PBS KIDS programming lineup changes

Mon, September 1, 2008 
Posted in Schedule Updates

As of September 1, 2008, KAKM’s lineup of kids programming from PBS is changing, almost across the board. There are a couple new programs, lots of schedule changes, and some cancellations (at least for now). These were changes made by PBS and KAKM for the fall season. We expect the new schedule to remain stable into the winter.

We recommend parents looking for specific programs download and review the following documents to find our complete schedule as well as a list of the changes themselves.

NEW SHOWS
PBS KIDS is introducing two brand new shows this fall:

In addition to these two new shows, a classic kids show is returning: Postcards from Buster. Buster will take kids on journeys around the country again starting Sunday, September 7 at 11:30am.

CANCELLATIONS (FOR NOW)
To make room for new kids shows, a revamped how-to lineup on the weekends and for other reasons, PBS and KAKM have, for now, eliminated the following kids programs from the schedule:

Additionally, though not canceled, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood has moved from his Mon-Fri time slot to a single presentation on Sundays at 6:00 a.m.

We know these shows can become beloved family members for children and parents, and we apologize for any difficulties this shakeup may present. (Personally, I’ll miss the frequent Mr. Rogers episodes.) Hopefully the new schedule will work well with your kids’ viewing habits after a bit of adjustment.

Please note that most of our broadcast schedule (kids and adults both) comes to us via PBS directly and feeds multiple stations around the country, so changing the schedule to reproduce the old lineup is not possible for us, at least not now.

If you’ve got questions about these changes, please contact us. And we hope you and the kids will continue to watch the unique educational programming that only PBS KIDS offers.

Comments

11 Responses to “PBS KIDS programming lineup changes”

  1. Jo Hobbs on September 2, 2008 at 11:46 am

    Normally I have nothing but praise for PBS in general, and also with all local programming. However, when I discovered that my toddler’s FAVORITE midday PBS kids shows were cancelled–Teletubbies, Caillou and Reading Rainbow, and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood relegated to only once a week on Sunday morning at 6am–I was extraordinarily disappointed. Toddlers deserve quality age-appropriate programming, just as preschoolers and elementary aged-children. Thanks for not cancelling Clifford and Curious George. And thanks for the new shows that you’ve added, as they are really good for when my toddler is a bit more mature. Simply please consider adding back one or more toddler-appropriate shows in lieu of repeating some of the other shows in the lineup during the day.

  2. Michelle T. on September 2, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    I can’t believe you took Calliou completely off of your fall line up and kept The Big Big World on your line up as this show has had numerous re-runs and is getting monotous and boring for children.
    Calliou needs to be back on the morning time line
    up!!
    Michelle T.

  3. Stefanie S on September 4, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    On behalf of myself and my entire family, I want to thank you for the wonderful programming you have been airing for so many years! It is refreshing to have childrens programming such as Reading Rainbow that isn’t dumbed down and has such a great cultural impact on children.
    My family is incredibly disapointed to see Reading Rainbow removed from your fall programming. Shows such as ‘Sid the Science Kid’ are a dime a dozen on various channels and programs and we are incredibly saddened to be missing out on THE best childrens program on TV-ever.
    Please consider adding back this wonderful show to your daily programming. We would love to see Jakers come back as well. I would suggest you continue with keeping Calliou off and remove Cyberchase and A Place of Our Own. ZOOM would be a great replacement for those shows as well as Liberty Kids. Both are wonderful for older and younger children.
    Thank you for all you so, and please drop Sid the Science Kid at the very least and bring back Reading Rainbow!

  4. John Proffitt on September 4, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    Jo — Thanks for contacting us. I have some good news regarding “Caillou” — we’re bringing that show back into the schedule starting Monday, September 15. It will air Mon-Fri at 2:00pm.

    The program for parents and caregivers — “A Place of Our Own” — will move from the 2:00pm slot to 12:00pm.

    Then the 12:00pm airing of Super Why! is being canceled, though the same program is already on at 9:00am.

    Due to the work involved, it’s going to take us a bit to rejigger our systems to make this change, which accounts for the delay until September 15. But “Caillou” is definitely coming back.

    As for “Teletubbies,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Mr. Rogers,” those programs are no longer being provided by PBS in the feed we use to keep KAKM on the air.

    But there’s more to this story, it turns out.

    For example, the family estate that owns the rights to “Mr. Rogers” is canceling its licensing agreements effective next summer and PBS opted to end its daily carriage of the program ahead of the licensing termination, moving the show to a once-a-week slot early on Sunday. (I was disappointed to see “Mr. Rogers” go as well, given that it’s remarkably different from almost all the other kids programs out there.) There are grassroots movements afoot online to bring “Mr. Rogers” back, but it’s unclear, for now, whether that will work.

    “Reading Rainbow” ceased production sometime in 2006 and LeVar Burton terminated his relationship with the show by early 2007. While PBS does offer the show to some stations around the country (all reruns, currently from 14 years ago), they don’t include it in the feed we have access to at this time. PBS may choose to include it in a future revision of our feed, but for now we have no indication that it’s coming back and the show appears to be terminated, in the sense of new production.

    “Teletubbies” I’m not quite sure about — I need to look into that one further. Similarly, “Boobah” was also canceled, and both were made by the same British production team, so that may also be a contract situation.

    A small bit of good news is that each of these three programs are available on DVD from Amazon and other online and retail sources, in one form or another. So if these specific shows are a top priority for your family, there are options available, albeit not broadcast via KAKM.

    We apologize for the confusion over these changes. We realize that kids (and parents, too) become very attached to specific programs. Hopefully our ability to bring back “Caillou” will help.

    –John

  5. John Proffitt on September 4, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    Michelle — You may have seen my prior response about Caillou, but if not… Caillou is returning to KAKM starting Monday, September 15 at 2:00pm. It will be on Mon-Fri at 2:00pm for the foreseeable future.

    This does mean we’re moving one show (A Place of Our Own) and canceling the repeat airing of another show (Super Why!) — which hopefully won’t upset too many other people — but we’re happy to be able to bring Caillou back, based on popular demand.

    –John

  6. John Proffitt on September 5, 2008 at 12:21 am

    Stefanie — You probably saw my earlier reply to Jo above, but if not, you may want to check that one out. It looks like PBS is not returning Reading Rainbow to our feed in the foreseeable future. Additionally, it’s unclear what the future of the entire show might be, based on both funding difficulties, a cessation of production that started in 2006 and the loss of LeVar Burton from the team.

    Reading Rainbow may return to our air, but based on the way KAKM is currently acquiring programming from PBS, that would be a programmer’s decision at PBS rather than our own.

    As I mentioned in the reply comment to Jo above, lots of Reading Rainbow DVDs are available from various retailers if having that program in your home is a top priority. So while it’s not on the air, it’s still available via other sources.

    As for Jakers!, my understanding is that the show is in between production cycles at the moment and may return in the future with new episodes, though we don’t know when that might be.

    You can probably already tell that TV programming is a tricky business, as any single change sets up a cascade of other changes, and with only 24 hours in a day, difficult decisions have to be made — decisions that are likely to please no one perfectly. Complicating all that is the fact that much of our kids’ schedule (actually, most of our 24-hour schedule) comes to us in real-time via satellite from PBS, and the majority of programming decisions are made at the network level.

    That wasn’t always true. At one time all programming decisions were made locally and KAKM, about 20 years ago, even produced original kids programming in our own studio — with sets, actors, and all. But with funding cuts, rising costs, an unfunded mandate to switch to digital TV broadcasting and an explosion in media options for viewers, we’ve gotten smaller over the years, losing a good deal of our local edge. We hope to reverse that, at least somewhat, in 2009, but as yet it’s unclear whether a return to complete local control over our air will be part of the plan.

    One thing’s for sure, however: without continued (or increased) public support from viewers that appreciate the programming we can offer, we’ll remain largely a PBS satellite. I hope you’ll consider supporting our mission to serve southcentral Alaska.

    –John

  7. Jo on September 5, 2008 at 6:43 am

    A BIG Thank You to John Proffitt for replying to my post so thoroughly! Learning the background information behind such programming changes makes accepting such changes easier. We appreciate your ability to switch a few programs around, and for adding Caillou back in. Thank you for listening to families, and for providing such terrific programming choices!

  8. Sheila on October 3, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    What happend to the Teletubbies??? My 2 year old loved that show and cries for us to put it on! We can no longer see it or play it on Demand!!! Please bring it back and please don’t get rid of other shows like Caillou, noddy or Thomas the train he would be lost without them!!! We love PBS!!!

  9. John Proffitt on October 6, 2008 at 5:11 am

    Sheila — PBS chose not to include the Teletubbies series in the new PBS Kids lineup. The lineup may change again in midwinter, so there’s a possibility the show may return. However, we don’t have an indicator either way.

    The rest of the schedule, as now in place, should be stable for at least a few months if not until next summer.

  10. Laura Brewer on October 13, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    what happened to gullagulla island is it still on

  11. John Proffitt on October 16, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    Ms. Brewer — Gullah Gullah Island was not on KAKM prior to the changes. Indeed, it was not a PBS-distributed program, but was produced and distributed via the paid cable channel Nickelodeon.

    You can learn more here…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah_Gullah_Island

    http://www.gullahgullah.com/

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