In May 1995 the Corporation for Public Broadcasting commissioned a national study into attitudes and perceptions about public television. The study was conducted by Yankelovich Partners under the Omnibus Survey and included Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White Americans. The results demonstrated that public television is a well-established and regularly viewed institution among the great majority of Americans. Awareness of public broadcasting was somewhat lower for Hispanics and viewing was lower among African-Americans, but among minorities overall, the programs most watched were those most watched by the country as a whole. Patterns of public television viewing paralleled those of television viewing overall. All viewers prized public television for its children's programming, its overall educational value, its freedom from violence, and its balanced and realistic portrayals of people from different races and ethnic backgrounds. Public television children's programs are evidently playing an important role in the households of racial and ethnic minorities. However, public broadcasters will have difficulty in serving more Hispanic viewers unless the issue of language is addressed. (Contains 16 unnumbered tables.) (SLD)