Focusing on You: Results of Our First Focus Group

Focusing on You

We asked viewers to join us at Rhode Island PBS for a focus group to have a facilitated conversation about Rhode Island PBS's brand recognition and the station's value in our community.

We had a great turn-out and guests had a behind the scenes tour of A Lively Experiment. Below are some of the things they told us while at the Station. 

If you would like to be on the invitation list for our next Focus group, please call Diane at 401-222-3636 x 0. 

Why do you watch Rhode Island PBS?

Diversity, Arts and Entertainment. You see stuff you can't see anywhere else and it's free.  What could be better than that? Rhode Island PBS has enriched my life since I was like 5 years old.

I like it because there are things I can watch with my son that are not loaded with violence.

The programs just suit me. 

It's much, much different than commercial television and much better if you ask me.

How do you know that you are watching Rhode Island PBS?

I know that I am watching Rhode Island PBS because I see the bird logo in the right hand corner of my screen.

I don't know the difference between Rhode Island PBS and WGBH when I am watching.

I know that I am watching Rhode Island PBS because I don't have cable, and your station is the only PBS station that I can get free of charge.

Why do you watch Rhode Island PBS versus another PBS Station?

I like to watch programming in my state when I can to support the local businesses and stations.  However, I flip around to find the programming I want.

I'm for the little guy-for the smaller businesses, for the small stations and there are people out there, like me, who are going to support you.

What value does Rhode Island PBS bring to the community?

I'm interested in local programming.  It's about a sense of community and I learn more about Rhode Island.  You feel like you are part of something.  I'm not just saying that because I am here.

What do you know about the history and funding of Rhode Island PBS?

I don't know anything about it.

You are no longer getting as much money from the State of Rhode Island.

I like that you are now independent.

Downton Abbey Returns: Let's Party Like It's 1922!

                  Ring in the New Year with High Drama and High Style 

Season 4 of Downton Abbey on Masterpiece premieres on Rhode Island PBS on Friday, January 17 at 9 p.m. To celebrate, Rhode Island PBS is hosting an Upstairs Dinner Party and a Downstairs Preview Screening at the Park Theatre in Cranston on Friday, January 3, 2014. Join us - let's party like it's 1922! 

Period costume is optional, but it's such a fun part of the event. Downton Abbey Season 4 opens in 1922 - dropped waists, "Flapper" fringe, bobbed and waved hair, t-strap shoes, and long strands of beads were in fashion. Hemlines may have been rising, but formal evening wear still swept the floor with full-length skirts. Check the Web for inspiration - Pinterest has some lovely photos of vintage dresses.  

The Upstairs Dinner Party starts at 6 p.m. and includes a delicious menu and an enlightening and entertaining presentation about period clothing styles by Laurie Brewer, costume and textiles curator at the RISD Museum, as well as a living history presentation by Patricia Perry, a professional historical interpreter with Sneak Peek Productions. Upstairs Dinner Party guests can also bid in a silent auction of a select number of fun and luxurious items. Seating is strictly limited for the Upstairs Dinner Party, so you'll want to get your tickets now. 

The Downstairs Preview Screening will show the first hour of Season 4 on the Park Theatre's big screen at 8:30 p.m. The screening is free and open to the public, and all guests are invited to come in costume. Doors open to the screening public at 7:45 p.m. There is plenty of free parking in the municipal parking lot across the street from the Park Theatre.

Guests who plan to only attend the free screening must pick up their general admission tickets in person in advance at the Park Theatre (848 Park Avenue, Cranston, RI) on or after December 6. Kindly note: Due to expected high demand, the Park Theatre cannot accept telephone, online, or "will call" reservations for the free tickets. Screening tickets must be picked up in person in advance, thank you! (Dinner Party guests will enjoy VIP seating at the screening with no advance ticket pick up necessary - your tickets will be conveniently waiting for you.)

Guests are invited to bring a canned good or non-perishable food item to the Park Theatre to benefit the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. 

All guests - upstairs and downstairs - are eligible to purchase a limited-edition raffle ticket for a one-week stay at the quaint Connemara Country Cottages in Ireland. Tickets are $50 each and only 250 raffle tickets will be sold. We will draw and announce the winner immediately after the screening. Visit our Website for information about the Connemara Country Cottages and to purchase your raffle ticket before they sell out. You don't have to be present to win - but wouldn't it be exciting to hear your name called in a theater resounding with applause! 

Mark your calendar for the premiere of Downton Abbey Season 4 onMasterpiece, on Friday, January 17 at 9 p.m. on Rhode Island PBS.

The Rhode Island PBS Upstairs Dinner Party |Downstairs Preview Screening and local broadcast of Downton Abbey Season 4 on Masterpiece is generously sponsored by Rhode Island Antiques Mall, Hearing Health Professionals of New England, with additional support from Lathrop Insurance Agency and the Warwick Mall.

              

            

Thanksgiving treats for kids and kids at heart

Happy Thanksgiving! We're previewing some fun new (Christmas) holiday shows during the Thanksgiving
weekend.

While you prepare the fixings and stuff the turkey on Thanksgiving morning, the little ones in your life are bound to get excited over Thomas and Friends King of the Railway at 6 a.m. It's followed by the brand new Elmo's Christmas Countdown, and then the encore of Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about Christmas at 8.

We know how much kids love replays of favorites, so we encore Elmo's Christmas Countdown and Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about Christmas starting at 4:30 p.m.

For the grownups, we have a sumptuous historical crossover after-dinner treat at 8 p.m.: Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving (if you're not out shopping) we've stacked four Antiques Roadshow episodes starting at 2 p.m.: Junk in the Trunk III, Survivors, Politically Collect, and Relative Riches.

Enjoy!

So Much to Love: December is Brimming with Holiday Cheer

On Monday, December 2 at 8 p.m., join us live in the studio (that's always fun!) as we present a traditional holiday favorite, Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Shows and a brand new Celtic Woman: Home For Christmas.

Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Shows features classic clips of various Christmas specials from The Andy Williams Show. Filling homes with seasonal cheer, the specials became a cherished holiday family tradition. The digitally re-mastered production numbers are complete with magnificent sets and costumes and a cast of singers, dancers, and skaters. Quintessential moments include Williams’s solos of “Silent Night” and “Ave Maria,” as well as performances with his brothers for “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and with the Osmonds for “Silver Bells.” Interviews with Williams, and Bobby and Donny Osmond are interwoven with the show clips.

At 9:30 p.m., Celtic Woman: Home For Christmas stars vocalists Lisa Lambe, Susan McFadden, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha and Celtic violinist Mairead Nesbitt, performing timeless holiday favorites ("Silent Night," I'll Be Home For Christmas," "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," "Joy To The World") with their signature Celtic twist under the distinct musical direction of Emmy-nominated music producer, David Downes. Home For Christmas, directed by Russell Thomas and filmed at Dublin's Helix Theatre, is both a visual and aural feast. Complimented by Ireland's finest musicians comprised of a 36-piece orchestra and the 40-member Philharmonic Choir, this large-scale production promises to be a moving and festive celebration of the music cherished for generations.

Tuesday, December 3, starting at 7 p.m., we showcase some of your favorite Brit-Coms in special episodes: Last of the Summer Wine is a holiday episode, As Time Goes By: You Must Remember This starts around 7:45 p.m., and at about 9:15, tune in for a Waiting for God holiday episode. Plus, as a live night from our studio, you can count on some surprises.

On Wednesday, December 4, we "wrap" our live studio presence with the remarkable story of courage, strength, and ingenuity, Alone in the Wilderness, beginning at 7:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., rock the house with Joe Bonamassa: Live from Royal Albert Hall, followed by a beautiful local documentary at 10:30 p.m., Guitar #1711.


In 1967, at age 50, Dick Proenneke traveled to the Twin Lakes region in Alaska and built himself a log cabin on the lake shore. With only skill and resourcefulness as his companions, it was there, amid all the beauty – and harshness – of Alaska, that he spent the next 30 years of his life, Alone in the Wilderness.

Alone in the Wilderness, produced by Bob Swerer, uses color footage Proenneke recorded himself to share with his family back home in Iowa. Filmed mostly with a stationary 16mm camera, the film consists of shots of Proenneke performing tasks around his cabin, canoeing, walking, plus views of wildlife, along with narration.

With more than 3,000 feet of film shot by Proenneke, and meticulous, poetic journals written, his adventures in Alaska resulted in three films, edited and produced by Swerer Productions. Alone in the Wilderness, released in 2003, covers Proenneke's first year in the wilderness, showing his day-to-day activities, and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living. 

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When Joe Bonamassa took the stage Live at Royal Albert Hall in May 2009, he fulfilled a dream he'd held since first picking up a guitar as a kid in upstate New York. The sold-out concert--fresh off the release of his #1 album The Ballad of John Henry -- marked Bonamassa's headlining debut at arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. At the Hall, Bonamassa had the added honor of being joined onstage by the legendary Eric Clapton. The Times of London cited Joe's "searing excellence and showmanship," and Planet Rock said, "The sight of two of the world's best guitarists trading solos was more than a little thrilling."