Yes, Los Angeles, You WILL Have PBS
Starting January 1, 2011, KOCE-TV will become the full service PBS station for the Southern California region, and will begin broadcasting the full line-up of PBS programs for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties and the City of Santa Barbara.
KOCE will offer PBS’ Emmy award-winning news and public affairs, history, drama and performing arts programming, including PBS NEWSHOUR, FRONTLINE, NOVA, MASTERPIECE, NATURE, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, AMERICAN MASTERS, TAVIS SMILEY and GREAT PERFORMANCES. According to a 2010 GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media poll, PBS was rated the most trusted institution among nationally known organizations for the seventh consecutive year.
KOCE will also feature seven hours of PBS KIDS programming each weekday. PBS KIDS is the nation’s most trusted educational media brand and has been proven to help children succeed in the classroom and in life. PBS’ children’s programming, such as SESAME STREET, CURIOUS GEORGE, DINOSAUR TRAIN, ARTHUR, SUPER WHY!, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT and the upcoming WILD KRATTS, which premieres in January 2011, invites kids to explore the world around them with educational, age-appropriate content that offers positive role models for children.
KOCE will look to expand its outreach services in coming months, including KOCE Classroom – KOCE’s educational initiative that currently serves nearly a half-million students and teachers in Southern California schools.
“KOCE-TV is delighted to expand our lineup of award-winning PBS programming that serves as a mainstay in homes across the country,” said KOCE President and CEO Mel Rogers. “We are excited to be the new home of PBS in Southern California and continue to work with PBS stations KVCR-TV and KLCS-TV to build a Southern California Consortium of stations for the region.”
“PBS continues to focus on ensuring the people of Southern California are able to benefit from the full range of high-quality PBS content and services,” said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. “We look forward to working with KOCE and our other PBS stations, KVCR-TV and KLCS-TV, to offer the very best of PBS’ national and locally produced content to the people of Southern California.”
Beginning in January, KOCE will also present PBS’ new Winter/Spring 2011 season of original programs that enrich lives and expand horizons. New offerings include:
WILD KRATTS Premieres January 3, 2011, 4:00 p.m. PT Pack a snack, grab a compass and head out for adventure with the energetic and enthusiastic creature exploring brothers, Martin and Chris Kratt in the new PBS KIDS GO! series WILD KRATTS.
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Downton Abbey” Sundays, January 9-30, 2011, 9:00-10:30 p.m. PT The miniseries that took the UK by storm comes to PBS. Described by the Brit press as “...more scandal and costume envy than an episode of ‘Gossip Girl’” (Marie Claire UK) and “makes almost everything else... seem bland and two-dimensional” (The Times of London). Created by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), “Downton Abbey” depicts the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff who serve them, set at their Edwardian country house in 1912. Featuring an all-star cast including Hugh Bonneville (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Miss Austen Regrets”), Dame Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern. Laura Linney hosts.
AMERICAN MASTERS “Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides” Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 8:00-9:30 p.m. PT Meet the man who pulls off a movie where his character is simply known as “The Dude.” Called “the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived” by über-critic Pauline Kael, this film profiles Jeff Bridges, an Oscar-winning best actor who embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor.
PIONEERS OF TELEVISION Tuesdays, January 18-February 8, 2011, 8:00-9:00 p.m. PT Where would TV be without “Star Trek,” “Columbo,” “Romper Room” or “Gunsmoke”? The series returns for a look at the inception of four popular genres: science fiction, crime dramas, local kids’ TV and westerns.
NOVA “Making Stuff” Wednesdays, January 19-February 9, 2011, 9:00-10:00 p.m. PT NOVA kicks off its new night on Wednesdays with the premiere of the four-part miniseries, “Making Stuff.” What’s in the lab today could be in your life tomorrow. Join The New York Times technology columnist David Pogue as he discovers how the “stuff” in our world is becoming stronger, smaller, cleaner and smarter.
NOVA scienceNOW Wednesdays, January 19-February 23, 2011, 10:00-11:00 p.m. PT Each episode of the upcoming season of NOVA scienceNOW explores one of six “big” science questions: “Can We Make It to Mars?”; “Can We Live Forever?”; “How Does the Brain Work?”; “How Smart are Animals?”; “Where did I Come From?”; and “What’s the Next Big Thing?”
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Any Human Heart” Sundays, February 13-27, 2011, 9:00-10:30 p.m. PT William Boyd adapts his acclaimed 2002 novel about a man – at various times a writer, lover, prisoner of war and spy – making his often precarious way through the 20th century. Matthew MacFadyen, Gillian Anderson, Hayley Atwell, Kim Cattrall and Jim Broadbent star. Laura Linney hosts.
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Upstairs Downstairs” Sundays, April 10-24, 2011, 9:00-10:00 p.m. PT An updated version of one of the most-loved and most-honored series in television history, the series has a new cast of characters, and Jean Marsh reprises her Emmy-winning role as Rose. The cast also includes the original series co-creator Dame Eileen Atkins (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Cranford”), Keeley Hawes (“MI-5”), Ed Stoppard and Art Malik (“The Jewel in the Crown”). The script is by Emmy-nominee Heidi Thomas (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Cranford”). Laura Linney hosts.
BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA Tuesdays, April 19-May 10, 2011, 8:00-9:00 p.m. PT Travel with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. across Latin America to explore what happens when African and Hispanic worlds meet. Four-part series.
NATURE “Bears of the Last Frontier” (w.t.) Sundays, May 8-22, 2011, 8:00-9:00 p.m. PT Take a spin with adventurer and bear biologist Chris Morgan as he motorcycles deep into the Alaskan wild to explore the amazing resiliency and adaptability of bears through five dramatic ecosystems.
FREEDOM RIDERS: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Monday, May 16, 2011, 9:00-11:00 p.m. PT Acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson tells the powerful and inspirational story of the more than 400 black and white men and women who, using non-violent tactics, risked their lives to challenge segregated facilities in the South in 1961.
Highlights of the new schedule are available at www.koce.org, the website for the KOCE, the PBS station for the Greater Los Angeles area and Southern California.
