WNET exploring relocation

WNET is looking to leave its home of 10 years at 450 W. 33rd Street in Manhattan, according to a real estate report in the New York Observer. The station has hired Studley, a tenant advisory service, to scout out a 100,000-square-foot spot. It now leases about 200,000 square feet on one and half vast floors in the building near Penn Station. "Updating the existing framework would be very expensive," WNET spokesperson Kellie Specter told Current. Specter said the station is exploring the option of moving, "as a lot of companies are doing right now," for cost savings. It might also stay put and lease out half of its space. WNET's lease expires in 2018.

Viewers vent on religion in National Parks series

Michael Getler's latest column offers viewer insights into the National Parks series. The PBS ombudsman reports that most letters he received were positive, but a "fair number" of writers protested what they saw as an "excessive element of religion that co-mingled with the narrative of natural beauty and the struggle to preserve it within a national system."

DISH pubcasting carriage deal nears

At a Senate Communications Subcommittee meeting today, reps of DISH network and the Association of Public Television Stations said they expect a deal soon on carriage of noncom HD signals, reports Broadcasting & Cable. The FCC set a timetable for phasing in HD carriage over the next four years. APTS has worked out pubcasting carriage deals with cable, Verizon and DirecTV and has been negotiating with DISH.

ACL now a rock landmark

KLRU in Austin, Texas, has posted video of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dedication ceremony onOct. 1 for its longtime music series Austin City Limits. The studio was designated a rock landmark, and a marker was installed.

Digital Think In to explore NPR's future

NPR has invited 60 “thought leaders” in digital media and technology to share their ideas for its future as a news organization. The first-ever NPR Digital Think In convenes at frog design in San Francisco this Friday, Oct. 9. The schedule includes a series of break-outs exploring various aspects of news gathering, the roles of networks and stations, and the elusive matter of revenue models. The invitation-only event has drawn an impressive roster of participants, including Krishna Bharat, creator of Google News; Chris Beard, chief innovation officer at Mozilla; and Craig Newmark, creator of Craigslist, among many others. “This is something I cooked up to try to engage people who are actively thinking about issues of technology and news and what NPR is doing,” said Kinsey Wilson, NPR senior v.p. of digital media. “A lot of them are fans of NPR and public radio generally. I want to get them interested in our future.” Portions of the event, including reports from the workshops and the opening and closing sessions, will be streamed live. NPR journalists will embed with the break-out groups and report via live tweets (hashtag: #NPRthink).

Dinosaur Train pulls into Smithsonian, Latin America

Jim Henson Co.'s CGI-animated series Dinosaur Train is getting around. First up: The show's paleontologist Scott Sampson (right, PBS photo) and star dino Buddy will appear Oct. 24 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in a free family event. Kids will see an episode and get a chance to ask Sampson questions. Meanwhile, the show also has been sold to Discovery Kids Latin America, reports World Screen. The PBS Kids series is already a globetrotter, heading for Nickelodeon in Australia, Selecta Vision in Spain, Al Jazeera in the Middle East, TVO and TFO in Canada, Knowledge Network in British Columbia and NRK in Norway.