PBS Announces Relaunch Of PBS YOU Distance Learning Service (November 5, 2001)
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced the relaunch of PBS YOU, its lifelong learning service, on December 1, 2001 with a new, more diverse programming line-up aimed at increasing and broadening viewership.
As part of this strategy, PBS also announced it has retained the Cerebellum Corporation and New River Media, Inc., as consultants to help identify fully funded programming and underwriting for the channel. New River Media will recommend for PBS’s consideration a mix of programs that appeal to life-long learners in the evenings and Cerebellum will recommend programs targeted at middle school, high school and college students in the afternoons. Specific new programs will be announced shortly.
PBS YOU will continue to offer a large block of college telecourses, created by distinguished producers and funders, for adults seeking degrees or informal education as well as a late evening block of how-to programs for personal enrichment and enjoyment.
“PBS YOU is a strong service with tremendous potential for serving PBS member stations and our growing audience of learners of all ages,” said Wayne Godwin, chief operating officer of PBS. “We look forward to harnessing the expertise of two well-known producers of quality PBS programming — Cerebellum and New River Media — to expand PBS YOU’s audience with new content to advance our mission of education, culture and citizenship.”
“We’re extremely excited about the opportunities presented by PBS YOU, for underwriters, producers, viewers, and PBS member stations,” said Andrew Walworth, president and chief executive officer of New River Media.
“PBS YOU has the opportunity to become a treasured national resource for teachers, parents and students,” said Chip Paucek, co-chief executive officer of Cerebellum. “With a clear need in our country for improved educational resources, we are looking forward to working with everyone at PBS to revitalize PBS YOU and make this a reality.”
Launched in December 1999, PBS YOU is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week fully packaged, turnkey program service available to PBS member stations for analog and digital broadcast and cable channels. PBS YOU offers telecourses from the PBS Adult Learning Service, as well as a variety of other educational and noncommercial programming aimed at serving the needs of lifelong learners nationwide.
PBS YOU is licensed by 30 local public television stations, and many more stations have signaled their intention to license the service in the coming months as they complete the transition to digital broadcast. In addition, PBS YOU is available to millions of satellite TV subscribers as a noncommercial, educational “set-aside” channel by direct broadcast satellite providers DirecTV and DISH Network/Echostar.
About the Public Broadcasting Service
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 100 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org.
About Cerebellum Corporation
Cerebellum Corporation is one the nation’s leading producers of multimedia educational content and has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception in 1993. Cerebellum’s Standard Deviants video, DVD and software titles are widely regarded as the most compelling video-based learning products on the market. Recommended by thousands of teachers and college professors, Cerebellum has won 20 Telly Awards for “Best Non-Broadcast Educational Video” and has also been named to the “Best Films and Videos” list by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Cerebellum took its award winning content to the airwaves in the Fall of 2000 with Standard Deviants TV (PBS), a TV Guide “Top Ten New Show for Kids” and Parents’ Choice “Recommended” winner.
About New River Media, Inc.
New River Media, Inc. is an independent communications company based in Washington, DC that specializes in the production, distribution and sponsorship of documentary, series and educational television. Founded in 1992 by Andrew Walworth, New River Media has become a leading producer for PBS. Recent PBS productions include The Big Band Sound of WWII (August 2001), the one-hour documentaries The Giving Boom (June 2001) and Art Under The Radar (August 2001), the three-hour prime-time documentary series The First Measured Century (December 2000), and two weekly PBS series: Think Tank With Ben Wattenberg and Moneywise With Kelvin Boston. New River Media also operates a home video division, which produces, licenses and distributes programs for the North American market.
