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Paula Kerger announced a new behind-the-scenes special about the Broadway sensation will air on PBS this fall during her time in front of the press Monday.
PBS CEO Paula Kerger had plenty to celebrate at the network's portion of the Television Critics Association winter press tour Monday.
Kerger's turn at the podium came the day after the launch of PBS' first American drama in more than a decade, Mercy Street. According to fast overnight ratings, which Kerger received just an hour before her time in front of the critics, the Civil War drama opened to a 2.2, putting it above the Sherlock season three premiere.
"We're very happy today," Kerger told reporters about the ratings which "exceeded" internal expectations. "I think we've begun an important conversation."
Kerger attributed part of that to marketing money spent on Downton Abbey's farewell tour. "We felt that by participating in a great sendoff and also linking it to the launch of Mercy Street… really served us well," she said. "We're constantly evaluating how we spend the marketing moneys we have and I think in this case it was a good choice."
Kerger said she has not yet seen scripts for season two, but "we have very much left the door open for a season two, and we've done what we need to make sure that there could be a season two," she said. "We just got the numbers an hour ago but obviously we're very excited about the series and if it does well, it will hopefully come back but we're not ready to make that announcement yet."
Good news also arrived in the form of a forthcoming special that will go behind the scenes of the hit musical Hamilton. Airing this fall on Great Performances, the special will show how Lin-Manuel Miranda created the Broadway sensation but will include performances from the musical. "I think you have I think these moments where you can tell when you look at a piece of world that its changing everything and I feel that way about Hamilton," she said,
Kerger discussed the intense competition to align with the hit show – which she deemed a "defining moment in musical history" – and called PBS the "logical place" for such a production. "Everyone will fight to bring a megahit to television but we come at it not just because we're looking at something that could maybe bring a big audience but we look at it as a way of extending our educational reach," Kerger said. "I know everyone was trying to negotiate doing something with him and the fact that he said yes to us, I think, is hugely significant."
In addition to a new partnership with NPR for election coverage, which was also announced Monday, PBS announced that will team with National Geographic Channels International for a six-part science series Genius By Stephen Hawking that will air domestically on PBS later this year and internationally on National Geographic Channels.
Other highlights are below.
Sesame Street's Big Move
The children's program, which has aired solely on PBS for 45 seasons, launched its 46th season on HBO on Jan. 16. Despite airing first on HBO, episodes will air at a later time on PBS.
"I am happy that Sesame will continue on Public Broadcasting and with the investment from HBO, there will be the opportunity for more episodes," Kerger said. She also emphasized PBS' "range" of children's programming such as the upcoming Ready Jet Go, among others. "Sesame Street is just one piece. Its an important piece because they've been a part of our history for many years," she said. "I am happy that Sesame is a part, but they're only a part."
Getting Finding Your Roots Back on Track
In June, PBS postponed a potential third season of the ancestry-exploring docuseries after it was discovered that the show had edited an episode about Ben Affleck’s family tree to remove all references to the star’s slave-owning ancestors.
At the time, PBS noted that the series would not move forward with an additional, already-in-the-works third season until necessary staffing changes, including the hiring of a fact-checker, were made. More than six months later and three weeks into the new season, Kerger expressed her restored "confidence" in the series.
"We made a series of recommendations with the producers and they have taken up our recommendations including having additional research, having an independent genealogist look at the world, and we're very satisfied with all that went on around it, and we're comfortable looking at this season that we would move forward," she said. "We look forward to continuing our work together."
The Next Downton Abbey?
With Mercy Street off to a solid start and the stateside airing of Downton's finale just weeks away, Kerger looked back on how the landmark series has shaped and influence PBS' future, particularly when it comes to focusing on series with a continued lifespan and "the opportunity to tell stories over a longer arc" rather than one-off event shows. "If you pull together a great story and sometimes when the stars align magic happens," Kerger said. "I believe it can happen again and again, even to an organization like Public Broadcasting that people sometimes look at us as this ugly stepchild."
The Future of Public Broadcasting
The future, and particularly the span of PBS' affiliates across the country has come into question following a Wall Street Journal report that television stations across the country are considering whether to sell their broadcasting airwaves to the government in a multibillion-dollar upcoming auction set to take place in June.
"We have not only been talking to our stations, but we've also have tried to reach out to the license holders as well to help them understand the importance of having a public media presence in community," she said. In June, "We'll know the impact and hopefully there won't be any of these holes that I'm discussing but we are concerned about it, that there may be part of the country that could lose Public Broadcasting."
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