July 11, 1983
Reading Rainbow is an American educational children's
television series that
originally aired on PBS and afterwards PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! from July 11, 1983 to November 10,
2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 30-minute
episodes were produced over 21 seasons. Before its official premiere, the show
aired for test audiences in the Nebraska and Buffalo,
New York markets
(their PBS member stations, the Nebraska
ETV [now
Nebraska Public Media] and WNED-TV, respectively, were co-producers of the
show).
The show was designed to encourage a
love of books and reading among children. In 2012, an iPad and Kindle Fire
educational interactive book reading and video field trip application was
launched bearing the name of the program.
The public
television series
garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards, 10 of which were in the
"Outstanding Children's Series" category. The concept of a
reading series for children originated with Twila Liggett, PhD who in
partnership with Cecily Truett Lancit and Larry Lancit, at Lancit Media
Productions in New York created the television series. The original team also
included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and host LeVar Burton. The show's title was conceived by an
unknown intern at WNED.
Each episode centered on a topic from a
featured children's book that was explored through a number of on-location
segments or stories. The show also recommended books for children to look for
when they went to the library. It is the third-longest running children's
series in PBS history, after Sesame
Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It was also one of the first PBS shows
to be broadcast in stereo.
After the show's cancellation on
November 10, 2006, reruns aired until August 28, 2009, when it was removed from
the schedule. On June 20, 2012, the Reading Rainbow App was released for
the iPad and, within 36 hours, became the #1 most-downloaded educational app in
the iTunes App Store. Developed by LeVar Burton and his company, RRKIDZ,
the app allows children to read unlimited books, explore video field trips
starring Burton, and earn rewards for reading. On the week of July 11,
2013, Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary.
In May 2014, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to raise
funds to make the app available online and for Android, game consoles, smartphones, and other
streaming devices along with creating a classroom version with the subscription
fee waived for up to 13,000 disadvantaged classrooms. The effort met its
initial fundraising goal of $1,000,000 in 11 hours, and ended a few days later at $5,408,916 from
105,857 backers. This campaign led to the launch of Skybrary by Reading Rainbow, a web-based expansion of
the Reading Rainbow app experience.
Due to a legal dispute, licensing of
the Reading Rainbow brand was revoked from RRKidz in
October 2017, and all its platforms (including Skybrary)[citation
needed] were rebranded to LeVar Burton Kids.
July 12, 1908
Milton Berle
the Emmy-winning American comedian and actor is born.
As the manic host of NBC's
Texaco Star
Theater (1948–55), he was the first major star of television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr. Television to millions during TV's golden age.
July 13, 1938Massachusetts
Television Institute opens a "television theater" in Boston.
The
first theater of its kind. The Institute charged 25 cents for admission.
Some 200 people attended the first show, which broadcast singers, musicians,
and dancers who were performing in a studio above the auditorium.
In
the theater below, the audience viewed a black-and-white image on a
9-by-12-inch screen. Such experimental uses of television persisted throughout
the 1930s, and televisions did not become common household appliances until
after World War II.
July 11, 1983
Reading Rainbow is an American educational children's
television series that
originally aired on PBS and afterwards PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! from July 11, 1983 to November 10,
2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 30-minute
episodes were produced over 21 seasons. Before its official premiere, the show
aired for test audiences in the Nebraska and Buffalo,
New York markets
(their PBS member stations, the Nebraska
ETV [now
Nebraska Public Media] and WNED-TV, respectively, were co-producers of the
show).
The show was designed to encourage a love of books and reading among children. In 2012, an iPad and Kindle Fire educational interactive book reading and video field trip application was launched bearing the name of the program.
The public
television series
garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards, 10 of which were in the
"Outstanding Children's Series" category. The concept of a
reading series for children originated with Twila Liggett, PhD who in
partnership with Cecily Truett Lancit and Larry Lancit, at Lancit Media
Productions in New York created the television series. The original team also
included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and host LeVar Burton. The show's title was conceived by an
unknown intern at WNED.
Each episode centered on a topic from a
featured children's book that was explored through a number of on-location
segments or stories. The show also recommended books for children to look for
when they went to the library. It is the third-longest running children's
series in PBS history, after Sesame
Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It was also one of the first PBS shows
to be broadcast in stereo.
After the show's cancellation on
November 10, 2006, reruns aired until August 28, 2009, when it was removed from
the schedule. On June 20, 2012, the Reading Rainbow App was released for
the iPad and, within 36 hours, became the #1 most-downloaded educational app in
the iTunes App Store. Developed by LeVar Burton and his company, RRKIDZ,
the app allows children to read unlimited books, explore video field trips
starring Burton, and earn rewards for reading. On the week of July 11,
2013, Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary.
In May 2014, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to raise funds to make the app available online and for Android, game consoles, smartphones, and other streaming devices along with creating a classroom version with the subscription fee waived for up to 13,000 disadvantaged classrooms. The effort met its initial fundraising goal of $1,000,000 in 11 hours, and ended a few days later at $5,408,916 from 105,857 backers. This campaign led to the launch of Skybrary by Reading Rainbow, a web-based expansion of the Reading Rainbow app experience.
Due to a legal dispute, licensing of the Reading Rainbow brand was revoked from RRKidz in October 2017, and all its platforms (including Skybrary)[citation needed] were rebranded to LeVar Burton Kids.
July 12, 1908
Milton Berle the Emmy-winning American comedian and actor is born.
As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), he was the first major star of television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr. Television to millions during TV's golden age.
July 13, 1938
Massachusetts Television Institute opens a "television theater" in Boston.
The
first theater of its kind. The Institute charged 25 cents for admission.
Some 200 people attended the first show, which broadcast singers, musicians,
and dancers who were performing in a studio above the auditorium.
In the theater below, the audience viewed a black-and-white image on a 9-by-12-inch screen. Such experimental uses of television persisted throughout the 1930s, and televisions did not become common household appliances until after World War II.
In solidarity
Tony Figueroa
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