destined 2: Christmas Once More (Great American Family)
* Field Day (Hallmark)
* Mystery By The Book (Great American Family)
* The Murdaugh Murders (Lifetime)
* Pets & Pickers (Animal Planet)
* Saturday Night Live Season Premiere (NBC)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15TH:
* Annika (PBS)
* Billy The Kid Season Two Premiere (MGM+)
* Camp Courage (Netflix)
* Hotel Portofino (PBS)
* Love Is Blind Season Five Reunion Special (Netflix)
* Naked & Afraid Season Premiere (Discovery)
* Rick And Morty Season Seven Premiere (Adult Swim)
* The Cowboy And The Movie Star (UP tv)
* The Insurrectionist Next Door (HBO)
* The Toys That Built America Season Premiere (History)
* Victim To Verdict With Ted Rowlands Series Premiere (Court TV)
* World On Fire (PBS)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 16TH:
* Contraband: Seized At The Border (Discovery)
* F-Boy Island Season Three Premiere (The CW)
* Oggy Oggy (Netflix)
* Studio C Season Seventeen Premiere (BYUtv)
* The American Buffalo (PBS)
* The Daily Show Returns From Hiatus (Comedy Central)
* The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe: The Real Story (Britbox)


Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU MONDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.