American Public Television

Founded in 1961 — eight years prior to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) — the Eastern Educational Television Network played a key role in the earliest era of public television, syndicating such series as Julia Child's The French Chef, Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and Washington Week in Review. Today, operating as American Public Television (APT), the nonprofit organization distributes programming to more than 340 public television stations and oversees a library of nearly 7,000 hours of content that spans arts, business, culture, history, lifestyle, music, and science. APT distributes 250-plus new titles each year and one-third of public television's 100 highest-rated programs, including Doc Martin, America's Test Kitchen, Rick Steves' Europe, and The Indian Doctor.