PBS (Public Broadcasting Service)

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:31am on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Jimmy Smits will host "A Capitol Fourth," America's National Independence Day Celebration, on PBS.

Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jimmy Smits returns to host the television birthday party, A Capitol Fourth, featuring for the first time ever, Barry Manilow, who will both open and close the concert broadcast with a medley of hits and patriotic classics along with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society of Washington.

He will be joined by the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, international pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning cast of Jersey Boys, multi Grammy Award-nominee Michael Feinstein and acclaimed classical pianist Andrew von Oeyen.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:15pm on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS is getting a makeover, Elizabeth Jensen of The New York Times reported on May 11, 2009:

"“The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” public broadcasting’s nightly newscast, is getting a makeover, designed to bring it more fully into the digital era, give it a livelier look and nudge it, however slowly, toward the day when its longtime anchor decides to retire.

Mr. Lehrer, who will turn 75 next Tuesday, isn’t stepping down. But in September the program will be retitled “PBS NewsHour” and return to a two-anchor format, which it had until 1995, when Robert MacNeil left.

Linda Winslow, the executive producer of “NewsHour,” said the changes will be made for a simple reason: “What we were trying to accomplish was a more engaging program.”

In the fall Mr. Lehrer will be joined by one of three co-anchors drawn from the show’s current team: Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff or Jeffrey Brown. The co-anchor will vary, and when Mr. Lehrer, who remains the executive editor, is off, two of them will anchor."

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/arts/television/12pbs.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 9:31pm on Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Paul Kangas, host of the PBS "Nightly Business Report," will step down at the end of 2009, after 30 years with the financial news show.

Kangas has been on the show since it first began as a local program on Miami’s public TV station WPBT TV 2 in 1979. On May 7, 2009, the producers of "NBR" said they have begun the search for a new co-anchor to join Susie Gharib and expect to make an announcement in the fall.

"I'm not retiring," Kangas said. "Business news is what I know and it's what I am. So I plan to stay involved through speaking engagements, guest commentaries, television appearances and consultation."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:16am on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

PBS is launching a new video channel, MediaWeek reported on April 22, 2009:

"On Wednesday (Apr. 22) PBS will significantly dialup its online video strategy with the launch of a new video-only channel which will aggregate thousands of full-length episodes from the network’s top series, along with complete seasons of current shows and full back-catalogues of classis series.

Among the shows available on the new portal (PBS.org/video) are American Masters, Antiques Road Show, Masterpiece Theater Nature and Nova. Classic series, such as the various programs featuring cooking legend Julia Child, will also eventually be available in their entirety on the site."