PBS partners with ITVS to launch ‘PBS documentaries’ YouTube channel

Reimagining documentary storytelling, expanding content and premieres across the form

PBS and ITVS, the award-winning co-producer of independent documentary films and the PBS series “Independent Lens,” announced on March 26, 2026, the launch of the new PBS Documentaries YouTube channel. The channel offers an expansive, diverse collection of documentaries across all forms of nonfiction storytelling.

This new channel is part of a broader effort to serve public audiences through increased accessibility, while building a centralized, scalable hub elevating PBS’ nonfiction content, featuring the best in feature-length independent film and strengthening the public media system for the future.

A core mission of the partnership for PBS Documentaries is to amplify storytelling from local PBS stations, production partners and independent filmmakers nationwide, spotlighting local communities with national resonance.

PBS Documentaries already features over 200 documentaries and is planning to release over 100 new videos yearly with expanded content that includes feature documentary storytelling and short docs from brands and trusted filmmakers like “Independent Lens,” “POV,” BBC Studios, “Reel South,” “VOCES,” science and history specials created for PBS, as well as digital-first content from PBS Digital Studios.

Coming up in Spring 2026

The channel debuts with the YouTube premiere of the “Independent Lens” documentary, “The Inquisitor.” Directed by the Emmy® Award-nominated filmmaker Angela Lynn Tucker, “The Inquisitor” highlights the legacy of groundbreaking Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan, unraveling how her public influence shaped U.S. politics, while exploring the complexities of her hidden personal identity.

Another “Independent Lens” documentary, “Keep Quiet and Forgive,” directed by Sarah McClure follows an Amish child sexual assault survivor who breaks her silence, igniting a nationwide movement of Amish survivors seeking justice and reform.

In April, PBS Documentaries is releasing three premieres alongside their broadcast debuts. “Our New World” is a two-part documentary series from Boréales and Terra Mater Studio GmbH exploring nature’s astonishing adaptive abilities and how humans can support them. With “The Tallest Dwarf,” filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman searches to find her place within the little people community, exploring dwarfism within her own family and the diverse experiences of other little people. And behind the Kentucky Derby’s glamour, “Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing” paints an intimate portrait of the unseen “groom” workers that sustain the elite horse-racing industry, showing how wealth, class and race come together in the U.S.

On May 6, 2026, “Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure,” a BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC and PBS, will be released on PBS Documentaries. The film reveals the little-known story of David Attenborough’s greatest undertaking: a three-year, hair-raising odyssey around the world, traveling to 40 countries across a million miles, to film over 600 species, resulting in a new kind of blockbuster series, “Life on Earth.”

And on May 11, 2026, Suzannah Herbert’s critically-acclaimed “Natchez” will premiere alongside its broadcast debut on “Independent Lens.” The film captures the clash between history and memory through a small Mississippi town reliant on antebellum tourism to survive, exploring who has the right to share America’s story.

Other titles coming to PBS Documentaries include encore episodes of “Native America” and the POV documentary shorts “Chasing Time” and “Songs of Black Folk.” The hit PBS Digital Studios series “Ritual” from Louisiana Public Broadcasting and “Independent Lens” will return for a second season, highlighting historic cultural topics while uncovering rituals hidden in tradition. The immersive journey is hosted by Tarriona “Tank” Ball.

America’s home for documentary storytelling

“PBS and our member stations are America’s home for documentary storytelling. This channel gives us the opportunity to meet new audiences where they already are and bring them into a deeper relationship with the extraordinary work our stations and partners produce,” said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. “ITVS and ‘Independent Lens’ have long shared our commitment to highlighting a range of independent voices. Together, we are building something that strengthens the entire public media system and creates more opportunities for the American people to access our documentary programs.”

“PBS remains one of the most trusted institutions in America, and documentaries are a cornerstone of its commitment to civic engagement,” said ITVS President and CEO Carrie Lozano. “Through this partnership, we’re thrilled to expand our shared public-service mission into digital spaces to reach new audiences.”

PBS and PBS Digital Studios have been providing a wide variety of digital programming on YouTube. PBS, ITVS and its stations have amassed more than two billion views on YouTube just in 2025 alone. Now including PBS Documentaries, its themed channels are PBS Food, PBS Terra (science and nature), PBS Origins (history) and PBS Storied (arts and humanities). PBS Documentaries will replace PBS Voices, becoming the new home for the original documentary series “Subcultured,” “Prideland” and “Ritual.”