Top 10 Reasons for the Decline of PBS Kids

The Top Ten

  1. Sesame Street moved to become a streaming-first show

  2. Kids these days prefer to watch stuff on the Internet

    This is a reason why Sesame Workshop and Trump even did the things they did. Kids now have tablets and stuff. Why would kids patiently wait for Arthur or Barney or whatever when they can just watch it anytime, anywhere?

    Now they watch nonsense like Skibidi Toilet, KPDH, and Gegagedigedagedago.

  3. Many of their newer shows underperform

    Many of PBS Kids' newer shows arguably underperform. I don't think shows like Molly of Denali or Skillsville come close to the cultural behemoths of stuff like Bluey, or shows kids watch when they really shouldn't, like shows by Glitch Productions.

  4. Arthur was canceled

    Arthur came off the air with a grand finale. While the finale is great and all, finally having Arthur become an adult, with his original 1996 voice actor returning to boot, it definitely marked the end of an era for PBS Kids.

  5. Dot and Dash were retired

  6. Many companies that have long partnered with PBS have moved to cable or streaming

    Companies like Mattel, WildBrain (who own stuff like Caillou), and the aforementioned Sesame Workshop have now put their eggs into the cable and streaming baskets. For example, Barney's World is airing on Cartoon Network and Caillou is on Peacock, while Sesame Street is going big with streaming.

  7. Corporations have pulled out from sponsoring

    Remember the promotional bumps of companies like ABCmouse or Chuck E. Cheese's. Well, these companies don't really fund PBS Kids anymore. While not exactly that important for the most part (the whole promotional bump program was forced by Ronald Reagan in order to reduce tax dollars spent on funding PBS), ever since the defunding, it has become almost mandatory, and simply put, these companies aren't funding PBS anymore.

  8. Cable and online TV became more widespread

    This is a problem that has been going on since the 2000s, but has only become bigger and bigger. Even for people who don't like streaming, whether because they have bad internet or don't like having to "think" of stuff to watch, cable TV has now become more readily available. The same can be said about online TV for people who do have good internet and don't really like streaming. Networks like Pluto TV and YouTube TV provide linear programming without the need for an antenna or a satellite dish.

  9. Their evergreen IPs have diminishing relevance

    And finally, what I like to call PBS's evergreen IPs aren't even evergreen anymore. Cyberchase is still on the air, of all shows, but very few know that it is even still on the air.

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