PBS
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 20 streaming services by recommenders
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.
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.
33 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Quality programming for adults and kids
“the PBS subscription is rich with high-quality content for both adults and children”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021” “I grew up on PBS and not Disney, and I think I turned out alright.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier” “PBS put out a lot of fantastic content.”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting” Supports public media and creators
“PBS Passport (~$60/year), for example, to directly support those media creators”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Don't Subscribe So Casually” “donating to PBS once makes me feel like I'm supporting Frontline, Ken Burns”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Micropayments as a reality check for news sites” “I think i'll donate to PBS while aiding YT archival efforts.”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “uBlock filter list to hide all YouTube Shorts” Documentaries and science programming
“donating to PBS once makes me feel like I'm supporting Frontline, Ken Burns”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Micropayments as a reality check for news sites” “a few current gems like Quanta and PBS”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Kagi added a setting for removing paywalled links from search results” Independent, publicly funded and well regarded
“PBS and BBC are both pretty well regarded and receive public funding.”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling” “Worked reasonably well, and fairly independently, for decades”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Making the news available at no cost is a victory” “Those are all useful public services.”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Seen as politically biased
“These corporations tend to be heavily left-leaning, with no real guardrails preventing this.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Imagine 130M Washing Machines” “Not many people will honestly argue that NPR and PBS aren't incredibly biased”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “OpenAI Acquires TBPN” “PBS and NPR like to say they're advertiser free but they aren't”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Everything we like is a psyop”
Other streaming services people recommend
The four most recommended other streaming services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Premium | 197 | 195 | 50% | 13 | 10 yrs10 owners | — |
| Netflix | 181 | 538 | 25% | 12 | 15 yrs10 owners | — |
| Nebula | 58 | 17 | 77% | 12 | 2 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| HBO | 32 | 32 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| PBSThis page | 23 | 10 | 70% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
28 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“PBS looks like it has some ok stuff”
“I grew up on PBS and not Disney, and I think I turned out alright.”
“they are available globally, and there are non-US-based sources if readers prefer”
“if your writers are mostly people primarily concerned with making sure they bow at the alter in every single video”
“It's terribly inconvenient.”
“the PBS subscription is rich with high-quality content for both adults and children”
“both are fantastic for music discovery”
“a few current gems like Quanta and PBS”
“Those are all useful public services.”
“PBS put out a lot of fantastic content.”
“PBS Passport (~$60/year), for example, to directly support those media creators”
“Worked reasonably well, and fairly independently, for decades”
“PBS and NPR like to say they're advertiser free but they aren't”
“Not many people will honestly argue that NPR and PBS aren't incredibly biased”
“PBS is great if you are looking for a workable harm reduction strategy”
“PBS is a godsend here, but there's other good options out there too.”
“PBS has been alright in this regard”
“sadly pbs.org loads mangled”
“gpus on slurm/pbs could not be simpler”
“donating to PBS once makes me feel like I'm supporting Frontline, Ken Burns”
“I think i'll donate to PBS while aiding YT archival efforts.”
“PBS and BBC are both pretty well regarded and receive public funding.”
“such awful and burdensome PoS”
“These corporations tend to be heavily left-leaning, with no real guardrails preventing this.”
“SLURM/PBS, when properly configured, can ensure that local clusters do not spill over and not use resources that are not supposed to be used.”
“these systems are quite overkill when all you have is a single node shared by a few users”
“If PBS and NPR had shows of the caliber of Mr. Rogers then perhaps a strong case could be made continuing that funding.”
“Their productions are slow and calming.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.