public television

American  

noun

1. a type of noncommercial, usually educational, television programming funded by the government, grants, viewers, and corporations.

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Example Sentences

It’s a public television mainstay that plays well with niche audiences too, as Twitch discovered when a nine-day marathon in 2015 proved to be enormously popular.

From Salon • May 2, 2026

But Child, a Pasadena, Calif., native who landed her first cooking show on Boston public television in 1963, was the true pioneer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

The sector, which previously accounted for nearly three percent of GDP, now accounts for only one percent, Mali Tourism Minister Mamou Daffe said in July on public television.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

The Corp. for Public Broadcasting helps support more than 1,500 local public television and radio stations nationwide.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025

But it’s not all that useful for, say, a group of people trying to spark a literacy epidemic with a small budget and one hour of programming on public television.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell