PBS Ties with Military Defense for Best Value for Tax Dollars



ARLINGTON, VA, March 22, 2007- For the fourth consecutive year, a GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media poll shows Americans consider PBS the nation's most trusted institution among nationally known organizations. In this latest study, PBS was elevated to the #1 value for tax dollars, tying with military defense. The non-partisan, international research company released the comprehensive results from its national opinion survey, which was conducted to gauge the attitudes of Americans towards PBS and other major national institutions, including courts of law and commercial broadcast television networks.



According to 1,000 randomly-selected participants from across the country, PBS' news and public affairs series are the most trustworthy among all networks, and the most fair and balanced programs available to Americans today.



"These results show once again that the American public believes they are getting their money's worth in return for the funds that are invested in PBS. The public places great trust in PBS," said Barry Feinberg, Managing Director of GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media.



"PBS is deeply honored to serve as America's most trusted institution for the past four years," said Paula Kerger, PBS President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is something we don't take lightly. PBS and its member stations strive each day to honor the trust the public has placed in us, and we look forward to continue serving the American people for many years to come."



Additional survey highlights:



- PBS remains #1 in public trust, with 49% trusting PBS a great deal. Second in trust are "courts of law," which are trusted a great deal by 27%.



- For the first time, PBS ties with military defense as #1 in tax value among 20 federally funded services and institutions, with 20% stating it as an excellent value for tax dollars.



- Americans are more satisfied with programs on PBS compared to cable and commercial broadcast. Thirty-nine percent stated they were "very satisfied" with PBS programs, while Cable programming received 25% and commercial broadcasting programming, 20%.



- The majority of Americans think it's very important to have public television (59%). Only two out of five Americans think the same about commercial broadcast television (41%) while even less think it's very important that we have cable television (38%).



- PBS remains the network with the most trusted news and public affairs programming, with 41% trusting its programs a great deal. CNN and Fox News trailed as second and third with 28% and 25%, respectively.



- Forty-three percent of Americans rated the news coverage, investigations and discussions of major issues on PBS programs as mostly fair. NBC came in second at 37%.



- Half of Americans believe the federal funding PBS receives is "too little." When informed that public broadcasting receives 15% of its funding from the government, and that this amount translates to about one dollar per person per year of government support, 49% believe this amount is "too little."



Commissioned by PBS, Roper Public Affairs & Media independently administered the annual telephone survey to 1,002 adults between the ages of 25 to 75 during February 1-25, 2007. To maintain objectivity throughout the survey, the questionnaire did not identify PBS as the sponsor, and wherever PBS and other media, organizations or services were evaluated together, a questioning randomization process was employed to ensure that both PBS and its competitors in a given category were treated equally in terms of positioning for any particular question. Moreover, any questions asked about PBS only were asked at the end of the survey, after the comparison questions were completed.



About PBS



PBS is a media enterprise that serves 355 public noncommercial television stations and reaches over 75 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is a leading provider of educational materials for K-12 teachers, and offers a broad array of other educational services. PBS' premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (www.pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.



About GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media



GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media is a division of GfK Custom Research North America. Specializing in customized public opinion polling, media & communications research, and corporate reputation measurement -- in the US and globally.



In addition to delivering a broad range of customized research studies, GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media draws from GfK's syndicated consumer tracking services, GfK Roper Reports US and GfK Roper Reports Worldwide, which monitor consumer values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors in the US and 30 other countries. Headquartered in New York, GfK Custom Research North America is part of the GfK Group. With home offices in Nuremberg, Germany, the GfK Group is among the top-five market research organizations in the world. Its activities cover five business divisions: Custom Research, Retail and Technology, Consumer Tracking, Media, and Healthcare. In addition to 13 subsidiaries in Germany, the GfK Group has more than 130 subsidiaries and affiliates in over 70 countries. For more information, visit www.gfkamerica.com.



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CONTACT:



Jennifer Daddura, 703/739-5223, jedaddura@pbs.org



