Public broadcasting's transition to digital technology deserves public support. A commitment of public support for public broadcasting in the digital age would build on that wise, long-term investment. They will raise the rest from other sources. Since the FCC is requiring all television stations to convert to digital programming by 2003, public broadcasters are obliged to make unprecedented investments in new transmission and production equipment. The noncommercial nature of public broadcasting makes raising these funds from private sources even more challenging than for the commercial networks, and thus requires a public investment to meet the new technological standard.
Public broadcasting is a unique national resource.
100 million people a week watch public television and more than 20 million people a week listen to public radio. Public broadcasting stations are local community institutions. For more than a generation, public broadcasting has set the standard in children's television with nonviolent, noncommercial, nurturing programs that educate, inspire and delight the young viewers.