Rolando wrote: "I know at least one E.C. author who doesn't much care for PBS."
You can't possibly be referring to this, can you?
Actually, I agree with you on the value of Bill Moyers and Frontline, as well as the occasional opera and Broadway musical on Great Performances. However...
It's stuff like a biography of Bob Newhart, a tribute concert for James Taylor, actors promoting blockbuster films on Charlie Rose, and the unremarkable punditry of Washington Week in Review that cause me to believe that PBS airs a lot of stubbornly middle-brow, middle-of-the-road fare that can easily be found elsewhere.
Most of all, I wish that public television had more local programming, since that has almost vanished from both public and commercial TV. When I was growing up in Massachusetts, we had a nightly local newscast on the public station, as well as shows like Elliot Norton Reviews, which covered local theater, and The French Chef, with Boston institution Julia Child.
Sheesh, now I sound like an old man who hates anything new. Maybe I'm an ideal PBS viewer after all.