What is American Public Television? What is its relationship to PBS?

American Public Television is a major distributor of programming to public television stations, second only to PBS. While both organizations provide programming to the same individual public television stations, there are significant differences in the way we work. One advantage of American Public Television is that as a nimble, efficient organization, we can move program offers quickly through the process from submission through contract confirmation. Many producers seek us out as a first choice for program distribution; others may turn to us in instances when PBS opts not to distribute a program. American Public Television operates independently, but to some extent, it is a complementary service to PBS in that we keep informed of their upcoming programming and may seek related offers.

To how many stations does American Public Television distribute programming?

American Public Television distributes programming by satellite to all (nearly 350) U.S. public television stations, represented by approximately 175 licensees.

While American Public Television is evaluating my program, can I also send it for review to PBS or one of the regional distributors?

American Public Television will not screen a program unless we are assured that we have the exclusive opportunity to distribute it to public television stations should we elect to do so. If you get an offer from another distributor, whether for public TV, cable or other distribution, we expect that you will let us know immediately.

Which American Public Television service is appropriate for my program?

If you are seeking the widest possible distribution for your program and have a financial recoupment mechanism, such as related merchandise sales and underwriting support, contact APT Exchange. A complimentary offer has a much better chance of being carried by a large number of stations than a program seeking stations' limited acquisition dollars. The program evaluation process is similar to APT Syndication in that programs must adhere to editorial and technical quality guidelines, as well as funding guidelines; however, an Exchange offer also must be of national interest and must be free of charge to the stations. The majority of Exchange titles fall into one of these genres: how-to, travel, documentary and musical performance. If you require a license fee to make your program available, contact APT Syndication. Your program will be evaluated on the basis of its suitability for the syndication marketplace, editorial content and technical quality. Our decision to offer a program via Syndication is based on our judgment that stations would use limited discretionary dollars to acquire it. We will provide an honest assessment of the number of stations likely to buy your program and the license fee it is likely to generate.