FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The BizKid$ financial literacy show continues to show it has legs, signing up with Public Broadcasting System and its big credit union sponsors for a third season starting in January.
"We're really pleased to see how many PBS stations have picked up the show and how many schools and teachers are using the episodes and curriculum in the classroom," said RoxAnne Kruger, the lead coordinator on BizKid$ since 2006.
The 26 episodes of the BizKid$ show are now being broadcast at PBS stations across the U.S. thanks to the estimated $6.3 million in funding from state leagues, foundations, individual CUs and the National Credit Union Foundation.
Kruger, who is senior vice president of the Washington Credit Union League, said the show's third season will be broadcast in all 50 states with 323 of the nation's 343 PBS stations "and that means we have a carriage of an estimated 118 million households with access to the TV program."
Some PBS stations, she said, took a hiatus after the first 26 episodes aired, then began running reruns leading up to the launch of the upcoming season.
Carriage via analog versus digital/HDTV had been a concern in some markets when the series was launched, she noted, adding that many stations that first aired BizKid$ on HD or digital only are moving the show to the analog channel. That channel, she said, will automatically roll to the main channel when the national roll-over to HD TV occurs in February.
Underscoring the CU tie-in, San Antonio's Security Service FCU recently got favorable press coverage by joining the local PBS station in giving out cash prizes to the top five BizKid$ in San Antonio. The "Who Are San Antonio's Real Entrepreneurs?" campaign was featured on KLRN with the top winner receiving $500.