PBS will make some of its series and specials available for VOD delivery via Discovery's digital streaming service to schools.
Ken Burns' Civil War, as well as Frontline, American Experience, Nova, and others will be downloadable through Discovery Education, which correlates them to state curricula and organizes them into "content-specific" video clips as well as full episodes.
Discovery says its "unitedstreaming" service is licensed by over 70,000 schools and includes more than 5,000 shows and 50,000 clips.
PBS says it is going to license some of its signature series with a number of outside suppliers on a nonexclusive basis. Discovery is the first such partnership.
Currently, 24 PBS stations supply help distribute the service to schools through co-branding, but this is the first content deal between PBS and Discovery.
Andrea Downing, VP, consumer products, for PBS, says the shows will be available starting in the fall.PBS also has a content deal with Library Video through a program call Safari Montage, and streams "quite a lot" of programs on its own Web site including Nova, Frontline and others.
