# PBS

23 Hacker News commenters recommended PBS and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend PBS for high-quality programming for both adults and children, documentaries and science shows, and public-media funding. Critics say it is politically biased.

## Why people recommend it

- Quality programming for adults and kids (3 comments): "the PBS subscription is rich with high-quality content for both adults and children" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49643524)) "I grew up on PBS and not Disney, and I think I turned out alright." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210418)) "PBS put out a lot of fantastic content." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48732719))
- Supports public media and creators (3 comments): "PBS Passport (~$60/year), for example, to directly support those media creators" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48281138)) "donating to PBS once makes me feel like I'm supporting Frontline, Ken Burns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081770)) "I think i'll donate to PBS while aiding YT archival efforts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47019607))
- Documentaries and science programming (2 comments): "donating to PBS once makes me feel like I'm supporting Frontline, Ken Burns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081770)) "a few current gems like Quanta and PBS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49389253))
- Independent, publicly funded and well regarded (3 comments): "PBS and BBC are both pretty well regarded and receive public funding." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47012621)) "Worked reasonably well, and fairly independently, for decades" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48127448)) "Those are all useful public services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49201222))

## What people warn about

- Seen as politically biased (3 comments): "These corporations tend to be heavily left-leaning, with no real guardrails preventing this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46502049)) "Not many people will honestly argue that NPR and PBS aren't incredibly biased" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47619936)) "PBS and NPR like to say they're advertiser free but they aren't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47801477))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [YouTube Premium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/youtube-premium.md): 197 recommend
- [Netflix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netflix.md): 181 recommend
- [Nebula](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nebula.md): 58 recommend
- [HBO](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hbo.md): 32 recommend
- [Amazon Prime Video](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-prime-video.md): 29 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "PBS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pbs/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).