Open Letter to PBS & Ken Burns

PBS and North Carolina’s affiliate UNC-TV have been a big part of my life. Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 321 Contact, Mister Rogers and Doctor Who were a part of my childhood. I enjoyed watching (and still do) This Old House with my parents. I have become a fan of all of the Masterpiece programing, with Sherlock & Downton Abbey leading the way. But over the years, Ken Burns’ works have captured my attention. Jazz, The War, and The Civil War are my favorites. As you can tell from my blog post, “Pause To Study History,” I’m really looking forward to the re-mastered version of The Civil War airing and how it will spark discussion.

First off, I want to thank PBS & Ken Burns for providing quality programing that discusses our past, digs in to the personal aspects of history, and challenges us to move forward. Next I want to thank them for being wise in the time of year that they program Mr. Burns’ specials. Airing them after the Summer shows are winding down and before the Fall shows kick off is great. It means we can actually have event programing over several consecutive nights without people having to choose one program or the other. Next thanks for providing the content digitally on your app and for providing great content on your website to enhance the viewing and help in the discussion. As someone who works in education, I’m particularly thankful for the “In the Classroom” section of the website.

Now on to my complaint and it is not a huge one but it deserves a voice. Mr. Burns’ content is designed to help make history personal and get all people thinking. He has made a point to help in education with web content and his Ken Burns’ app. But I feel that PBS’s programing time slot greatly limits this. The Civil War, and many of other Ken Burns’ specials, are being aired from 9-11p.m. I understand that the content of Mr. Burns’ specials is more adult that what may air at the 8p.m. hour. But given recent years, the convention of airing more “family friendly” content at 8p.m. has gone out the window. His programing, though weighty has great content. If educators, parents, and community people want to use the program as a jumping off point, it is challenging to do so. Truthfully people, in particular young people, need their sleep and staying up until 11p.m. for the better part of a week might not be the best thing in the world. 8-10p.m. would be a better fit.

Now that I’ve talked about the time slot issue from an education and community standpoint, I would like to discuss it from a personal one. In an age of time shifting, I do feel there is a place for “Appointment TV,” “Event Programing,” and live specials. Watching programing “live” with others and interacting via social media is a lot of fun and can provoke great discussions. The time slot placement hinders this for me. Plus I have to make the decision on watching. Do I watch hour one “live” and watch hour 2 on the DVR the next day? Do I watch the whole show on the DVR the next day? Do I binge watch all the episodes at one time later? It is disappointing not to watch it all “live.”

I know it is too late to change for The Civil War, since it airs the week after I write this. But I would kindly ask PBS & Ken Burns to consider this for next year’s airing for Vietnam and all future Ken Burns specials.

Thanks,

Geoff Gentry