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Services available from PBS SoCal and KCET

March 25, 2020

Dear Friends of PBS SoCal and KCET,

This week, life in Southern California changed for all of us, as government officials asked people to stay home. It is important that we all take the necessary steps to try and stop the spread of COVID-19. PBS SoCal and KCET have stayed focused on our mission to bring everyone in Southern California the services they need. In fact, the government has declared that we are an essential business during this extraordinary time.

We are essential to the millions of children, who are relying on their local PBS stations to provide free educational content while schools are closed. We partnered with the Los Angeles Unified School District, KLCS and KQED to create an At-Home Learning service that is now being distributed across the country. This week, we’re launching an updated At-Home Learning hub. Here you can find a new set of enriching content and activities—separated by grade level—updated weekly. Please share it with anyone you know who has children at home.

We are essential to viewers looking for fact-based news and public affairs programming with shows like the PBS NewsHour, BBC World News, Frontline, SoCal Connected and Washington Week. PBS SoCal and KCET have also collaborated with LAist and KPCC, to bring you the latest on COVID-19 and perspectives on how life is changing in Southern California. These reports will be on television, on the radio and online.

And we are essential when you want to escape from all the COVID-19 news for an hour or two with our entertaining programs like Masterpiece, NATURE, Midsomer Murders, NOVA and Doc Martin. Many of our programs are available for streaming on the free PBS app. We encourage you to download the app, so that PBS will be available to you anytime.

Here are some additional resources we thought might be useful:

Advice from the folks at Sesame Workshop for helping young children in light of COVID-19
Resources for bilingual learners (up to grade 5) / Spanish Version
Family-friendly viewing: 161 free science documentaries streaming on the PBS app

I am very proud of our extraordinary team who are more committed than ever to do their work, even if most of them are doing it from their dining room tables, makeshift studios in their garage and quiet corners of their home. A small team of engineers and IT staff has to be in our offices to keep us on air and online with timely coverage. But, most of the 130 PBS SoCal and KCET staffers are working remotely. Wherever we are working, you can count on us to continue to answer your calls and emails and do the important work you rely on throughout this period.

Thank you for being part of our community. We greatly appreciate your support and wish you and your family the best during this difficult time.

Sincerely,