Catching PBS satellite feeds

One benefit of working at WPT is that our in-house television line-up includes the satellite channels PBS uses to distribute its programming to its member stations. Stations record the programs and then broadcast them according to their schedules.

That means in some cases, you can happen upon an upcoming program. For example, this week, I saw a few minutes of the Great Performances production of Hamlet that will be broadcast this week. The unexpected preview certainly wet my appetite. The staging has an English Manor/Agatha Christie feel that I found an interesting choice. The play is a murder mystery on one level, after all, though Hamlet is no Poirot. My children are obsessed with Shakespeare so we definitely will be watching.

At other times, you can stumble upon programs unlikely to be carried by WPT, like one on right now about Chinese-language movie theaters that used to be at the social heart of this country's many big city Chinatowns. Alas, now all disappeared,and completely unknown to me before this documentary.

It's a great reminder of the variety of unique programming only available through public broadcasting.