Move over Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Another television channel for central Indiana children is set to hit the air.
WFYI-TV Channel 20 on Monday plans to launch PBS Kids on the station’s 20.2 digital channel. The channel also will be streamed at www.wfyi.org/pbskids.
The channel will feature such programs as "Sesame Street," "Splash and Bubbles" and 19 other children's shows designed to be educational and entertaining, WFYI officials said, adding that it will be the only free all-children’s channel in the market.
“This is an exciting development for families all over central Indiana,” WFYI president and CEO Lloyd Wright said in a written statement. “PBS Kids is the country’s most trusted provider of educational media for children, and now it will be available on televisions, tablets, smart phones or computers day or night, at home or wherever else you may be.”
The programming will also be accessible through the free PBS Kids video app and through Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Chromecast.
Later this year, the live stream will introduce a first-of-its-kind integrated games feature, enabling children to toggle between a PBS Kids show and an activity that extends learning “in one seamless digital experience,” Wright said.
Public Broadcasting Service CEO Paula Kerger calls the new service a “game-changer.”
“By offering PBS KIDS programming 24/7, PBS stations will extend the reach and impact that they already have in their communities, where they provide essential services for families,” Kerger said.