CPB partnering with groups to offer public service announcements, other help

CPB, the American Red Cross and the Ad Council are working together to provide stations public service announcements on the earthquake in Haiti from First Lady Michelle Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. CPB is also working with the National Center for Media Engagement to allow stations to "share effective practices with their peers and access resources to help them support Haitian relief initiatives in their own communities," according to a CPB statement. CPB also provides links to various aid groups under the announcement on its website.

PBS releases details on Friday's Haiti telethon

"Hope for Haiti Now," an MTV-produced global telethon for earthquake victims on the island, will run on many cable and broadcast channels including PBS on Friday. PBS will provide the show on hard feed HD01 from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern, and HD02 from 8 to 10 p.m. Pacific. The telethon will be hosted by actor George Clooney in Los Angeles, musician Wyclef Jean in New York and CNN's Anderson Cooper in Haiti, with other performances and appearances to be announced. Donations will go to Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Wyclef's Yele Haiti Foundation. PBS's primetime lineup will shift: Washington Week and Now on PBS will feed at times to be announced, Bill Moyers Journal will be pre-fed at another time, according to PBS.

Masterpiece's "Emma" gets her very own Twitter party

Jane Austen's Emma gets a thoroughly modern treatment from Masterpiece this Sunday: A Twitter party. During the premiere of episode one, 9-11 p.m. Eastern, Austen experts and insiders from PBS and Masterpiece will be tweeting along with fans. Participants have a chance to win a prize, too. Use hashtag #emma_pbs. The three episodes of Emma run through Feb. 7. UPDATE: And the prize will be . . . a Jane Austen action figure!

New research shows first drop in kids' traditional TV viewing

A study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals that for the first time, kids ages 8 to 18 spent less time watching regularly scheduled TV. That daily total is three hours, 51 minutes, a 25-minute drop from 2004. Now they spend an average of seven hours, 38 minutes per day on all entertainment media. But all those new ways to watch TV -- such as the Internet, cell phones and iPods -- actually increased total daily TV viewing to four and a half hours per day, including 24 minutes of online viewing, 16 minutes on iPods and other MP3 players, and 15 minutes on cell phones. That means that 59 percent of young people’s TV viewing is on a TV set, and 41 percent is time-shifted, DVDs, online or mobile. The foundation also noted that because kids spend so much time "media multitasking" (using more than one medium simultaneously) that they actually pack 10 hours and 45 minutes into that seven-hour-plus daily figure. The study (PDF) was presented at the forum "Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year-olds" today in Washington.

Kids programming confab in February

A three-day course to help producers develop and sell preschool TV shows is coming up Feb. 13-15 in New York City. Little Airplane Productions, headed by former Sesame Street writer Josh Selig, is hosting its Little Airplane Academy that covers everything from pitching and designing a show to directing and production. Appearing will be Andrew Beecham, senior VP of programming for PBS Kids Sprout, and an exec from Nickelodeon. For more information contact Melinda Richards at 212-965-8999.

More pubcasting help for Haiti

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio will open its phone banks at 8 p.m. Friday during a James Taylor benefit concert for Haiti in Great Barrington, Mass. The Albany, N.Y., station will simulcast the concert, "Help for Haiti: An Intimate Evening with James Taylor." All contributions will go to Partners in Health, a group on the island providing medical care to victims. "We need to do everything we can to help the country recover after this tragic earthquake," Taylor said in a station statement. "I'm grateful to do my part and hope my neighbors here in the Berkshires will join me and be as generous as possible." UPDATE: This benefit performance sold out within 90 minutes, already raising $150,000, matched by James and Kim Taylor for a $300,000 total. A second concert has been added for Saturday.