What We Really Want: Engagement,
Experiences, and Connection
By Edward J. Ulman
I believe the core principles driving public media can
make your business more successful.
While it’s rare for business leaders to turn to an NGO for
advice, think about this: A national study 1 conducted in 2017
found that PBS and its member stations are rated #1 in public
trust among nationally known institutions. This is the four-
teenth year in a row that the American public put PBS ahead
of the courts of law, cable and commercial television, online
media, newspapers, and the federal government.
Do I have your attention now? Good. Let me tell you how
we – and businesses people love to be loyal to – do it. It all
begins with how you view your customers. In public media,
we see people as citizens, not consumers.
Engagement: The Downton Abbey Effect
When PBS’s Masterpiece Theater aired its first episode on
PBS member stations on January 10, 1971, who would have
thought that one of its mini-series would run six seasons,
establish various pop culture memes, earn 27 Primetime
Emmy Nominations, and become a world-wide phenomenon?
But that is exactly what happened when Downton Abbey,
produced in partnership with the BBC and WGBH in Boston,
began airing on January 9, 2011.
In anticipation of Downton Abbey’s third season, pre-
miere screenings popped up in cities throughout the United
States, hosted by local PBS member stations. Fans arrived
in period costumes for the movie theater screenings, which
January 2018
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