TCA: PBS Details Three New Series

PBS introduced three new series to critics in Beverly Hills over the weekend from some of the biggest names in noncommercial production.

KCET Los Angeles and The Jim Henson Co. are teaming on Sid the Science Kid, which debuts Sept. 1 on PBS Kids, the noncommercial service's preschool block. The animated series promotes science and exploration by relating it to the experiences of a preschooler.

WGBH Boston and Studio B are producing Martha Speaks (also debuting Sept. 1), targeted toward four- to seven-year-olds and based on the book series by Susan Meddaugh about a dog who speaks courtesy of a diet of alphabet soup with which she builds her vocabulary.

Finally, Sesame Workshop will bring The Electric Company back in January 2009. That 1970s series took aim at illiteracy, and it will do so again in an age where media literacy has become a key skill.

For the latest news and video from the TCA press tour, click here.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.