"The Pub" Podcast
Linda Simensky, PBS’s head of children’s programming, on carrying forward Mister Rogers’ legacy
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“Shows are being made today from a much better understanding of how kids learn.”
"The Pub" Podcast
The Pub, Episode 6: WWFD (What Would Fred Rogers Do?), PBS documentaries in danger, David Carr on public media
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This week, we contemplate how much children’s public television has changed since Fred Rogers’ day, and the news isn’t all bad — far from it, in fact.
Programs/Content
PBS mulls strategy to boost kids’ ratings
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With many local pubcasters reporting sharp declines in daytime viewership, PBS programmers are reevaluating scheduling strategies for children’s programs, trying to get a handle on a problem that’s also affecting commercial competitors for kids TV audiences.
Programs/Content
Odd Squad to be PBS Kids’ newest math learning series
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It’s a question that parents and teachers struggle to answer at home and in the classroom: how do we make math fun for kids? The creative minds at PBS Kids have spent the last few years devising a solution to that problem. With Ready to Learn funding provided through the Department of Education in 2010, PBS staff set their sights on creating two math-focused children’s shows. Their answer for the 3- to 5-year-old crowd was PEG + CAT, an animated series that debuted last fall. Produced by Fred Rogers Company, PEG + CAT teaches measurement, shapes and patterns, skills that help the characters solve their real-life problems.
Odd Squad, a live-action math series geared toward children ages 5 to 8, is the latest addition to PBS’s slate of math-based kids’ programming.