Are reruns of Mister Rogers Neighborhood going to be discontinued?

[LincolnHeights]

Although it's been 6 years since the final new episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, and 4 years since Fred Rogers passed away. His show continues to live on on some PBS stations. But I noticed as of the fall of last year, a lot of PBS affiliates either dropped the show from their line up, or put it on really early in the morning, at times that most pre schoolers wouldn't even be awake yet. I'm wondering if this means the show will be gone altogether by the fall of 2007 from all PBS networks. I sure hope not, because I really love this show and it would be sad to see it go off the air. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[anytimepally]

It's still on every day at 1:00 pm on my local PBS station.. I didn't even know other stations were dropping it.. shame on them!

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, Mister Rogers's Neighborhood is on everyday at noon on my local PBS station, but I HIGHLY doubt they're going to be dropping him anytime soon.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well they haven't shown it on my PBS station for a while. Very sad, those stations who have dropped him are making this world a much darker place.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, Sesame Street used to air THREE times a day on my PBS station: 9:00 A.M., 12:00 noon, and 3:30 P.M.... then they dropped the 9:00 airing, and moved the 3:30 airing up an hour earlier. THEN, they dropped the 2:30 airing, and it was only showing at noon then. NOW they've moved it an hour early too, and now it's on at 11:00 in the morning.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I know this isn't going to be a popular thing to say. But while Elmo may have been hugely popular for awhile (I feel like it's cooled a bit at the moment, just from what I've seen), the show itself isn't as big as it once was. There are newer fresher shows competiting for the attention.

 

[mikebennidict]

Try contacting Family Communications and see what they have to say.

That's the best way to find out.

 

[D'Snowth]

I know this isn't going to be a popular thing to say. But while Elmo may have been hugely popular for awhile (I feel like it's cooled a bit at the moment, just from what I've seen), the show itself isn't as big as it once was. There are newer fresher shows competiting for the attention.

Yeah, that's the main problem is the competition.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well, I also think the writing suffered in recent years, but not everyone agrees, hehe.

 

[sesameguy]

In a blog posting from earlier this year, I quoted from an article that talked about the possibility of "Mr. Rogers" going off the air at a future date.

Mr. (Kevin) Morrison acknowledged that individual PBS stations make decisions about what shows to carry and FCI continues to support "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," but he also understands the reality of the television business.

"We're on PBS and will be into the foreseeable future, but I think no one has any doubt about the fact that one day it won't be on," he said.

"I still think there's so much good about the 'Neighborhood' that I would want it to go on as long as it can, because I think it's ageless," Mrs. Rogers said. "But there are some dated things about it."

(From the article, 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' firm plans new TV series; Thursday, December 28, 2006; By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/01/fred-and-courteney.html

It's interesting - a local PBS station here had dropped Mr. Rogers from its schedule for several months, but then picked it up again! Perhaps viewer demand brought him back. I'm very glad that the show is still around & hope it continues to run for all time in some form or another.