4 Comments

Yeah, I think Passport is a great deal for PBS fans. My issue is that if you're not as familiar with their programming, the current set-up makes it harder to get sucked into watching. We have Hulu Live TV and Philo for live television, but neither one carries PBS. One of our TVs does have an antenna, but since there's no DVR, there's no way to watch unless we do it live.

I think it's interesting that you have to find reviews for the most part in UK papers. Maybe that's another reason for me to ramp up coverage of their programming, even if it is inconvenient.

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I know you're talking about linear but PBS has done a fantastic job with its brand imo on YouTube and potentially other social media (I'm not on any of them other than YT). Their original content is constantly recommended to me and it's always very well done.

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Yeah, I think that's a fair point. But even with YT, there isn't a way to capture that interest and move it over to their linear broadcasts. I know that's a less important focus for the network in general. But it still matters a lot to the local stations.

But you're right, the overall production and entertainment value of their digital stuff is really high.

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I am a huge PBS fan and Passport donor. All Creatures Great and Small is really good! I am definitely watching World on Fire and Hotel Portofino. That’s a shame for screeners. What I usually do is google reviews and get British papers like The Guardian who reviewed the shows when they aired in the UK. Amazon Prime does have a collection of older shows which is worth sampling. And a dedicated “Masterpiece” channel. I prefer Passport because it often releases the full season all at once. The advantage to PBS Passport over all streaming services is your donation is tax deductible. So it’s a great deal.

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