PBS Video offers a large selection of public television programming that can be viewed online, both popular program clips and full episodes.
Public Television Programming Available Online
Growing up, PBS meant one thing to me: obscure British programming and comedy programs like ‘Monty Python’ and ‘Doctor Who’. But having recently visited PBS Video, I’m impressed with the number of programs that can now be watched in entirety online.
The selection of programming is definitely more brainy, covering a variety of cerebral topics such as culture, history, science and religion. From the main PBS video page, you can navigate via program name, topic, or various collections.
A pop-up flash application on the page also provides a handy navigation to program guides as well (but on my old PC, the flash did tend to run a little choppy. Probably not an issue on newer PCs)
A Closer Look at the Episodes Available
PBS Video offers a good selection of full-length programs that can be enjoyed. I selected an episode of “American Experience” that opened quickly, with a brief PBS ad at the beginning (“thanks to viewers like you”). Video player controls offer a navigation slider, close captioning and a full screen option.
The picture and sound were very clear in the video. If interested in the show, clicking on the video routes directly to the PBS store where a DVD of the episode can be purchased.
Sesame Street turns 40
Sesame Street is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary, and in light of that, I personally would have liked to have seen more Sesame Street video content on PBS Video site, but instead they only offer a number of classic clips such as the “fat cat” clip (that watching again makes me feel absolutely old.)
Unfortunately, the site offers no full-length Sesame Street episodes at this time. The Sesame Street page offers a link to a “Classic Sesame Street website”, but clicking this link just recursively looped back to the same page again in a new tab. I noticed the tiny “beta” at the top of the screen, so apparently there are a few bugs to work out.
PBS Kids Clips But No Full Length Videos
PBS Video does offer a number of clips from the “PBS Kids” selection of programs, but no full episodes that I noticed. This would be a wise addition to make, as the PBS Kids portion of programming includes a large number of shows that kids enjoy (my own included.)
What to Expect from PBS Video
PBS Video offers a nice selection of episodes, but I would have liked a little bit more, namely to have had more PBS Kids videos (such as Sesame Street) available to view. Also offering an embed option for these shows would have been a good touch as well, for those wanting to share videos on blogs or social network sites. Extras like image galleries, music, blogs, etc, all would have been nice additions as well.
Granted, this is PBS, so I suppose the content they offer can only go as far as the funding that they receive Don’t expect big-budget sci-fi or nonsensical sitcoms. Rather, go into this knowing that the programming lineup is going to include brainier material like NOVA, Frontline, and Masterpiece Theater. If you’re a fan of public television, then PBS Video is an excellent online resource for viewing educational television online.
