2. The implication that Americans pay a "hefty" amount for publlc broadcasting through their taxes hasn't been true since its beginning and in 1987 the percentage of government dollars has been below 50 % and continues to decrease. The study you reference by your HTML is evidence of this fact. And, the idea that viewers and listeners are not paying tax dollars for the commercial media they use is nonsense. One has to forget that the broadcast spectrum belongs to the American public and it was licensed, free of charge, to the broadcasters for public service. That most of it is used to make money that comes from the public through product and service sales is conveniently forgotten. And that includes all those channels whether or not the public uses them.

3. That commercial media has higher ratings per show is no indication of anything other than that TV watchers mostly want to be passively entertained. When they want to trust the information they seek, they chose public TV and radio.

4. Fact is that 87% of Americans chose programs on PBS and NPR each week. Certainly PBS it is the first choice of parents who want healthy programs for their children. NPR has had growth in news audience from about 11 million people in 2000 to over 33 million listeners per week.

5. My cheap shot: While facts get in the way of those with a bias against public media, it is always easier to acquire an uninformed bias by watching entertainment and celebrity news. And it evidently helps if the viewerlistener likes to be abused by their TV and radio shouters and ranters.

You're welcome.