Changes to PBS News line-up

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the changes coming to the Newshour with Jim Lehrer. This coming Monday, Dec. 7, will see the rechristening of the program as The PBS Newshour along with a beefed up online effort. The New York Times recently had a good article on the changes.

Also reported in the Times is the unfortunate news that both Bill Moyers Journal and Now with David Brancaccio will be going off the air next April. Moyers is retiring by choice, but Now's cancellation seems to be due to difficulty obtaining funding.

I saw Brancaccio speak in Los Angeles last spring at an awards presentation and recall him talking about the financial difficulties Now was having. At the time the staff were taking multiple mandatory furlough days. (For a recent interview WPT did with Brancaccio -- albeit before the cancellation was announced -- check out the WPT station blog Be more Tuned In.)

PBS execs say that a new public affairs program line-up will be announced in January. As we say in television, stay tuned.