In the early days of broadcasting, public broadcasting was not very important or considered useful. Commercial broadcasts were all the rage; the trading post licensing blitz lasted from the 1940s to the 1950s. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reserved many frequencies for educational television (ETV). These stations only began to be used in the early 1950s for universities and other non-profit organizations. Public service broadcasters try to broadcast programs that improve society by informing. This is the main difference between public and commercial. Commercial broadcasters are only concerned with attracting as many people as possible by broadcasting popular material and increasing their profits with commercials and sponsorships. Today, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and its 360 stations are said to reach more than 110 million American viewers and nearly 19 million on the Internet. According to a survey conducted by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, PBS has consistently been rated America's most trusted national institution since the mid-2000s. Stations like PBS constantly struggle to compete with corporate giants like ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. It is difficult for public broadcasting to compete with commercial television. They don't have the funding for shows like Lost, NCIS, Law and Order, and all the other popular shows. Public broadcasting must rely on funding from the government, loyal viewers and private sponsors, while commercial television sells commercials that can cost up to $780,000 or more, depending on the number of viewers expected for that specific program. Despite this, it is obvious that commercial television has a much richer portfolio than public television... middle of paper... Exam Street is in its 40th season. With numbers like that, I don't think kids need to worry about saying goodbye to Big Bird. Works Cited Aufderheide, Pat and Jessica Clark. “Public Broadcasting and Public Affairs.” Media RE: Audience (2008): 1-18. Cyber.Law.Harvard.Edu. Berkmann. Network. March 21, 2010. "The Mission. Producing for PBS." PBS. Network. March 21, 2010. .Mittell, Jason. Television and American culture. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 2010. Print."PBPB | PolicyBase of Public Broadcasting." Current.org | The newspaper on public TV and radio on the US Web. March 21, 2010. .Welcome to Paper Tiger | PTTV. Network. March 21. 2010. .