PBS is commissioning a second scripted drama, Chief Programming Executive Beth Hoppe told Current at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour this week in Los Angeles. The latest script request is for a Civil War period piece, Hoppe said. “We’re really focusing on things that have historical accuracy and untold stories at their core, as we try to select what to bet on in the drama space,” she noted. “The Civil War is territory that PBS has a great track record for, so it’s a matter of finding that PBS twist.” She declined to discuss further details. In May, Variety reported that PBS had ordered a pilot script for Alta California, set in the 1800s and centering on an arranged marriage between two families, one Mexican-Californian and the other European American.

Citizen Koch, a documentary about the influence of money in politics, closed its 30-day Kickstarter campaign with more than double its initial fundraising goal.

PBS is the only broadcast network that is “dramatically up” in viewers 18 to 34 years old, as well as up in total viewers and holding steady in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic,  reports The Wrap, a digital news organization covering entertainment and media. Perhaps one explanation could be that PBS is putting as much content as possible online on YouTube, Netflix and Amazon. “It seems to act as a marketing tool for us to drive more television tune-in,” said Jason Seikin, PBS’s digital guru.

Penn State Public Broadcasting is now Penn State Public Media, its licensee announced today. “We will continue to operate as a broadcasting service but have expanded to online content development and we wanted our name to reflect that,” said Kate Domico, executive director of public media at the university, which includes WPSU-TV/FM.

The PBS NewsHour  is reassigning its senior journalists to new roles by tapping Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff as co-anchors and managing editors of the weeknightly broadcasts. The change, announced today during the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles, drops the system of rotating anchor duties among six different NewsHour journalists. It takes effect next month. Jim Lehrer, longtime anchor and co-owner of the show through MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, retains the title of executive editor, but Ifill and Woodruff will lead editorial and strategic planning of PBS’s flagship news show. “Gwen and Judy have been the heart and soul of NewsHour for years,” said Linda Winslow, executive producer, “so it’s wonderful to formalize these new roles and give them an opportunity to provide even more input on the content and direction of the show.”

Threadless, a online company that sells T-shirts with designs voted on by users, is calling for artists to submit designs inspired by NPR and public radio. “We’re all huge fans of NPR and the content they bring to the ears of so many people,” said Threadless CEO Jake Nickell in an NPR press release. “With all of the avid NPR listeners over here at Threadless, the idea of a collaboration between NPR and the Threadless community just made so much sense.” Artists have until August 26 to submit creations for the “My Sound World” challenge, one of several themed challenges that the website hosts.

WBUR licensee Boston University agreed Monday to sell its AM repeater in Yarmouth, Mass., to Langer Broadcasting Group LLC. WBUR entered into the agreement to sell WBUR-AM 1240 to Langer, which plans to flip the station from news to a Portuguese-language format to serve local Portuguese and Brazilian communities. The deal is pending FCC approval, and the sale price was not released. WBUR-AM was the first station on Cape Cod and has been transmitting since 1940. WBUR bought the signal in 1997. Earlier this year, WBUR bought 92.7 FM WMVY, known as mvyradio, from Aritaur Communications. In February, WBUR changed the call sign to WBUA and changed the format from music to news.

Frontline is spending $1.5 million to bolster its ability to manage its news collaborations, which are growing in number as well as importance. Raney Aronson, deputy executive producer, said the investigative showcase will establish a four-person collaboration desk through a three-year, $750,000 grant from the Philadelphia-based Wyncote Foundation. She tapped Frontline’s series budget for matching funds for the desk, which will also concentrate on transmedia efforts. “The way we do journalism has changed,” Aronson told Current. “Frontline is no longer simply a documentary series on a Tuesday night.” More than half of the films and online reports produced by Frontline are done in collaboration with kindred organizations such as the New York Times, NPR, the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica and, more recently, Spanish-language network Univision.

In anticipation of PBS’s appearance this week at the annual Television Critics Association Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., The Associated Press distributed a July 29 story looking at PBS Chief Programmer Beth Hoppe’s ongoing work to cast it as network instead of a public service. As writer David Bauder notes, “There’s a difference between waiting to see what work producers will offer you and actively going out with some of your own ideas.” Hoppe has done that, as well as “tried to make PBS more topical,” with an examination of guns in America that ran a month after the Newtown, Conn.,

Alabama Public Radio will eliminate Public Radio International shows from its schedule, dropping This American Life and The World, reports Tuscaloosanews.com. Director Elizabeth Brock said the decision was based in part on budget concerns. APR will fill the gaps left in its schedule by adding Radiolab and an additional hour of All Things Considered.

The Truth, a podcast of fictional stories whose segments have aired on national pubradio programs, met its fundraising goal for a second 10-episode season.

Michelle Obama is kicking off a special event hosted by Wisconsin Public Television this morning. Appearing in a pre-recorded video, the first lady is welcoming children and parents to the network’s 15th annual PBS Kids Get Up and Go! Day. The event promotes family-friendly ideas on how to stay active, healthy and enjoy the outdoors. “Hi everyone! I’m so proud of all of you young people for joining in with Wisconsin PBS to get up and go,” Obama says in the 30-second greeting. Her own “Let’s Move!” initiative also encourages kids to be more physically active and eat healthy foods.