First public broadcast

May 25, 1953: The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston. The U.S. public broadcasting system differs from such systems in other countries, in that the principal public television and radio broadcasters – the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), respectively – operate as technically separate entities.

Some of the funding comes from community support to hundreds of public radio and public television stations, each of which is an individual entity licensed to one of several different non-profit organizations, municipal or state governments, or universities. Sources of funding also include on-air and online pledge drives and the sale of underwriting “spots” (typically running 15–30 seconds) to sponsors.