BOSTON—American Public Television (APT) and PBS have announced that nearly 3,000 episodes of content from the APT catalog will be added to PBS Passport on PBS.org and the free PBS Video app.
These episodes consist of stand-alone specials and seasons of long standing series. The new episodes will be added in 300-500 episode collections every quarter by APT over the next 18 months. The first release will happen on September 1, 2021.
They join APT-distributed properties already available in Passport, which include “Rick Steves' Europe,” “The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross” and the international drama “The Indian Doctor.”
"We are pleased to partner with PBS and share the wealth of the APT catalog, presenting current favorite series and episodes that will greatly expand the current Passport offerings through early 2023, and beyond," says Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of APT. "These programs demonstrate the wide range of topics and genres APT has distributed to stations since 1961. We celebrate APT's 60th anniversary this year and contribute to the future of public media by providing enriching digital content."
"As the digital landscape continues to evolve, PBS is committed to providing a best-in-class user experience to our viewers through the expansion of both our content offerings and available platforms," said PBS chief digital and marketing officer Ira Rubenstein. "Through our partnership with APT, PBS platforms will have an additional 3,000 locally and nationally distributed titles available in PBS Passport, allowing us to provide audiences with greater access to quality programming that is produced or distributed by our member stations and independent producers."
Expected future releases—which include additional food and travel titles, home and gardening series, documentary specials, public affairs programming, as well as drama and concert performances—are planned for late November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, August 2022, late November 2022 and March 2023.
