PBS: THE NEW ARTS CHANNEL (AGAIN)?

posted by James Reel

What passes for cultural programming on PBS has been rare and largely low-brow in the past decade-plus, but the network's head promises to do better. Now that Bravo and A&E have abdicated their cultural responsibilities, PBS has a real opportunity to regain its former prominence as a source of arts programming. What remains to be seen: Will there actually be money available for this expensive initiative? And what, exactly, will count as "arts" and "cultural" programming? If it turns out to be essentially what you can get on MTV, but with less fancy production, it will be hard to justify the effort.