PBS, the nonprofit Public Broadcasting Service, is sending a strong message after being hit with a complete loss of federal funding:
“We’re still here.”
That message is front and center with the launch of Ken Burns’ latest documentary series, The American Revolution, which premiered Sunday night, Nov. 16.
The six-part, 12-hour series is one of PBS’s most ambitious productions in years. It comes just months after President Donald Trump signed a bill canceling about $9 billion in previously approved spending, including $1.1 billion that was allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The CPB has long helped fund PBS and NPR by distributing federal dollars to more than 1,500 local stations across the country.
“This is a really big moment for PBS,” said Paula Kerger, PBS CEO, in an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival.
She noted the project is proof that the public broadcasting system is still functioning, even after painful layoffs and major budget cuts.
A Bold Launch Amid Major Cuts
The funding cuts took effect in October after the White House pushed Congress to rescind the funds, ending nearly 60 years of public media support.
While Trump had proposed similar cuts during his first term, Congress blocked them.
This time, the Republican-led Congress went along, despite some discomfort within the party. Democrats opposed the bill unanimously but lacked the votes to stop it.
The White House called the bill part of a broader push by the Department of Government Efficiency.
It was described as a test case for more rescission packages. Most of the canceled funds were tied to foreign aid, but the $1.1 billion hit to public broadcasting was deeply felt by local PBS and NPR stations, especially in smaller markets.
Kerger said the move created confusion among viewers.
“People thought that meant that we were gone,” she said. The new documentary and its national tour are part of an effort to show otherwise.
The American Revolution has been in the works since December 2015. Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Ken Burns said:
“There’s been a lot of water under the American bridge during this time.”
Burns called members of Congress directly in hopes of salvaging public media funding. In a previous interview with CBS, he said, “I couldn’t do any of the films I’ve done without them being on PBS.”
Rural Stations at Risk
The cuts have hit smaller and rural stations hardest. While bigger markets have larger donor bases and other revenue streams, smaller stations are struggling. Some could go off the air in the coming months or years.
Emergency funding from groups like the Knight Foundation has helped keep some afloat, and fundraising efforts have picked up.
“Fundraising has actually gone pretty well,” Kerger said. “And I’m going to certainly fight like crazy” to bring some of the federal money back.
At a recent screening in Washington, Kerger noted how lawmakers from both parties were eager to meet Burns.
“It bugged me a little bit that some of them voted against us, and they were still waiting to shake Ken’s hand,” she said. “But the point is they recognize that what he’s doing is important.”
Shared Stories, Even in Division
The series comes as the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026. Burns believes looking at the country’s origin story can help Americans reconnect during a divisive time.
“When you feel like we’re challenged, as we do now, that we’re divided, you go back, as a person would, to a therapist and ask, ‘Where’d you come from?’” he told Cooper.
“And going back to our origin story gives us the opportunity to help repair, maybe revitalize what it was that we were originally involved in.”
Even with no federal dollars backing it, PBS hopes The American Revolution shows it can still deliver content that matters to the country.
As Kerger put it, “This is the kind of work that public broadcasting is built to do.”