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<blockquote data-quote="Daniel Avery" data-source="post: 151842" data-attributes="member: 27">Things were quite different in the 1980s (the understatement of the year).&nbsp; Georgia Public Television (the state-wide network of PBS stations) opted to buy a lot of British comedy and sci-fi imports because they wanted to diversify their image (PBS being viewed as &#039;stuffy old period dramas&#039;, boring documentaries and Sesame Street).&nbsp; This was when they had to start the beg-a-thons, which they refer to as &#039;pledge breaks&#039;.&nbsp; The British comedies seemed to be when they could get a lot more movement on the donations, so they would often premiere a new series during pledge season, much like the networks airing specials during Sweeps to drum up ad revenue. Since Nielsen didn&#039;t measure PBS&#039;s ratings, this was often the only real &#039;feedback&#039; the program director got with respect to popularity.&nbsp; They would even enlist some of the actors to appear (on tape, or even in person) during the breaks to help raise money.GPT also seemed to want to diversify PBS&#039;s overall image, which was &#039;stuffy period dramas, boring documentaries, and Sesame Street&#039;.&nbsp; Emphasizing British comedy and sci-fi (even a few Australian programs mixed in) allowed them to claim they were more than just Masterpiece Theater. They likely got the shorter-run series to augment the schedule where they tended to beat their favorites to death with endless reruns.&nbsp; I can only recall The Bounder airing once, maybe twice, while Are You Being Served? re-played in a continuous loop for probably fifteen years.&nbsp; Here in Florida a local PBS station is doing the same endless loop with Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By--both shows have been in reruns for the whole seven-plus years I&#039;ve lived here.&nbsp; GPT seemed to &#039;fall out of love&#039; with Britcoms in the early 2000s when they no longer had their stuffy image problem, and of course BBC America came along to provide Anglophiles with their Brit-fix.&nbsp; That was of course until BBC America quit airing exclusively British content and just became another place to see Star Trek Next Generation four times per day.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Daniel Avery, post: 151842, member: 27"] Things were quite different in the 1980s (the understatement of the year). Georgia Public Television (the state-wide network of PBS stations) opted to buy a lot of British comedy and sci-fi imports because they wanted to diversify their image (PBS being viewed as 'stuffy old period dramas', boring documentaries and[I] Sesame Street[/I]). This was when they had to start the beg-a-thons, which they refer to as 'pledge breaks'. The British comedies seemed to be when they could get a lot more movement on the donations, so they would often premiere a new series during pledge season, much like the networks airing specials during Sweeps to drum up ad revenue. [FONT=Georgia][COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)]Since Nielsen didn't measure PBS's ratings, this was often the only real 'feedback' the program director got with respect to popularity. [/COLOR][/FONT]They would even enlist some of the actors to appear (on tape, or even in person) during the breaks to help raise money. GPT also seemed to want to diversify PBS's overall image, which was 'stuffy period dramas, boring documentaries, and [I]Sesame Street[/I]'. Emphasizing British comedy and sci-fi (even a few Australian programs mixed in) allowed them to claim they were more than just [I]Masterpiece Theater[/I]. They likely got the shorter-run series to augment the schedule where they tended to beat their favorites to death with endless reruns. I can only recall [I]The Bounder[/I] airing once, maybe twice, while [I]Are You Being Served?[/I] re-played in a continuous loop for probably fifteen years. Here in Florida a local PBS station is doing the same endless loop with[I] Keeping Up Appearances[/I] and [I]As Time Goes By--[/I]both shows have been in reruns for the whole seven-plus years I've lived here. GPT seemed to 'fall out of love' with Britcoms in the early 2000s when they no longer had their stuffy image problem, and of course BBC America came along to provide Anglophiles with their Brit-fix. That was of course until BBC America quit airing exclusively British content and just became another place to see [I]Star Trek Next Generation[/I] four times per day. [/QUOTE]

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