PROGRAM SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

PBS and PBS member stations distribute professionally produced, highly curated educational content. Programs are selected for broadcast on South Florida PBS based upon several criteria, including:

• The quality of the proposal or completed program
• The credentials of the production team
• The program's connection to the PBS mission to educate, enlighten, and inspire audiences with content that reflects the organization's core values of diversity, creativity, innovation and trustworthiness.

Priority is given to those projects related to the South Florida PBS content priorities, which include Arts & Culture, Kids & Education, Civic Leadership, Health and the Environment.

Please note that South Florida PBS has a limited acquisition budget and requires all proposals and completed projects to have secured appropriate sources of funding. (See PBS Funding Guidelines below)

Projects may be submitted for review by South Florida PBS programmers at: submissions@southfloridapbs.org. Please allow 4-6 weeks for review. South Florida PBS reserves the right to accept or reject for broadcast any or all proposals. SFLPBS is not obligated to return proposal submissions and is not responsible for lost or damaged materials. Please retain copies of all submitted items. Note that broadcast schedules are established months in advance, and it can take up to six months for a finished/approved project to be broadcast.

Submissions of finished projects should include:

• A Link to the Program
• Synopsis/Treatment
• Funding Sources (*see PBS Funding Guidelines below)
• Explanation of Rights and Clearances obtained for the program
• Biographies of the Production Team
• Additional relevant information or scheduling suggestions that describe why the program is appropriate for broadcast on South Florida PBS

Submissions of Project Proposals/Incomplete Programs should include:

• Treatment
• Project Timeline
• Budget
• Funding Sources (*see PBS Funding Guidelines below)
• Biographies of the Production Team
• Additional relevant information or scheduling suggestions that describe why the program is appropriate for broadcast on South Florida PBS

PBS FUNDING GUIDELINES

Source: pbs.org/about/producing-pbs/funding

To protect public television’s journalistic integrity, PBS’s funding standards are premised on core principles that ensure the complete editorial independence of producers from influence by underwriters.

While funding and fundraising are necessary to support the development and production of content, producers must be free from the influence of funders. This firewall is essential to maintaining the public’s trust.

PBS applies three “tests” to every proposed funding arrangement to determine its acceptability.

• Editorial Control Test: Has the underwriter exercised any form of editorial control (e.g., review of scripts, control of rights, editorial participation). Could it?
• Perception Test: Might the public perceive that the underwriter has exercised editorial control?
• Commercialism Test: Might the public conclude the program is on PBS principally because it promotes the underwriter’s products, services or other business interests?