I just got this from a contact at PBS... What do you think?

"In the next few months, Congress will decide whether to continue supporting Big Bird—or give him the ax. Public broadcasting gets around $400 million annually from the U.S. government, which covers about 15% of local station budgets. (Most shows are funded primarily by producers, viewer donations, private foundations and corporations.) Now the Bush Administration has proposed cutting funding by half.

Those who agree with this decrease say that, with the availability of high-quality cable-TV shows, public TV is unnecessary. Its average nightly audience is 2.1 million—around half of the viewership of pro wrestling. Responds Eric Boehlert, senior fellow at Media Matters, a nonprofit media watchdog group: “PBS is a success story for the government, ranking up there with the national parks. Any cuts would hurt the millions of people who can’t or won’t pay for cable.”

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