WSBE's "A Lively Experiment" Now on YouTube

News Release!

"A Lively Experiment" Goes Viral
WSBE's Weekly Political Affairs Program Now Online

  
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND (March 19, 2010) –  WSBE Rhode Island PBS today launched its first YouTube episode of A Lively Experiment. The show, taped on March 11, has been converted and split into three segments, and is available on the Rhode Island PBS Channel on YouTube. Links will also be available each week on the station's blog, Bird on the Wire, and through the station's fan page on Facebook, and on Twitter. The move comes as a result of a growing demand from the audience to view the show online.

"We get emails from 'snowbirds' in Florida and people who moved out of Rhode Island but who still have close ties," said Bob Fish, WSBE president. "We also get requests from viewers in the state who happened to miss the show that week. We're glad to finally be able to bring this added service to our loyal 'Lively' viewers – and to introduce the show to a whole new audience online," Fish added.

The premiere online episode features Ron St. Pierre, 630 WPRO-AM radio host as the moderator. Panelists on March 11 were former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey; Jim Hummel, investigative journalist and executive director of the Hummel Report; former state representative and currently an attorney with RI Legal Services, Denise Aiken; and public relations consultant and former TV news director, Dave Layman.

Fish said that, after a period of testing, the station plans to get each week's episode segments uploaded on Fridays, the day after the show is taped.

A Lively Experiment premiered more than 20 years ago, in 1987. Although the faces and sets have changed, the show still retains much of its original format: four guests and a moderator discuss the week's top issues in local politics and government. Topics which may not have made the headlines – but deserve public attention – are also introduced. A popular regular feature is the 'Outrage of the Week,' wherein each panelist names one incident that most caught his or her attention. For its first 17 years, A Lively Experiment's moderator was veteran radio talk show personality, Steve Kass. Steve Kass left the show in 2005 when he joined Governor Donald Carcieri's administration. Panelists have always included a combination of news reporters and news makers, analysts and opinion leaders, elected and appointed officials from all political ideologies. The show is produced each week by David Marseglia.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS is owned and operated by the Rhode Island Public Telecommunications Authority, a quasi-public agency of the State of Rhode Island. Rhode Island PBS is a viewer-supported member of the Public Broadcasting Service. Committed to lifelong learning for more than 40 years, Rhode Island PBS uses the power of commercial-free media to educate, engage, enrich, inspire, and entertain viewers of all ages in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. For more information about the programs and education services at WSBE Rhode Island PBS, visit www.ripbs.org.

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