When you get your budget cut by over a billion dollars, it's no real surprise that you won't be able to fund as many shows. It explains why programs like "American Experience," a one time PBS stalwart, will be disappearing from the airwaves - at least for the foreseeable future. 

“By the end of the year, there will be no more ‘American Experience’ staff,” says executive producer Cameo George. “There will be no new films. We did have films that were in production for 2026, but when the news came of the defunding and PBS deciding that they did not want to fund a future season, those films were killed… I will always hold out hope that PBS will bring ‘American Experience’ back, because I think it’s foundational to understanding America’s history.”

PBS brass say they will be relying more on less, with a focus on things like high profile repeats of Ken Burns docuseries "The Civil War." 

Personally, I will miss some of their specials on music and radio, which turn up on WNED a few times a year. PBS brass vow they haven't given up on finding new sources of funding, including raising more viewer contributions, but it will take a big change down south for the glory days of PBS to be restored. And it may never happen. 

PBS CEO Reveals Plan to Save Stations and Programming, Admits There’s No ‘White Knight That Will Save Us’