By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.
TV Answer Man, I heard something about PBS being available for free on streaming. How do you do that? Is it offered everywhere for free? Is my station in Northern Virginia available for free? — Millie, Fairfax, Virginia.
Millie, you can watch the live stream of your local PBS station on your computer that supports the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. You can also watch it on the PBS app with the following streaming devices: Roku; Apple TV (4th generation and newer); Amazon Fire TV; Android TV; Apple iPhones and iPads; and Android mobile devices.
To watch your local PBS station on a browser, go to PBS.org and select the ‘Live TV’ button in the right- hand corner of the home page. You will be asked to confirm your location, and once that’s done, your screen will become a video player for your local PBS channel. The service is free, and you don’t need to be a PBS Passport benefit member.
To watch your local PBS station on an app, open the PBS app home screen and select Live TV at the top or left side of the app. Press OK on your remote to begin watching.
Not every station is available live, but here are the ones that are:
- Alaska Public Media
- Arizona Public Media
- Arkansas PBS
- Austin PBS
- Blue Ridge PBS
- Colorado Public Television
- Connecticut Public Broadcasting
- Delta College Public Media
- Detroit Public Television
- East Tennessee PBS
- Florida’s 5 WUFT-TV
- GBH
- Georgia Public Broadcasting
- Houston Public Media TV 8
- Idaho Public Television
- Illinois Public Media
- Iowa PBS
- KAET
- KAMU
- Kansas City PBS
- KCTS
- KEDT
- KEET
- KENW
- KERA
- KIXE
- KLCS
- KLRN
- KMOS
- KNPB
- KPBS
- KPBT
- KPTS
- KQED
- KRWG
- KSPS Public Television
- KTWU
- KUAC
- KUED
- KVCR
- KVIE
- Lakeland LPTV
- Lakeshore PBS
- Louisiana Public Broadcasting
- Maine Public Broadcasting
- Milwaukee PBS
- Mississippi Public Broadcasting
- Montana PBS
- Mountain Lake PBS
- MPT/Maryland Public Television
- Nashville Public Television
- Nebraska Network
- New England Public Media
- New Hampshire PBS
- New Mexico PBS
- NJTV
- North California Public Media
- Northwest Public Broadcasting
- Oklahoma Educational Television Authority
- Oregon Public Broadcasting
- Ozarks Public Television
- PBS39
- PBS Charlotte
- PBS Fort Wayne
- PBS Guam
- PBS SoCal
- PBS Western Reserve
- Pioneer Public TV
- Prairie Public Broadcasting
- Rhode Island PBS
- Rocky Mountain PBS
- SCETV
- Smoky Hills PBS
- SOPTV
- South Dakota Public Broadcasting
- The Kentucky Network
- The Nine Network of Public Media
- Thirteen
- Twin Cities PBS
- UNC-TV
- Vegas PBS
- Vermont PBS
- VPM
- WBGU
- WCMU Public Television
- WCTE
- WDSE
- WEDU
- WEIU
- West TN PBS
- West Virginia Public Broadcasting
- WETA (using WETA Metro channel)
- WFSU
- WFYI Indianapolis
- WGCU Public Media
- WGTE
- WGVU
- WHRO
- WHUT
- WHYY
- WITF
- WJCT
- WKAR
- WKNO
- WLIW
- WMHT
- WNED
- WNIN
- WNIT Public Television
- WNMU Public TV 13
- WOSU
- WOUB/WOUC
- WPBS
- WPBT South Florida PBS
- WPSU Penn State
- WQED
- WQLN
- WQPT PBS
- WSIU
- WSKG Public Media
- WSRE
- WTIU/WFIU
- WTJX Channel 12
- WTTW
- WTVP
- WUCF
- WVIA Public Media
- WVIZ/PBS Ideastream
- WVUT
- WXEL South Florida PBS
- WXXI Public Broadcasting
- WYES
- Wyoming PBS
Millie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.