Public Broadcasting Service: Difference between revisions

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Arguably, the influence of the PBS broadcasts reached their zenith on November 23, 1983, the 20th anniversary of ''Doctor Who'', when PBS broadcasters aired the anniversary special ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', several days ''before'' the BBC.
Arguably, the influence of the PBS broadcasts reached their zenith on November 23, 1983, the 20th anniversary of ''Doctor Who'', when PBS broadcasters aired the anniversary special ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', several days ''before'' the BBC.


Sales to PBS stations began to drop off around the time ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' went up for sale. There were a variety of reasons. One of the biggest was the advent of the VHS recorder. This allowed American fans to copy episodes of ''Doctor Who'', which were being replayed on a regular basis. It was possible for viewers in some markets to get a complete Tom Baker-Colin Baker run in about a year, if they were so inclined. Also, [[BBC Video]] had begun releasing official NTSC VHS editions of stories at that point. Thus, there was simply less actual need for a PBS station. Negative press surrounding the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras may have played a contributing factor, but this cannot be proven, and certainly many PBS stations continued to air the series all the way through to ''[[Survival]]'', which began to appear on PBS broadcasters in Detroit and elsewhere in 1990.
Sales to PBS stations began to drop off around the time ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' went up for sale. There were a variety of reasons. One of the biggest was the advent of the VHS recorder. This allowed American fans to copy episodes of ''Doctor Who'', which were being replayed on a regular basis. It was possible for viewers in some markets to get a complete Tom Baker-Colin Baker run in about a year, if they were so inclined. Also, [[BBC Video]] had begun releasing official NTSC VHS editions of stories at that point. Thus, there was simply less actual need for a PBS station. Negative press surrounding the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras may have played a contributing factor, but this cannot be proven, and certainly many PBS stations continued to air the series all the way through to ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'', which began to appear on PBS broadcasters in Detroit and elsewhere in 1990.


It was around this time that many PBS stations chose to look backward instead of forwards. In the late 1980s, they began to more strongly buy existing [[serial]]s from the [[William Hartnell]], [[Patrick Troughton]] and [[Jon Pertwee]] eras.
It was around this time that many PBS stations chose to look backward instead of forwards. In the late 1980s, they began to more strongly buy existing [[serial]]s from the [[William Hartnell]], [[Patrick Troughton]] and [[Jon Pertwee]] eras.
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