“When they hear that CPB is not getting any of it, they know somebody is getting rich, and the federal government paid them $2 million! It’s a crystal-clear case that people can understand.”īarney’s jackpot held fascination not only for Jarvik and his readers in the Senate but also for PBS. “Everyone who has kids knows how much they cost,” says conservative researcher Laurence Jarvik.

The inflated numbers, however, make an indelible connection with the perceptions of moms and dads who have shopped for Barney products. The mountains of money that Barney & Friends “brings in” annually, as cited by senators, columnists and ordinary people alike, have grown from hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars, though the actual net income to the show’s producers is more likely in the tens of millions, and just a fraction of that is available to public TV. rex on the cover of People magazine’s most interesting people issue but eventually went off air in 2010.Of all the facts, half-truths and distortions used by public broadcasting’s opponents in the ongoing contest to redefine the field’s public image, the Barney Billions seem the most enduring and damaging. The show was often set on a playground or in a classroom and featured Barney’s cast of fuzzy friends including Baby Bop, a green Triceratops, and mostly child actors, including Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez.Įven after the half-hour show was over for the day, Barney was still everywhere to be found in children’s homes, through stuffed animals, home videos, books, T-shirts, pillow cases – a product line that sold tens of millions of dollars in its first year alone.īarney became a global phenomenon and landed the playful T.

“With our modern take on Barney, we hope to inspire the next generation to listen, care, and dream big,” Fred Soulie, senior vice president and general manager of Mattel Television, said.Ĭreated in the ‘80s by former teacher Sheryl Leach, “Barney & Friends” premiered on PBS in April 1992 for an audience of preschool and young children, teaching them lessons about inclusion, acceptance and using their imaginations.

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