PBS Distribution

Many producers have produced terrific documentary specials or series which should receive wide viewership on PBS stations nationwide. Unfortunately, as a general rule, PBS stations don’t pay license fees. The PBS cash syndication business has dwindled to a shadow of its former self.  The national PBS network rarely pays license fees either, other than for pledge programming (concerts, self-help lecture shows, etc.).  Long-running primetime series (eg. Nature, NOVA, The American Experience, American Masters, Frontline, Independent Lens, POV, etc.) commission new programs and occasionally, acquire completed ones, but placing a program with any of them is extremely difficult.

Aside from these strands, PBS stations get most of their programming for free, because after all, they are providing the “eyeballs” — the audience (and the demographic is outstanding, if skewing a bit older). Program suppliers must organize financing on their own.  A good example of a long-running PBS series that is free to the stations and completely self-funded for both its production and distribution is The Charlie Rose Show. Many programs and series are presented and exchanged within the system by public television stations themselves; most come from independent producers and distributors.

Janson Media manages national PBS distribution/syndication campaigns, acting as a Presenter (similar to a Presenting Station). These campaigns must be managed effectively on many levels — creative, legal, and technical –  as well as from a “sales” standpoint, as PBS programmers need to be convinced (and arm-twisted at times) to put the program into their schedule, and to find an effective time slot for it.

PBS distribution campaigns are typically paid for by corporate or foundation underwriters who want to be associated with the program or series and get their good name in front of the highly-coveted PBS demographic and a nationwide audience. This is done via the mechanism of the 15 or 30-second “enhanced underwriting credit” at the top and tail of each program airing.  Underwriters also receive credits on DVDs and websites and on any and all educational outreach and promotional efforts. Occasionally, campaigns are paid for with private financing, sometimes uncredited in either the spots or the credit rolls.

PBS distribution campaigns have many components, and the costs vary a great deal, depending on project format (onetime special or ongoing series), and budget constraints of the producer. Major campaigns can reach into six figures, and are rarely less than $25,000.  Elements of a campaign include the following:

• Presentation Materials: This includes the creation of a program website, as well as print or pdf pitch documents.
• Production/post-production: Program/episode masters must be edited and packaged properly for public television release. Management of this process includes creative, technical and legal issues.
• Closed Captioning
• Satellite Uplink
• Station Relations: We assign one of our station relations executives to the project. These experienced specialists, well-known and respected by public television programmers, pitch the program/series to PBS programming and scheduling executives and arrange for its carriage and scheduling.
• Carriage Tracking (optional; we can recommend a firm to track your PBS carriage)
• Consumer Publicity (optional; we can recommend publicity firms that specialized in PBS programming)

Please complete our Submissions Form if you are interested in having Janson Media manage a national PBS Distribution Campaign for your program.