CPB gives PBS Kids channel $5.6M for games, outreach

A $5.6 million grant from CPB will help PBS create interactive games for its PBS Kids multicast channel.

The grant, announced Tuesday, also will help PBS experiment with short-form video and community engagement for the channel.

PBS Kids, PBS’ first streaming channel, was announced last February with the promise of embedded, interactive games to come later. It launched in January and is now available to more than 90 percent of U.S. TV households.

The grant will help PBS with “integrating research-based learning innovations into the live stream,” said Lesli Rotenberg, SVP and GM of children’s media and education at PBS. Studies have shown that children learn better when interacting with content through video and games, CPB’s announcement said.

The interactive game feature should roll out later this year, a PBS spokesperson told Current.

PBS will also use the grant to pilot “new forms of children’s content” for multiple platforms and to develop station engagement strategies to support low-income families, the announcement said.