FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The national push by credit unions topromote and brand the BizKid$ financial literacy show on public TVpicked up new steam last week, with 311 stations now signed on andHawaii the latest state to carry the episodes.

“We now have 90% saturation of all the PBS stations, which iswell past our 60% estimate for this time,” said RoxAnne Kruger, whoserves as national BizKid$ project coordinator for the WashingtonCredit Union League, the BizKid$ founder.

The show, which in many locales contains a CU brand andawareness messaging, received an extra bit of publicity last weekwhen the Money Section of USA Today mentioned the show, urgingreaders to check with PBS stations for broadcast times.

Though it did not list a CU tie-in, the USA Today articlepraised “this fast-paced 'eductainment' series that teaches kidsabout business and personal finance.”

Kruger, who also is senior vice president of the WashingtonCredit Union League, said the show is now being telecast in 14 ofthe top 15 markets, with Dallas the lone exception for themoment.

With Arkansas a holdout, the show also now enjoys viewership in49 states, and in March it was calculated to have reached 118million households.

“American Public Television reported that was the greatest reachof any other program that APT represents and as a comparison, theEmmy Award winning Bill Nye the Science Guy aired on 40 stations atthe end of its first season,” said Kruger. Responding to specificrequests from viewers and CUs, Kruger said a DVD set covering the26 episodes covering a two-year period are now available for$50.

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