A reader- interest survey. Maybe it wasn't the crime of the century, but in the rarefied world of the Public Broadcasting Service, the story merited big headlines. Barely one year into the job, PBS President Pat Mitchell was said to have canceled one of the system's cherished signature series. Killing the series . . . Not doing so, Mitchell adds, has done no favors to local stations.
Membership is down.
So is viewership. On the one hand, no one can touch PBS when it comes to quality educational programming. For viewers 2 to 5, PBS beats all competitors with Arthur, Dragon Tales, and Clifford The Big Red Dog. And it is cable that is eating into the market share of all the broadcast channels. With the exception of the stunningly successful Antiques Roadshow, PBS's prime-time lineup has not changed for nearly 15 years.