Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, delivered a keynote at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California, talking up Ken Burns’s first documentary that looks outside the U.S. and the network’s special programming related to America’s 250th birthday in 2026.
She said PBS has never had a more significant role in U.S. media. In this era of misinformation and disinformation, the network offers “trusted, fact-based programming that explores not just the what but the why,” she said.
Also Read: More Coverage of the 2024 TCA Winter Press Tour
Burns’s documentary, Leonardo Da Vinci, focused on the Italian painter, premieres November 18-19. It runs for four hours. Burns and his team is also behind The American Revolution, which comes out in fall 2025 and runs for 12 hours.
PBS America 250 will offer “an expansive, thoughtful look at the birth of the United States,” Kerger said, and “an array of significant films” focused on politics, history, science, the arts and other categories.
A couple of programs bring PBS some star power. The Express Way with Dulé Hill, which focuses on “local visionaries creating meaningful change” in their communities, debuts April 23. Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, a one-hour special that sees Lithgow go back to school to demonstrate the power of arts education, premieres April 26.
PBS will also continue to focus on climate change, including Evolution Earth, American Outdoors and Human Footprint. “Our commitment to this issue is stronger than ever,” Kerger said.
Series touching on environmental issues include Hope in the Water and Nature: Patrick and the Whale.
Looking at youth programming, Kerger said PBS Kids provides children with “a wide array of skills necessary for success in school, and in life.” PBS Kids is rolling out a civics content initiative this year.
Lyla in the Loop, about a girl in Philadelphia with a unique approach to problem solving, “is off to a strong start” after its debut last week.
Aaron Augenblick animated show City Island will get a second season, and there will be shows featuring music videos in City Island Sings and Together We Can (w.t.), the latter from the Sesame Workshop group.
Kerger described PBS as “a place for convening and conversation,” and a “true public square.”
