History Main / ViewersLikeYou

-->--'''BettyWhite''', ''TheSimpsons'', "Missionary: Impossible"

* TBN (Trinity Broadcast Network); this one goes on for two weeks in each quarter.

* NPR
* TBN (Trinity Broadcast Network)
* LinkTV (Only on DirecTV, Dish and the web)

* Many Internet radio stations/networks, including SomaFM, mvyradio.com, and many others.
* Leo Laporte's TWiT network, though in that case Leo's pay comes almost solely from viewer/listener contributions rather than advertising (more a self-move to make him accountable to those who watch), which mainly goes to technical operations and other employees.

* PBS. In 1999, a mandate was issused which requires ThankingTheViewer.

The TropeNamer is {{PBS}}, whose stations and original programs used to be funded almost entirely by viewers. (Some stations still are.) For this reason, most PBS programs still end their acknowledgements with "Made possible by ... ViewersLikeYou." Odds are, fewer viewers donate than not. People usually donate to {{PBS}} not because it helps keep the station running, but because neat "gifts" get thrown in (albeit for far more than the free-market rate), and because it's the PBS equivalent of {{Ratings}}: the sorts of programs that bring in heavy donations during pledge drives are the sorts of programs that the station will renew. Most of the grant money comes from airtime-hungry corporations, not-for-profit foundations, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ("A private corporation funded by [[strike:taxpayers]] the American people").

* Leo Laporte's TWiT network, though in that case Leo's pay comes almost solely from viewer/listener contributions rather than advertising (more a self-move to make him accountable to those who watch), which mainly goes to technical operations and other employees.

<<|ShowBusiness|>>

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* [[JusticeLeague The Culture Channel.]]
** To be more specific, this is used as a BrickJoke in the Justice League 2-parter "Injustice For All". The Ultra-Humanite is seen earlier in the episode enjoying an opera on the Culture Channel in prison, to Lex Luthor's displeasure. Later, when he's been paid off to betray Luthor, he donates it to the Culture Channel, leading to this hilarious parody of the line:

-->'''Announcer''': The following programming was made possible by generous grants from the Ultra-Humanite and ''ViewersLikeYou.'' Thank you.

-->'''Announcer''': The following programming was made possible by generous grants from the Ultra-Humanite and ViewersLikeYou.

* PBS

* EWTN (a Roman Catholic network)

The TropeNamer is {{PBS}}, whose stations and original programs used to be funded almost entirely by viewers. (Some stations still are.) For this reason, most PBS programs still end their acknowledgements with "Made possible by ... ViewersLikeYou." Odds are, fewer viewers donate than not. People usually donate to {{PBS}} not because it helps keep the station running, but because neat "gifts" get thrown in (albeit for far more than the free-market rate), and because it's the PBS equivalent of {{Ratings}}: the sorts of programs that bring in heavy donations during pledge drives are the sorts of programs that the station will renew. Most of the grant money comes from airtime-hungry corporations, non-for-profit foundations, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ("A private corporation funded by [[strike:taxpayers]] the American people").

-->--BettyWhite, ''TheSimpsons'', "Missionary: Impossible"

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* PBS - I disagree with PBS treating contributions as a ratings system ("the sorts of programs that bring in heavy donations during pledge drives are the sorts of programs that the station will renew"). What PBS generally does is pull the regular programming, replace it with specials (Three Tenors, Celtic Women, Riverdance, etc.), say "If you want more quality programming like this, send us money", then not show those specials again until the next pledge period. This fraud just makes pulling the very program you tuned in to see even more annoying.

* Most Christian television and radio.
** Most religious ''anything''.

See also ThankingTheViewer.

The TropeNamer is {{PBS}}, whose stations and original programs used to be funded almost entirely by viewers. (Some stations still are.) For this reason, most PBS programs still end their acknowledgements with "Made possible by ... ViewersLikeYou." Odds are, fewer viewers donate than not. People usually donate to {{PBS}} not because it helps keep the station running, but because neat "gifts" get thrown in (albeit for far more than the free-market rate), and because it's the PBS equivalent of {{Ratings}}: the sorts of programs that get donated to during pledge months are the sorts of programs that the station will renew. Most of the grant money comes from airtime-hungry corporations, non-for-profit foundations, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ("A private corporation funded by [[strike:taxpayers]] the American people").