PBS has come to rely on Northern Lights and its family of agencies to promote itself as an unrivaled library of content that touches on a wide range of topics.
“We just continually partner with them because they just kind of get us. They got us from the beginning, which is not an easy thing with our [range of ] content,” said Stacy Libbrecht, vice president, brand and creative, PBS.
“I think PBS programming comes with a lot of preconceived notions,” Libbrecht continued. “Some people think PBS programming is very academic because we have documentaries that bring up tough topics and serious things. But that doesn’t mean we can’t highlight what we have in a fun and engaging way that piques your interest.”
PBS is a unique television brand in the U.S. because it’s the country’s only public television broadcaster, carrying a huge range of programming from news and documentaries to entertainment, drama and mysteries, and kids’ programming.
“I'm a huge PBS fan,” Derek Barbanti, creative director, Northern Lights, said. “I think Fred Rogers, David Attenborough, and Ken Burns are probably three of the most prolific educators of the past 100 years. PBS is more than a brand, it's more than a network, it's an icon. It's integral to the cultural fabric of America.”
Over the past two or so years, PBS and Northern Lights have developed an ongoing relationship that started when PBS reached out to the agency to produce a spot focused on PBS’ climate-focused content. The result was the below spot, titled “Change,” which name drops such programming as Untold Earth, Weathered, Dynamic Planet, Changing Planet, Be Smart, Wild Hope, A Brief History of the Future and more.
The piece tries to give viewers a different take on the idea of change – especially when it comes to climate, which seems so out of everyone’s control – moving from negative associations like “scary” to positive ones like “exciting” or “fascinating.”
“The greatest opportunities are in chaos,” notes someone in voiceover.
It relies mostly on beautiful footage but it also has fun with its tagline, quickly swapping out adverbs, and it subtly weaves in PBS’ overall brand look with a blue curved frame that calls back to the “P” in PBS.
That piece began a relationship that has stretched across PBS’ many genres and program libraries.
“It’s important to give each of those genres their own voice that all falls under the PBS umbrella,” Barbanti said. “PBS’ programming is slightly sophisticated but it can also be fun. It can be cheeky but also a little serious. It’s all united under the PBS brand even though we give each of these verticals their own personalities.”
One of PBS' priorities is to remind viewers that access to its programming is available for free and on-demand in its app, particularly at a time when most content is gated behind either a subscription- or advertising-based services.
From there, Northern Lights got a bit more specific, tackling such genres as mystery and drama. The below two spots promote PBS’ prestige scripted programming both in the U.S. and around the world. Both pieces rely on clips, music and minimal voiceover to set the tone. The first spot has a little fun with its tagline, "Mystery Loves," while the second eschews English as its primary language.
Last spring, Northern Lights refreshed its take on PBS’ climate and natural science programming, creating the below multi-show spot for Earth Month 2026.
The most recent piece produced between the partners tells the story of PBS’ “summer of space,” including such programs as American Experience’s Chasing the Moon; Apollo 11 documentary 8 Days to the Moon and Back; and Nova’s Return to the Moon, Black Hole Apocalypse, Chasing Pluto, and Pluto and Beyond. PBS is promoting that programming while the U.S. sends astronauts to the moon for the first time since Apollo via the Artemis mission.
PBS’ broad subject offerings are part of its brand promise, Libbrecht said. “PBS is here as a representation of all people. It's supposed to be for all Americans and accessible to all people. Educational programming gets a bad rap sometimes, but what's so great about the PBS content is that you're going to learn something, but you're going to be entertained at the same time."
To that end, PBS tends to veer from the racy or outrageous and hew more closely to the educational and informative. Even its dramas and mysteries come from a more literary place, and that’s the part of PBS that Northern Lights and Barbanti continue to gently highlight.
Said Barbanti: “In a world where so many brands and streaming services and creators are trying to be outrageous or edgy, PBS is almost refreshing.”
