Kids America

Last updated

Kids America logo.png

Kids America was a 90 minute syndicated public radio show for young children. It was broadcast from 1984 to 1987 on weeknights on public radio stations in the United States [1] by American Public Radio, the forerunner of Public Radio International. [2] First produced by WNYC in New York City as Small Things Considered, [2] [3] it won a Peabody award in 1984. [4] In October 1985 the show's name was changed to Kids America. At the time of its 1987 cancellation, the program was carried by 26 stations. [2]

Contents

Characters/Segments

The show was hosted by Kathy O'Connell and Larry Orfaly. Each 30 minute segment on Kids America featured a character or guest. These included:

A wide variety of music was also played from rock music to classical music during each half-hour segment. [12] The show's engineer was David Nolan. [1]

Cancellation

The final show aired on Christmas Eve 1987 after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting decided not to renew a grant which provided funding for the program. WNYC, the station which produced Kids America, declined to pursue other underwriting possibilities and in the following January secured trademarks on certain characters so they could not be re-used. [13] After its cancellation, O’Connell continued her career in radio hosting Kids Corner on WXPN in Philadelphia. [14]

At its cancellation, the show was broadcast on 26 stations nationwide and drew over 6,000 letters and phone calls per week. One of the difficulties of the show, and children's radio in general in the US, is that radio ratings do not count listeners less than 12 years old. This created a lack of incentive for radio stations to carry Kids America or any other children's radio programming. [15]

The cancellation of Kids America left the United States with no nationally distributed radio programs aimed at children until Radio AAHS started to expand outside of Minneapolis in October 1992. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Married... with Children</i> American television sitcom (1987–1997)

Married... with Children is an American television sitcom created by Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt for Fox. Originally broadcast from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997, it is the longest-lasting live-action sitcom that aired on Fox. Married... with Children was the first series to be broadcast in the primetime slot of the then-new fourth network, Fox. The final episode aired on Fox on May 5, 1997, with an additional 2 unaired episodes airing on June 9, 1997 and June 18, 2002.

<i>Science Friday</i> American radio program

Science Friday is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 470 public radio stations. SciFri is hosted by science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by the Science Friday Initiative. The program is divided into two one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on science, nature, medicine, and technology. The show originated as the Friday episode of the daily call-in talk show Talk of the Nation, but was spun off as a series in its own right when Talk of the Nation was canceled in June 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Radio International</span> Distributor of public radio programming

Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Lehrer</span>

Brian Lehrer is an American radio talk show host on New York City's public radio station WNYC. His daily two-hour 2007 Peabody Award-winning program, The Brian Lehrer Show, features interviews with newsmakers and experts about current events and social issues. Lehrer was formerly an anchor and reporter for NBC Radio Networks and has been in broadcast journalism for over 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC</span> AM and FM radio stations in New York City

WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that did business as "WNYC RADIO" until March 2013.

Alison Stewart is an American journalist and author. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a political correspondent for MTV News in the 1990s. She is the host of WNYC's midday show, All of It with Alison Stewart.

Radio AAHS was a radio network managed by the Children's Broadcasting Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXPN</span> Public radio station in Philadelphia

WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows. WXPN produces World Cafe, a music program distributed by NPR to many non-commercial stations in the United States. The station's call sign, which is often abbreviated to XPN, stands for "Experimental Pennsylvania Network". The broadcast tower used by WXPN is located at, in the antenna farm complex in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

<i>On the Media</i> American public radio program and podcast

On the Media (OTM) is an hour-long weekly radio program hosted by Brooke Gladstone, covering journalism, technology, and First Amendment issues. It is produced by WNYC in New York City. OTM is first broadcast on Friday evening over WNYC's FM service and is syndicated nationwide to more than 400 other public radio outlets. The program is available by audio stream, MP3 download, and podcast. OTM also publishes a weekly newsletter featuring news on current and past projects as well as relevant links from around the web.

Studio 360 was an American weekly public radio program about the arts and culture hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and Slate in New York City. The program's stated goal was to "Get inside the creative mind" and used arts and culture as a lens to understand the world. The program was created by PRI based on an identified need for programming dedicated and focused on arts and culture journalism in media. While the show featured regular guest interviews with authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Lethem, and Miranda July, and musicians as diverse as Laura Veirs, Don Byron, and k.d. lang, it also had several recurring segments. The American Icons series attempted to understand lasting American cultural icons such as The Great Gatsby and Kind of Blue. The hour on Moby-Dick was the recipient of the 2004 Peabody Award. Public Radio International and WNYC co-produced the show from 2000 to 2017, when Slate replaced WNYC. After PRI merged with PRX, PRX continued to syndicate the show until the program's cancellation. The program was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Public Radio</span> Non-profit organization in the USA

New York Public Radio (NYPR) is the owner of WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WNYC Studios, WQXR-FM, New Jersey Public Radio, Gothamist, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. Combined, New York Public Radio owns WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WQXR-FM, WQXW, WNJT-FM, WNJP, WNJY, and WNJO.

<i>Radiolab</i> American radio program

Radiolab is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first offered in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC-FM</span> Public radio station in New York City

WNYC-FM (93.9 MHz) is a non-profit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by New York Public Radio along with WNYC (AM), Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MHz), New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. New York Public Radio is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in 1979, and is publicly supported through membership, development and sponsorship. The station broadcasts from studios and offices located in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan. WNYC-FM's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. The station serves the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPWA</span> Radio station in Chester, Pennsylvania

WPWA is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish religious format. Licensed to Chester, Pennsylvania, it serves the Philadelphia area. The station is currently owned by Mount Ocean Media, L.L.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYC (AM)</span> Public radio station in New York City

WNYC is a nonprofit, non-commercial, public radio station licensed to New York City. The station is owned by New York Public Radio along with sister stations WNYC-FM and Newark, New Jersey-licensed classical music outlet WQXR-FM (105.9 MHz). It is a member of NPR and carries local and national news/talk programs. Some programming is simulcast on WNYC-FM and at other times different programming airs on each station.

<i>The Takeaway</i> Morning radio news program

The Takeaway was a weekday radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner is WGBH-FM; at launch the BBC World Service and The New York Times were also editorial partners. In addition to co-producing the program, PRX also distributes the program nationwide to its affiliated stations. The program debuted on WNYC in New York, WGBH in Boston, and WEAA in Baltimore. At time of its last broadcast, the program had approximately 241 carrying stations across the country, including markets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Portland, Boston, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Schaefer</span> American radio personality

John Schaefer is an American radio host and author. A longtime host at WNYC, Schaefer began hosting the influential radio shows New Sounds in 1982 and Soundcheck in 2002, and has produced many different programs for other New York Public Radio platforms. Schaefer is also the author of the book New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music, first published in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMIX (AM)</span> Radio station in Mount Vernon, Illinois

WMIX is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mount Vernon, Illinois. The station is owned by Withers Broadcasting and the WMIX broadcast license is held by Withers Broadcasting Company of Illinois, LLC.

WNYC Studios is a producer and distributor of podcasts and on-demand and broadcast audio. WNYC Studios is a subsidiary of New York Public Radio and is headquartered in New York City.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kids America". www.westerling.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Andrew L. Yarrow (2 January 2008). "Children's Radio Show Is Canceled" . The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Public radio to offer new shows". Times Daily. Associated Press. 19 May 1985. Retrieved 10 February 2012– via Google News.
  4. ↑ "Small Things Considered". Peabody Awards. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Closing the Book on 'Kids America'". The Los Angeles Times. 23 December 1987. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Radio". Lakeland Ledger. 13 July 1986. Retrieved 10 February 2012– via Google News.
  7. ↑ "Sounds of Silence: Public Radio's Canceled Program Archive". AIRwiki. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  8. ↑ ""HELLO, AMERICA": Radio Broadcast in the Years Before Television" (PDF). From Art to Zoo. Smithsonian Institution. Fall 1986. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Kidding Around Is On The Air". Chicago Tribune. 4 December 1986. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "WNYC FOUNDATION Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  11. ↑ Vadala, Nick (17 April 2018). "WXPN's 'Kids Corner' celebrates 30 years of creating a radio oasis for Philly's children" . Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  12. ↑ Robert Bianco (19 June 1987). "If children's TV turns you off, try 'Kids America' on radio". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 13 December 2021– via Google News.
  13. ↑ "WNYC FOUNDATION Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  14. ↑ Barrientos, Tanya (24 March 2011). "Staff Q&A with Kathy O'Connell". Penn Current. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Andrew L. Yarrow (2 January 1988). "Children's Radio Show Is Canceled - New York Times" . The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  16. ↑ Hulse, Jane (4 March 1993). "FOR THE KIDS : Easy Listening : It's all fun, all the time, as 24-hour Radio AAHS broadcasts music, news and stories for the grade-school audience". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.