The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, PBS is an independently operated non-profit organization and is the most prominent provider of television programming to public television stations in the United States.br br National Educational Television was owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Operating from May 16, 1954, to October 4, 1970, it was replaced on October 5, 1970, by its direct successor, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which continues in operation and has memberships with many television stations that were formerly part of NET.