ABSTRACT
In the United States, uniquely, radio and television grew out of the heritage of the early diversion industries and the commercialized arts, as an integral part of the profit system. Generally public broadcasters around the world conduct themselves in accordance with their great responsibilities, within their ideological contexts and budget constraints. In the 1960s there developed in the marketplace a curiosity about foreign beer—and about television programs with body and flavor. Many accepted conformities were being zestfully questioned on campuses and in major cities, and travelers were bearing witness to the maturing medium of television in other lands. With unheroic beginnings, public television has passed much of its first decade in disappointment, controversy, internal disarray, and political accommodation. Some critics have harshly attributed the public network's problems to a philosophy of elitist programming and to its failure to arouse enough conviction that Americans need an alternative to commercial television.
