"Reading Rainbow" close to cancellation

This kind of bums me out, as this used to be one of my favorite shows growing up. It does great things for children. It encouraged me to turn off the TV and pick up a damn book once in awhile.

Any road, it's great to see that LeVar Burton cares so much for his show and its cause.

 

I actually thought the show went out of production and into repeats a few years ago.
Such a shame to see it go if it does. I used to watch it with my children when they were younger. A classy, low key and intelligent piece of programming. If PBS can't keep shows like this on the air, what good is that network anymore?

Dan C

 

I used to watch this show, too. This totally sucks, especially if PBS will be forced to produce only "marketable" programming in order to stay afloat. A educational show shouldn't have to sell toys and action figures; at this rate, the only educational programming we'll see will be shows like "THE MATTEL AND MARS BARS QUICK ENERGY CHOCOBOT HOUR" (Simpsons reference). It's a real shame PBS had their funding cut over the years. This isn't like the major networks, this is also a public service.

 

I find merchandising is an excellent arrangement. The show producer's should have found a way to merchandise something long ago.

It's their own fault. Somene else will pick up the idea in the future with a better business platform.

I happen to like "Betwen the Lions" a lot. Is it in danger too?

 

That's part of the "problem" with the show, though. There really isn't any merchandising they can do. A big chunk of the show introduces new books to kids, material owned by other people. Furthermore, some authors may have a problem if Reading Rainbow demanded that they get a piece of their book in exchange for using it (a direction that could change the show from an educational one to a show that just advertises/markets kids' books, a potentially bad situation that could be abused in all the wrong ways, especially in an age of multimedia conglomerates). They do have the show's name, but how far can you really make that go? Reading Rainbow pajamas and toothbrushes aren't going to bring in the sort of money a Barney doll will during Christmas time.

Part of the whole concept of PBS is that it isn't like network or cable channels. Those channels are about making money. They don't have a huge obligation to educate kids (a very small percentage of their broadcast time has to be dedicated to that sort of thing, and even then, such programming is usually aired at times when very little people tune in). They only thing they have to do is make shows with good ratings (particularly towards the right ages groups) to sell advertising. PBS may still be affected by some of the same forces, but it's not supposed to be that kind of a channel.

 

I remember this show from my childhood. In fact just the other day I was reminiscing with my girlfriend and Reading Rainbow (for some bizarre reason) came up in our conversation.

I remember the show where Marv Albert is doing a play by play of a basketball game featuring the various vitamins in a glass of milk.
There's also the show that featured "Where the wild things are". I hope that the show will be able to continue.

 

If merchandising can be done with an obnoxious purple dinosaur, anything is possible.

A Reading Rainbow Great Books Collection comes to mind as an oportunity.

It is a compromise, agreed. But it's better than cancellation.