To cancel a PBS subscription, start with your bank or credit card statement and identify who is actually charging you, because the cancellation path is different for a PBS Passport membership through your local station than it is for a PBS channel bought through Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Google Play, or Roku. Canceling through the wrong platform won’t stop the charges.
Find Out Who Is Billing You
Look at the merchant name on the charge. A line labeled “PBS” or your local station’s name means you have a direct Passport membership. “AMZN” or “Amazon” points to a Prime Video channel subscription. “APPLE.COM/BILL” means you subscribed through an Apple device. “GOOGLE*” indicates Google Play, and “ROKU” means you signed up through your Roku.
Also confirm the email address you used at signup. If you log into Amazon, Apple, Google, or Roku with a different email than the one tied to the subscription, the PBS line item won’t appear in your account and you’ll think there’s nothing to cancel. Search your inbox for the original signup confirmation if you aren’t sure.
Passport and a PBS Channel on Amazon Are Not the Same Thing
PBS Passport is a membership benefit tied to a donation to your local PBS station. It unlocks the full PBS streaming catalog inside the PBS app. Amazon separately sells PBS-branded Prime Video channels — PBS Masterpiece, PBS Documentaries, PBS Living, and PBS Kids — and each is its own subscription with its own price. A Passport membership does not include the Amazon channels, and an Amazon channel does not include Passport. If you’re paying for both, you have to cancel both.
Canceling PBS Passport Through Your Local Station
There is no self-service cancel button for PBS Passport. Your membership is held at the local station level, so only the station can stop the charges. You have to contact them by phone or email.
Find your station at pbs.org/stations by entering your zip code. The results give you the station name, phone number, and website. The confirmation email from your original donation should also carry contact details.
Tell the station you want to cancel the recurring donation and end your Passport access, and ask for written confirmation. The same request works whether you’re a sustaining member with automatic monthly donations, you set up an annual gift that’s about to renew, or you’re the recipient of a gift membership set to auto-renew on the original donor’s card.
Minimum donations for Passport access vary by station, usually falling somewhere between $5 and $10 per month or the annual equivalent. Refund policies for mid-cycle cancellations also vary. If you want part of a current donation back, raise it in the same conversation.
Canceling a PBS Channel on Amazon Prime Video
To cancel PBS Masterpiece, PBS Documentaries, PBS Living, or PBS Kids on Amazon:
- Go to amazon.com and open “Memberships & Subscriptions” under your account menu.
- Find the PBS channel in your active subscriptions.
- Select cancel and confirm through the prompts.
Amazon then shows a confirmation screen with your end date. You keep access through that date and can reverse the cancellation anytime before it. If Amazon offers a self-service refund during cancellation and you accept it, the cancellation takes effect immediately and your access ends right away.
Canceling on an Apple Device
If you subscribed to a PBS app on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, Apple handles the billing.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap your name, then tap “Subscriptions.”
- Find the PBS subscription and tap it.
- Tap “Cancel Subscription.”
If there’s no cancel button and you see an expiration date in red, the subscription is already canceled. On a free trial, cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends to avoid being charged. Without an Apple device, you can manage the same subscriptions at account.apple.com.
Canceling on Google Play
If you subscribed through the Google Play Store on Android:
- Open the Google Play Store app.
- Tap your profile icon, then “Payments & subscriptions,” then “Subscriptions.”
- Select the PBS subscription.
- Tap “Cancel subscription” and follow the prompts.
Cancel at least 48 hours before the renewal date so the next cycle doesn’t post. You keep access through the end of the current billing period.
Canceling on Roku
You can cancel a Roku-billed PBS channel from the device or online at my.roku.com/subscriptions. From the device:
- Press the Home button on the remote.
- Highlight the PBS app with the arrow buttons.
- Press the Star button.
- Select “Manage subscription.”
- Select “Turn off auto-renew.”
Your access runs to the end of the billing period, and Roku does not offer partial-term refunds. One caveat: if you signed up for the PBS channel directly through the channel’s own website instead of through Roku’s billing, Roku cannot cancel it. The Roku subscriptions menu only shows what Roku actually bills, so in that case you’d go back to the provider that charged you.
What Happens to Your Access After You Cancel
On Amazon, Apple, Google Play, and Roku, canceling stops the next charge but leaves your access in place through the end of the billing period you’ve already paid for. On Amazon you can also undo the cancellation anytime before the end date.
PBS Passport is different because it’s tied to a donation. When your station processes the cancellation, they’ll tell you when access ends. Some stations cut it off right away; others let it run through the current pledge period. Ask about timing when you call or email, and get the end date in writing along with the cancellation itself.