Kcet

KCET announced that "SoCal Connected" will air a special episode Monday in memory of Huell Howser, the longtime host of KCET's "California's Gold," "Visiting With Huell Howser," "California's Golden Parks" and "California's Green. " Cameraman Luis Fuerte, who worked with Howser for most of his career, and producer Phil Noyes will share their memories along with author and historian D.J. Waldie. KCET executives Al Jerome and Mary Mazur are also scheduled to appear. The special airs at 5:30 p.m. and repeats at 10. ALSO: Huell Howser dies at 67 Huell Howser: Career in pictures Huell Howser: On "California's Gold," he was main attraction

Times are tough for KCET-TV. The former PBS outlet announced Friday that it would lay off 22 employees, or nearly one-fifth of its staff, as it completes a merger with the Bay Area satellite provider Link Media. Now called KCETLink, the Burbank-based nonprofit entity is scrambling to reposition itself as a "transmedia" company that provides content to mobile devices and other platforms as well as televisions. The company has hired a well known PR firm, Rogers & Cowan, to help manage its image during the transition.  PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The harsh belt-tightening has been dictated by poor financial results.

He was so good at talking to people on TV that "The Simpsons" gently mocked his folksy, aw-shucks demeanor. But now it looks as if Huell Howser intends to fade away without comment. Howser, the white-maned public TV host with the Southern accent who's famed for blurting out "That's amazing!" during interviews, has retired from making original episodes of his program "California's Gold," which travels around the state tracking down interesting people and places. The shows air on numerous statewide public TV stations, including KCET-TV Channel 28. Speculation that the 67-year-old Howser is seriously ill has been circulating among local TV industry veterans in recent weeks, and insiders reported that he has not been seen for months at his Los Angeles office.

"SoCal Connected" might be going dark for good.  The award-winning nightly news show on KCET-TV has just wrapped up its fifth season, but staffers fear the program won't be coming back because of lack of funds. "As happens every year, there are questions about the show's future," Bret Marcus, the show's executive producer and a senior vice president at the station, wrote in a statement. "And the answer is always the same: 'SoCal Connected' depends on public funding and we don't know at this time what that funding will be. " PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The picture looks much darker than in years past, however.

Finding viewers continues to be a challenge for KCET-TV. Through the first three weeks of the year, the public broadcaster has been averaging 19,000 households in prime time, a 38% plunge compared with the same period last year, according to the Nielsen Co. KCET, once the West Coast flagship of PBS, exited the network at the end of last year after months of disputes over fees and other issues. As bad as the prime-time ratings are, the total-day numbers are even worse.

KCET wins Peabodys KCET has won an Edward R. Murrow and two Peabody Awards. The station's weekly news program "SoCal Connected," received Peabody honors for "Up in Smoke," an investigation into the proliferation of medical marijuana facilities in the Los Angeles region, and "Cannabis Cowboys," an insider's view of a 36-hour sting operation to destroy marijuana crops run by drug cartels inside California national parks. The PBS broadcast of "Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times," presented nationally by KCET, also earned a Peabody Award.

I was disappointed that in her Calendar piece "KCET Chief Leads Station Into Expansion Era" (July 21), Judith Michaelson didn't bring up the most significant change at KCET during Al Jerome's tenure--the increased use of commercials on our public television station. Jerome has allowed corporations to expand their involvement from mere "acknowledgment" of program underwriting to full-blown commercials that show their products and announcers who repeat corporate slogans. I believe these same corporations are also involved in dictating the content and style of programming on the public airwaves.

It's Pledge Week and KCET bemoans that only a limited number of viewers are supporters. I wonder why? The National Endowment for the Humanities claimed the 1986 PBS series "Africa" outrageously blamed "every technological, moral and economic failure of Africa on the West." Nevertheless, KCET will rebroadcast the series next month. The PBS series "Frontline" promoted the leftist Christic Institute's lawsuit accusing Iran-Contra figures of murder, kidnaping, bribery and drug dealing, but provides no update when the institute's highly publicized and slanderous lawsuit was dismissed in Miami June 23 for lack of evidence before it even went to trial.

I continue to see articles about KCET and its financial future ("KCET Adjusts Its Focus," by Elizabeth Jensen, Aug. 17). Why is membership down and why are corporate sponsors so few? Could it be their moving "Masterpiece Theatre" and "Mystery" to a new night, or some night, or no night? Or perhaps their left-wing anti-business stance? Maybe it's the interminable pledge breaks. I tuned in several times to the doo wop night and saw more of the numbskull producer than I did any of the groups.

KCET is writing the next chapter in its story: a merger with satellite network Link TV. Formerly the Los Angeles area's PBS flagship, KCET will merge with Link to form KCETLink, "a powerful new independent public transmedia company that acquires, produces and distributes provocative global programming targeted to a national audience across multiple media platforms," according to a news release. The new outlet will be available in 33 million U.S. homes through DirecTV and Dish Network, according to the companies.

Longtime Public Broadcasting Service executive Andrew Russell is joining PBS SoCal as chief operating officer as the public television station ramps up its operations to better serve Southern California. Russell, who currently serves as PBS' senior vice president for strategy and research, has more than 18 years' experience with PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, where he helped shape PBS' prime-time schedule and developed the Ready-to-Learn service for pre-school children.

KCET announced that "SoCal Connected" will air a special episode Monday in memory of Huell Howser, the longtime host of KCET's "California's Gold," "Visiting With Huell Howser," "California's Golden Parks" and "California's Green. " Cameraman Luis Fuerte, who worked with Howser for most of his career, and producer Phil Noyes will share their memories along with author and historian D.J. Waldie. KCET executives Al Jerome and Mary Mazur are also scheduled to appear. The special airs at 5:30 p.m. and repeats at 10. ALSO: Huell Howser dies at 67 Huell Howser: Career in pictures Huell Howser: On "California's Gold," he was main attraction

The Broadway season has not been kind to David Mamet. The playwright has seen his new drama "The Anarchist" close after less than a month, and a highly touted revival of "Glengarry Glen Ross," starring Al Pacino, has earned unenthusiastic reviews. Finally, there was some good news for Mamet on Wednesday. The producers of "Glengarry" announced that the revival has recouped its reported initial investment of $3.3 million. It is the first Broadway production of the 2011-12 season to do so, they said.

Los Angeles brims with traditions this time of year, and every Christmas Eve for more than half a century, the city's many faiths have shared one stage. The annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, which started as a 12-hour neighborhood talent show, will showcase 23 local music and dance groups from cultures near and far during a three-hour concert that's free to all and is broadcast on TV, radio and the Web. "It's really become what you do in L.A. on Christmas Eve, even if you don't celebrate Christmas," said Adam Davis, managing director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, which produces the program.

He was so good at talking to people on TV that "The Simpsons" gently mocked his folksy, aw-shucks demeanor. But now it looks as if Huell Howser intends to fade away without comment. Howser, the white-maned public TV host with the Southern accent who's famed for blurting out "That's amazing!" during interviews, has retired from making original episodes of his program "California's Gold," which travels around the state tracking down interesting people and places. The shows air on numerous statewide public TV stations, including KCET-TV Channel 28. Speculation that the 67-year-old Howser is seriously ill has been circulating among local TV industry veterans in recent weeks, and insiders reported that he has not been seen for months at his Los Angeles office.

Eight a.m. used to be crunch time for Madeleine Brand. She'd rise at 4:45, arrive each weekday at Pasadena radio station KPCC by 6, and be fully immersed in a frenzy of rewriting and editing during the critical last hour before 9, when "The Madeleine Brand Show" went live. But on this drizzly Wednesday morning, clad in sweats, a loose wool cardigan, red clogs and not a scrap of makeup, Brand, her hair pinned into a messy bun, relaxes at a local hipster cafe over an 8 a.m. coffee.

KCET-TV is trying to forge ahead without PBS, but it's doing so with far fewer donations than in the past. The network, which severed ties with PBS last year, announced a new slate of spring programming Wednesday, including documentaries and a BBC detective series import, that executives hope will attract new viewers — and, potentially, new donors. But financial documents obtained by The Times show that the station's balance sheet has taken a big hit since it left PBS at the start of 2011.

Times are tough for KCET-TV. The former PBS outlet announced Friday that it would lay off 22 employees, or nearly one-fifth of its staff, as it completes a merger with the Bay Area satellite provider Link Media. Now called KCETLink, the Burbank-based nonprofit entity is scrambling to reposition itself as a "transmedia" company that provides content to mobile devices and other platforms as well as televisions. The company has hired a well known PR firm, Rogers & Cowan, to help manage its image during the transition.  PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The harsh belt-tightening has been dictated by poor financial results.

KCET Vice President of News and Public Affairs Val Zavala and KNBC investigative reporter Joel Grover will be presented with the Bill Stout Memorial Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism by an advocacy organization chaired by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Community Advocates Inc. will honor the two journalists Nov. 15 at the Taper Auditorium of the Riordan Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. KNBC's Fritz Coleman will serve as master of cemeonies for the event, which is free and open to the public (RSVPs are required)

KCET is writing the next chapter in its story: a merger with satellite network Link TV. Formerly the Los Angeles area's PBS flagship, KCET will merge with Link to form KCETLink, "a powerful new independent public transmedia company that acquires, produces and distributes provocative global programming targeted to a national audience across multiple media platforms," according to a news release. The new outlet will be available in 33 million U.S. homes through DirecTV and Dish Network, according to the companies.