Pay TV

The thought occurs to me from time to time, especially when my local PBS station airs yet another of Andre Rieu's concerts, or broadcasts another installment of Dr. Wayne Dyer's self-esteem fests -- why the hell am I paying for this? Not in contributions, because I don't donate anymore, but in taxes. Why should Americans pay anything to "public" TV? It's not that PBS doesn't produce some great shows. "Sesame Street" and "Charlie Rose" come to mind. But other than that, I'm not sure it's a wise use of public funds to try and predict what will be of value to Americans in terms of television programming. Let's leave that to the private sector.

It seems I'm not alone. This article on Salon.com makes a similar point.