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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Why The Switch To PBS Kids?

Fred Rogers Company
PBS' "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" is an animated spin-off from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

Starting Jan. 16, the around-the-clock public TV children's programming on Channel 14.3 will be changed to PBS Kids. Why?

Adopting the PBS Kids national lineup and branding allows Cincinnati's WCET-TV and Dayton's WPTD-TV/WPTO-TV to provide a live stream of the channels online.

"The new 24/7 PBS Kids channels provide us the opportunity to extend our commitment to early learning by making educational content for kids available anytime and anywhere," explains Sue Brinson, communications manager for CET & ThinkTV Channels 16 and 14.

Although licensed to Oxford, Channel 14 serves Greater Cincinnati since it broadcasts from the WXIX-TV (Channel 19) tower in East Price Hill.

The Cincinnati and Dayton channels will include popular favorites "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," "Odd Squad," "Wild Kratts" and "Dinosaur Train," plus PBS Kids' newest series "Splash and Bubbles," Nature Cat" and "Ready Jet Go!"

The live stream will make it "easy for children and families to watch their favorite series during prime-time and other after-school hours when viewing among families is high. Viewers will also be able to watch the CET- and ThinkTV-branded live streams through pbskids.organd on the PBS KIDS Video app, which is available on a variety of mobile devices and tablets.

Soon after launch, the live stream will be available on over-the-top platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Chromecast. The live stream complements on-demand clips and full episodes, which will continue to be available for free on the PBS KIDS Video app and streaming via pbskids.org," according to the Public Medic Connect announcement.

"Following its initial launch, the localized live stream experience will expand to offer an integrated games feature, enabling children to toggle between a PBS KIDS show and an activity that extends learning – all in one seamless digital experience. The live stream and games feature is grounded in research demonstrating that measurable gains in learning are achieved when children engage with PBS KIDS content on multiple platforms. The games will align with the learning goals of each TV series, deepening children’s involvement and supporting learning," the announcement said.

Cincinnati's 24/7 PBS Kids programming will be available on over-the-air Channel 14.3, and on Time Warner Channel 985 in Greater Cincinnati.

Dayton's PBS Kids programming will be available over-the-air on Channel 16.5, and only on Dayton's Time Warner systems, Brinson says. Channel 14.3 ("ThinkTV14 PBS Kids") also will be available to Time Warner South Dayton and North Dayton customers, but not on Time Warner in the city of Dayton, Brinson said. 

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.