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Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Fred Rogers Productions, PNC Foundation Extend Partnership for Alma's Way, Be My Neighbor Day and More
Originally published by Fred Rogers Productions PITTSBURGH, June 27, 2025 /3BL/ - Fred Rogers Productions has extended its partnership with the PNC Foundation. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, the PNC Foundation has awarded a $1.4 million grant to support Alma's Way, the hit series on PBS KIDS. The grant will also support community events inspired by the series and ongoing Fred Rogers Productions initiatives such as Be My Neighbor Day. PNC Grow Up Great® is a multi-year, bilingual early childhood education initiative that helps children from birth through age 5 develop a love of learning that lasts a lifetime, which aligns with the Fred Rogers Productions mission and its series' learning goals. PNC's support of Fred Rogers Productions' award-winning programming and events are aimed at helping to meet the needs of children and families where they are, a mission shared by both companies. 'We are so pleased to continue our partnership with the PNC Foundation, a valued supporter of educational and arts programs,' said Paul Siefken, president and CEO, Fred Rogers Productions. 'Their sponsorship of our programming and outreach initiatives enables us to continue providing valuable content and hands-on experiences for children and families in their neighborhoods nationwide.' The grant supports a range of onscreen content and outreach programs with educational and pro-social themes, including 49 Be My Neighbor Day events, the successful, longstanding community-based initiative inspired by Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, plus four Alma's Way community events, and more. 'Fred Rogers Productions has been a terrific collaborator from the earliest days of PNC Grow Up Great, creating quality programming that encourages young children to discover, learn and grow,' said Sally McCrady, chair and president of the PNC Foundation. 'Be My Neighbor Days is one of my favorite initiatives across PNC's markets, helping families think about how they can be great neighbors and the importance of keeping kindness in mind. We're excited to see the Alma's Way Explore Your City events take shape.' The PNC Foundation will be recognized on broadcast and across digital for its generous contribution to make new Alma's Way episodes possible. Alma's Way focuses on core messages and learning goals to encourage children as they develop problem-solving, resilience, empathy, and other life skills. The series follows 6- year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family among a diverse group of close-knit friends and community members. In every episode, Alma models self-awareness, responsible decision-making and empathy, while encouraging kids to develop critical thinking skills and value their own ideas and questions. The series, which premiered in 2021, is created by Sonia Manzano ('Maria' on Sesame Street) and produced by Fred Rogers Productions in association with Pipeline Studios (Elinor Wonders Why). Ellen Doherty and Manzano are executive producers. Jorge Aguirre (Goldie & Bear) is head writer and co-executive producer. Additional co-executive producers are Luis Lopez and Juan Lopez. Supervising Producer for Fred Rogers Productions is Olubunmi Mia Olufemi. Be My Neighbor Day, the signature community outreach initiative for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood spinoff Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, has attracted several hundred thousand in-person attendees nationwide since the program started in 2014. There have been more than 126,000 resources shared with participants, and attendees have helped create and assemble over 90,000 'giveback' items, such as health and first aid kits and thank you cards, for their communities. More than 30,000 items, such as sweaters and mittens, have also been collected for donation to the participating locales. About the PNC Foundation The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.(NYSE:PNC) actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The Foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information, visit About Fred Rogers Productions Fred Rogers Productions was founded by Fred Rogers in 1971 as the non-profit producer of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for PBS. In the years that followed, it created hundreds of episodes of this much-loved program and extended Fred's values and approach to other efforts in promoting children's social, emotional, and behavioral health while supporting parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals in their work with children. Fred Rogers Productions continues to build on Fred's legacy in innovative ways through a wide variety of media and engages new generations of children and families with his timeless wisdom. The company's highly rated children's series, including Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peg + Cat, Odd Squad, and Through the Woods, have earned 31 Emmy® Awards among other important honors. The company's latest series are Donkey Hodie, the innovative puppet series inspired by characters from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and Alma's Way, an animated series created by Sonia Manzano. Fred Rogers Productions strives to inspire a lifelong enthusiasm for learning through its series as well as efforts beyond broadcast including games and interactive offerings, community engagement activities, and much more. For more information, visit or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. # # # Press contacts: Grand Communications (for Fred Rogers Productions) Alison Grand 212-584-1133; [email protected] Laura Liebeck 845-440-7974; [email protected] Angie Carducci (for PNC) 412-762-9186; [email protected]
The Verge
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Sesame Street's next season will stream on Netflix
Sunny days are on their way to Netflix. The streamer just announced that the next season of Sesame Street will be available on Netflix 'later this year.' Season 56 of the show won't be fully exclusive to Netflix, as the company says that it 'has exclusive worldwide premiere rights and episodes will be available day-and-date on PBS stations in the US and across PBS KIDS digital platforms.' The streamer also says that the new season will include some format changes, describing it as 'reimagined.' Those include new animated segments and what Netflix calls 'one 11-minute story' per episode. 'The longer format provides the opportunity to tell stories with even more character-driven humor and heart,' Netflix explains. Sesame Street has been searching for a streaming home ever since it was dropped from Max (now HBO Max once again) at the end of 2024. In addition to the new episodes, Netflix says that it will be streaming '90 hours of previous episodes,' though there are no specifics as to what will be available. The streamer also intends to develop Sesame Street games as part of the deal.
The Herald Scotland
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Trump administration kills funding for PBS children's shows
"Nearly every parent has raised their kids on public broadcasting's children's content. For the past 30 years, Ready To Learn-funded PBS KIDS content has produced measurable, real-world impacts on children's learning," Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB, said in the press release. "Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for the last 30 years because of the programs' proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children. We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program." The 2020-2025 cycle, which expires Sept. 30, was approved by the first Trump administration. Programs funded by the Ready To Learn Grant have included the iconic shows "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and "Clifford the Big Red Dog." Now, popular shows like "Molly of Denali," "Work It Out Wombats!" and "Lyla in the Loop" are being funded by the grant, the CPB said. In a statement sent to USA TODAY, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the cuts were to funding "racial justice educational programming." "This is not aligned with Administration priorities. The Trump Department of Education will prioritize funding that supports meaningful learning and improving student outcomes, not divisive ideologies and woke propaganda," Biedermann said. PBS Kids: 'We will continue to fight' Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PBS KIDS, said in a statement to USA TODAY they would continue to fight to keep providing shows for children in the U.S. "This decision removes a critical resource public television has used to enable us to create high-quality, educational PBS KIDS content while opening up worlds of possibilities for millions of kids across the country. We will continue to fight in order to maintain our essential service," DeWitt said. Cuts to PBS, NPR an ongoing fight The cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting come as the Trump administration continues to try and defund PBS and NPR. Trump signed an executive order instructing the CPB to "cease direct funding" to NPR and PBS, according to the text released by the White House on May 1. It labeled the news outlets as partisan and biased. "The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding," the order added. Both NPR and PBS have previously said that Trump's effort to cut their funding would disrupt essential media services and have a "devastating impact" on Americans who rely on them for credible local and national news, including during emergencies. Contributing: Reuters Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
