If you have not seen the political news today, it is largely centered around what probable Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said concerning public funding for television programming.  The gist of what he said is that borrowing from China to fund Sesame Street was unacceptable, so if he was voted into office Big Bird, Elmo, and the rest of the educational Muppet gang would have to go commercial.

Not to worry though because PBS has already ramped up commercialization efforts to a degree.  The network has begun strategically placing their partnerships in more financially beneficial slots.  In other words, they have been phasing commercials into some of their primetime programming rather than between shows which Nielsen says people seldom watch.  While right now it is negligible, PBS is at least showing signs of preparing for a possible Romney administration if it wants Bert and Ernie to get a job.