PBS is in a world of denial. “For the most part, it creates fine programming, the kind that TV critics would love to champion. But PBS hasn’t learned that it’s in a competitive environment. No longer is the business so starkly simple that one can say, ‘We make quality programming, and everyone else airs garbage.’ The fact is, cable channels do much of what PBS does, equally well, and market it better. The disadvantage for PBS is that the system it operates under is a gigantic mess – the local stations wag the dog and always have.”