Local public radio and television stations have existed alongside commercial stations since the earliest days of broadcasting in the United States. Although no national public broadcasting service existed before the late 1960s, in 1952 a grant from the Ford Foundation established the nation's first educational television network, National Educational Television (NET). In 1957, Sen. Warren Magnuson (D-Wash.) introduced a bill "to expedite the utilization of television facilities in our schools and colleges, and in adult training programs."

Sen. Magnuson's bill eventually became the Education Television Facilities Act of 1962. During the years immediately after the Act's passage, public support grew for transforming the loose association of "educational TV stations" scattered across the country -- and supported principally by states, universities and foundation grants -- into a strong, interconnected system for public broadcasting. The Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, established in 1965, recommended a blueprint for a broader, national service it called "public broadcasting." The Commission's recommendations quickly found champions in a reform-minded Congress.

On November 7, 1967, just months after the Carnegie Commission issued its report, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Public Television Act, which for the first time authorized federal operating aid to public television and radio stations through a new, private agency called the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Today, the CPB administers close to 15 percent of public broadcasting stations' revenue, which it receives through federal appropriations. CPB distributes this funding among more than 1,000 public television and radio stations.

On November 3, 1969, the CPB and various public television entities incorporated a new nonprofit organization, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), to connect the nation's public television stations and serve as a central distributor of national programming produced by its member stations. Today, PBS is owned and operated by its 355 member stations.

In 1970, National Public Radio (NPR) was created as a national production center for news, information and cultural programming, and as a coordinator for national program distribution. NPR began its national program service in 1971 with production of All Things Considered, then a daily hour of in-depth, primarily national news, and NPR continues to be the primary distributor of content to the nation's public radio stations.

In 1980, local public television stations formed the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) to support a strong and financially sound noncommercial television service for the American public. APTS works on behalf of local stations to advocate for public television interests at the national level.

In 1983, Public Radio International (PRI, originally named the American Public Radio Network) was formed to produce and distribute programming for public radio. PRI is now the nation's largest distributor of noncommercial radio content, delivering over 400 hours of news, classical music and contemporary cultural programming per week. Several of the signature programs originally distributed by PRI, such as A Prairie Home Companion and Marketplace, are now distributed by American Public Media (APM), the national production and distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio.

(Source: Digital Future Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Service Media in the Digital Age)