In a jawdropper of a move, members of the Arkansas PBS Commission voted Thursday to chuck “NOVA”, “Antiques Roadshow” and “Sesame Street” in favor of cheaper, homegrown content instead.

The wholesale rework comes with a new name and logo: ATV, short for Arkansas TV. And beginning in June, once the station’s contract with PBS officially ends, the programming will be completely different. Expect 70% of the shows to be locally produced.

Arkansas’s decision to become the first state to pull the plug on PBS programming is a poor one, a spokesperson for PBS said.

“The commission’s decision to drop PBS membership is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over the air access to quality PBS programming they know and love. It also goes against the will of Arkansas viewers. More than 70 percent of Arkansans surveyed by YouGov in June stated that PBS brings an excellent value to their communities and 78 percent of Arkansans believe that PBS KIDS is the most trusted educational children’s media brand.” 

Currently, about 94% of what viewers of the state public television outlet see is national, attained through the channel’s affiliation with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), known for serving up Mr. Rogers, Masterpiece Theater and other mainstays. But that content costs Arkansas over $2 million a year, and the Arkansas PBS Commission decided that without the roughly $2.5 million in annual federal funding recently cut off by the Donald Trump administration, the budget numbers no longer work out.

Any airtime not filled with locally produced shows will be covered with content purchased from American Public Television and the National Educational Television Association, outlets that offer documentaries, cooking shows and other familiar genres a la carte. That makes this content more affordable than PBS content, which is available to member stations only as a package deal that Arkansas PBS Director Carlton Wing said cost the station about $2 million in fiscal year 2026.

Wing resigned his seat in the state Legislature this fall to take the helm at Arkansas PBS, and jumped in to host the beloved “Arkansas Week” talk show formerly led by Steve Barnes. It’s not a big surprise that Wing, a Republican, hyped the shift to locally produced shows as something to celebrate, and not as another self-inflicted wound in the ongoing culture wars.

This spring, the Trump administration obliterated the Corporation for Public Broadcast, which was charged with disseminating federal dollars to public media stations. That was the money that paid for the PBS content we’re all used to. Trump and fellow conservatives put public television and public radio in the crosshairs, arguing the content they provide is biased against conservatives and therefore undeserving of taxpayer dollars.

Arkansas conservatives have also taken aim at Arkansas PBS in recent years. Notably, Gov. Sarah Sanders appointed the wife of Republican “Book Ban Dan” Sullivan, a Jonesboro state senator, to the Arkansas PBS board, perhaps foreshadowing a willingness to dump higher-budget national programming for homemade, instead.

Julie Thomas, a spokesperson for the station, said the changes will begin mid-next year.

“Through June 30, 2026, there’s essentially no change to PBS programming on our channel,” Thomas said. “Our current contract with PBS ends June 30, 2026. Beginning July 1, 2026, viewers will see more local content that’s being developed, as well as selections from our robust archive of nearly 60 years of local shows.

“Beginning July 1, 2026, national PBS content will only be available via streaming from PBS.org, the PBS App and through Amazon Prime, Hulu Live, and YouTube TV. If you tune into our broadcast channel beginning July 1, 2026, you will find more local, Arkansas-first programs on the same channel you currently watch.”

The vote by the commission to rebrand the station to ATV and refresh the lineup with mainly locally produced shows that are still in the conceptualization phase was a big win for some.

Gary Newton, a school voucher cheerleader and lobbyist who serves on the Arkansas PBS Commission, cast the shift from nationally recognized programming to smaller-scale Arkansas food, history and children’s shows as a political flex, a thumbs up to Trump and freedom and all that.

“I think it gives Congress and our president an opportunity to say, ‘We want our states in the driver’s seat when it comes to educational television,’” Newton said.

Commissioners got a glimpse at some of the proposed shows that will launch this spring in preparation for the switch to majority local programming in June. Wing said to expect documentaries, kids’ shows and dramas, a lineup that’s similar to what viewers see now, but with different titles. Those will include shows like “Arkansas’s Taste Kitchen,” a cooking show for low-income Arkansans wanting to cook healthy meals, and “Blueberry’s Clubhouse,” a children’s show about reading.

Some of the shows Arkansas PBS/ATV will launch this spring, as it shifts to mostly local proramming. Credit: AR PBS

The cost of making these local shows is estimated at about $500,000 a year. Content purchased from American Public Television and National Educational Television Association will run about $469,000 a year. Combined, that’s $1 million less than the annual contract to run PBS programming.

The commission’s vote to ditch PBS was not unanimous. Commissioners and staff acknowledged donors give money for shows they know and love, and it’s likely much of that money will stop flowing when viewers get a knock-off lineup they’re not used to.

Everyone certainly seems to hate it so far. An announcement about the change posted to Facebook Thursday drew immediate mockery and scorn.

Wing suggested corporate sponsorships can offset the loss from individual donors. He said he’s heard from lots of Arkansas-based businesses eager to underwrite local programming. He didn’t name names, but one could easily envision a Tyson sponsorship for a cooking show featuring chicken, or a Walmart sponsorship for a documentary about Northwest Arkansas’s endless bike trails.

The end to federal funding for public media is driving changes at Arkansas PBS. Or, um, ATV. Credit: ATV

Graphs with lines trending down that were shared at the commission meeting demonstrated the budget reality created by Trump’s demolition of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the funding it disbursed.

Arkansas viewers who still want “All Creatures Great and Small” and “Wild Kratts” can still get it if they have an internet connection and streaming services. But if you’re an old-school TV watcher with rabbit ears or a local cable package, ATV is going to be it.

Wing acknowledged that perhaps this top-to-bottom change in the station’s identity and offerings isn’t ideal.

“This is not a situation we asked for, but it is a situation we have to react to,” he said. “I’ve never been more excited.”