>but today we have TLC, the Discovery Channel, The History
>Channel, The National Geographic Chanel, etc.

None of these replace Sesame Street for young kids along with

Arthur
Barney
Berenstain Bears
Between the Lions
Boohbah
Caillou
Clifford
Cyberchase
Dragon Tales
George Shrinks
Maya & Miguel
Mister Rogers
Postcards from Buster
Reading Rainbow
Sagwa
Sesame Street
Teletubbies
ZOOM

Nickelodeon has given PBS competition but with all the commercials I begin to wonder whether it's kids or $$$ that mean the most to Nick programmers. At least with Sesame Street my mother did not have to worry about me watching ads.

>We have 4
>networks that only show news. We have plenty of options for
>children's programming.

Owned and controlled by whom?

>So my question is, what is PBS providing that we
>can't get plenty of somewhere else?

It's not just NPR that is in jeopardy...so is the NEA and without this fund we would never have had Alvin Ailey or any of the arts programming that is critical to creating a balance in learning and sustaining culture.

What we have now is a "...modern information environment that stem from government- or corporate-dominated, hierarchical media." - http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/index.html

These entities do not always make decisions in the public's best interest. It's (fill in the blank) for profit but there is value in the voices of those not often represented in mainstream media. In the past, public media has represented these voices.