American Public Television Announces January 2006 National Launch of 24-Hour Lifestyle and Lifelong Learning Channel for Public Television Stations.

BOSTON -- Collaboration with Thirteen/WNET New York and WGBH Boston Will Provide Stations With New How-To Channel Reaching Nearly 60% of the United States 

American Public Television (APT), in collaboration with Thirteen/WNET New York and WGBH Boston, announces the premiere of the national Create channel featuring public television's most popular lifestyle and how-to programming. Create is the first public television (PTV) digital channel to launch since the historic digital TV carriage agreement with the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). Create will launch nationally on January 9, 2006. The channel's do-it-yourself genres will include viewers' favorite public television series and specials on cooking, renovating, painting, crafts, travel, gardening and other interests.

Each week, Create will feature 30 high-profile series and specials. Current titles range from Rick Steves' Europe and America's Test Kitchen to P. Allen Smith's Garden Home and Scrapbook Memories.

"Create provides an opportunity for public television to serve new and wider audiences in addition to serving traditional audiences with more options in watching favorite programs or discovering new ones," said Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of APT. "This dynamic service will provide viewers with more choice, flexibility and convenience. APT, WGBH and Thirteen are committed to supporting Create and we have a vision and clear plan for its long-term success."

"At launch, Create will reach nearly 60% of U.S. TV Households with 134 public television stations broadcasting 12 to 24 hours daily over the air on stations' new digital signals and via digital cable systems," said Fenneman. Create will be available in 15 of the top 25 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Seattle, Tampa, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami, Denver, St. Louis, Portland and Indianapolis, in addition to seven statewide PTV networks. Fenneman expects another 10 stations will sign on for the service in 2006.

"In today's competitive media landscape, launching a new channel with 60% television household penetration is almost unprecedented," said Mike Quattrone, former general manager of the Discovery Channel and APT board trustee. "With its focus on proven, successful programming, Create looks like a winner for public television."

Create is currently available to digital cable TV audiences in two of the top five markets serving more than 5% of U.S. TV Households in the New York tri-state area and eastern New England markets. Create was successfully launched in 2004 on WGBH DTV/Comcast Cable and the digital service of Thirteen/WNET's sister station, WLIW DTV/Cablevision.

"Thirteen and WGBH exhibited remarkable innovation and leadership in jointly developing the engaging Create channel for their local digital pursuits. APT is pleased to now develop the national Create channel for viewers across the U.S.," said Fenneman.

"When we launched Create, we sought to take advantage of the new digital technologies to enhance the public television experience for our audiences in the New York and Boston markets," said Paula Kerger, executive vice president and COO of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW.

"We're delighted that APT is now expanding the reach of this exciting and popular public television service by bringing it to viewers across the nation," added Jon Abbott, executive vice president and COO of WGBH/Boston.

The channel features four identical, stacked, six-hour blocks of programs linked by Emmy nominated and ProMax award-winning interstitials including a channel I.D., billboard, image spots, PTV personality spots, Web site spots and eventual national underwriting spots. Each six-hour block features "best of" programming from public television distributors: predominantly titles from APT's extensive how-to/lifestyle library and other well-known titles from the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

"The exciting opportunities of digital services are mightily advanced by the viewer-centric program service Create. APT responded to station interest and is proud to bring an innovative digital tier cable service to American public television stations. The response has been enthusiastic and extraordinary. The uptake from stations is most gratifying," said Malcolm Wall, chair of APT's board of trustees and executive director of Kentucky Educational Television Network.

Support and funding for national Create is provided, in part, by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) through its Digital Services Fund. National Create, in addition to providing viewers with strong programming, is designed to help meet the digital multicast-generated demand for additional content across the public broadcasting system.

American Public Television

For 44 years, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of programming for the nation's public television stations. APT distributes more than 10,000 hours of programming including JFK: Breaking the News, Simply Ming, Globe Trekker, Rick Steves' Europe, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Battlefield Britain, Jungle, America's Test Kitchen, Lidia's Family Table and classic movies. APT is known for identifying innovative programs and developing creative distribution techniques for producers. In four decades, it has established a tradition of providing public television stations nationwide with program choices that enable them to strengthen and customize their schedules. Press should contact Donna Hardwick at 617-338-4455 ext. 129 or via email to [e-mail]. For more information about APT's programs and services visit www.APTonline.org.

THIRTEEN/WNET

Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for PBS, bringing such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, and Cyberchase -- as well as the work of Bill Moyers -- to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers, airing the best of public television along with its own local productions. And, through its Web site and educational outreach projects, Thirteen extends the power of its work beyond the television screen. In 2003, Thirteen merged with sister station WLIW21 New York, America's fourth most-watched public television station. WLIW distributes live daily broadcasts of BBC World News and produces PBS programming celebrating the diversity and ethnic character in America. More information about Thirteen and WLIW can be found at www.thirteen.org and www.wliw.org.

WGBH

WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup, along with some of public television's best-known lifestyle shows and children's programs and many public radio favorites. WGBH is the number one producer of Web sites on pbs.org, the most-visited dot-org on the Internet. WGBH is a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards...even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH was honored with a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information, visit www.wgbh.org.

National Educational Telecommunications Association

The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) is a professional association that serves public television licensees and educational entities in all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. NETA serves by connecting people and ideas, by providing quality programming, educational resources, professional development, management support and national representation. For more information, visit www.NETAonline.org.