From the Arkansas Advocate:
Joy Holmes, a mother from Conway who homeschools her two children, has depended on PBS’ content over the past several years. Beloved characters Clifford the Big Red Dog and Wild Kratts are like family for her kids, who are on the autism spectrum.
While her children struggle to connect with people, “it’s much easier to connect with a show and connect with characters” from those long-running programs, Holmes said.
“It’s a fundamental part of our day,” Holmes said. “We don’t have a day where we’re not using the [PBS] kids’ programming.”
As Arkansas prepares to become the first state in the nation to disaffiliate from PBS, leaders of the rebranded Arkansas TV insist they’re keeping viewers in mind as they replace Big Bird, Ken Burns and Daniel Tiger with locally-made productions.
“What we have the opportunity to do now is to march boldly forward with a business model that can work for the long term,” Carlton Wing, the former Republican lawmaker who is now Arkansas TV’s CEO, said at a Little Rock Rotary Club meeting this month.
But interviews with parents like Holmes and feedback the state has received show the challenges the public television network faces in winning over those viewers.
If the agency breaks away from PBS headquarters on July 1 as planned, the shows Holmes’ children enjoy will be available online and on the free PBS KIDS app, but no longer on television.
The Arkansas PBS Commission voted 6-2 in December to cut ties with the national network. The decision came as a shock to PBS headquarters and to Arkansans throughout the state, according to correspondence with Arkansas TV that the Arkansas Advocate obtained via a public records request.
In his Rotary Club address, Wing said the same thing he told the PBS Commission: No longer having to pay PBS dues was the only way to keep the network afloat. The network lost $2.5 million in programming and operational funds after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lost federal funding last summer, and CPB officially shut down this month.
Holmes called the disaffiliation “an ideological move.” Dozens of Arkansans made similar comments in emails to Arkansas TV.
“As an Arkansas educator, I am profoundly concerned that the shortsighted desire to eradicate PBS that was driven by Republican leaders nationally and led by President [Donald] Trump deprives children across the nation of the wonderful programming that explores history, culture, and diverse voices,” one viewer wrote.
Another viewer said the availability of PBS kids’ shows exclusively online is untenable because “many families do not have a dedicated computer/laptop for their child/children to use.”
Financial concerns
Katie Cramer, Wing’s executive assistant, answered many frustrated emails with the same response. She repeated Wing’s financial argument and said the network’s “attempts to negotiate lower annual dues were, unfortunately, unsuccessful.”
Some viewers who complained noted Arkansas’ growing budget surplus.
“If this was a priority, it would be taken care of by the legislature and the governor,” a viewer from Fayetteville wrote.
Cramer wrote in response that Wing would support rejoining PBS if the network were able to negotiate lower dues and that he “has been a genuine supporter of PBS for a long time.”
Wing was a Republican state representative from 2017 until September, when he resigned to take over the public television network. He was among the lawmakers who urged their colleagues to pass the network’s appropriation bill in 2024, when the bill passed after three attempts. The appropriation took five attempts to pass the House in 2025.
Due to this years-long struggle, asking the state to give the network more spending authority “is not realistic,” Wing said.
The network has caught the ire of some Republican state lawmakers, including Jonesboro Sen. Dan Sullivan, who last year unsuccessfully pushed for abolishing the Arkansas PBS commission.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Sullivan’s wife, Maria Sullivan, to the PBS Commission in 2024. She was among the commissioners who voted to cut ties with PBS.
Projected viewership losses
Holmes spent years in Japan as part of a military family, and her PBS Passport subscription allows her to watch Japanese TV programs that remind her of her childhood, she said.
Those who pay $60 per year can access PBS Passport’s full library of programs, including Antiques Roadshow and Masterpiece Theatre. Wing has repeatedly said Passport will allow Arkansans to keep watching shows that will no longer be on TV, but Holmes said the cost is significant for her single-income household.
Some viewers are threatening to not just tune out, but no longer give.
“As I grew up, my worldview expanded with shows such as Rick Steves’ and Ken Burns’ numerous documentaries,” one person wrote to Arkansas TV. “After a decade in a neighboring state, I moved back to Arkansas and my wife and I are raising children in this great state. We are also new contributors to Arkansas PBS… However, I am disgusted by this decision and I will not be giving to this new entity.”
The Arkansas PBS Foundation, which manages donations to the network, provided a one-time emergency fund of $1.5 million last year to support both operating expenses and about half of the national dues. Wing and Cramer said this effort is unlikely to be repeatable.
Arkansas PBS Foundation CEO Marge Betley told viewers in an August 2025 marketing email that enough support from donors would allow the network to “continue delivering the trusted, inspiring programming that you value” despite the loss of CPB funding.
Holmes said she will continue subscribing to Passport via another state’s PBS station even though the app’s selection of programs varies state by state. Several viewers who contacted Arkansas TV about the disaffiliation said they will similarly redirect their subscriptions and donations.
“I’m 71 and have faithfully watched PBS my entire life,” wrote a viewer from Harrison. “Please reconsider the decision to leave the PBS system. I will switch viewership to another PBS station otherwise.”
Programming alternatives
Arkansas TV’s mission is to produce original, Arkansas-focused programming, and some content creators in the state have already contacted the network about potential collaborations, Wing said.
“We are bringing it back home to educational content for Arkansans so that we can grow and make sure that this public television model works for the next generation,” he said.
When asked if Arkansas TV has any processes to ensure its original programming is unbiased, Wing said the network will work with the state Department of Education to “make sure that anything that goes through our educational content matches Arkansas standards.”
The education department did not have any documentation related to those efforts, a spokesperson said in response to a public records request from the Advocate.
PBS programs will continue airing on Arkansas TV until June 30 unless the commission votes to reverse its decision to disaffiliate.
A viewer from Jasper said PBS shows are providing “a positive alternative to graphic violence and sex seen on mainstream television.” Holmes agreed that PBS’ kids’ shows can’t be replicated anywhere else.
“The other stuff that’s free is just crap and not good for brains, and especially not good for autistic brains,” Holmes said. “So this loss is really big for us.”
