View source for PBS Kids Go!

{{Short description|Former American educational television brand}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{for|the channel the block was on, and the former block on PBS Kids|PBS Kids|PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox programming block
| name = PBS Kids Go!
| image = PBS Kids Go!.svg
| premiered = {{Start date|2004|10|11}}
| closed = {{End date|2013|10|07}}
| channel = {{Ubl|[[PBS]]|[[PBS Kids]]}}
| country = United States
| parent = PBS
| format = Afternoon programming block
| headquarters = [[Arlington, Virginia]], U.S.
| runtime = 2–3 hours
| website = {{URL|http://pbskids.org/go/}}
(Redirects to PBS Kids)
| language = English
}}

'''PBS Kids Go!''' was an American educational television brand used by [[PBS]] for programs aimed at school-age children ages 6 to 8, in contrast to the preschool target demographic of [[PBS Kids]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Elementary School Kids Turning To PBS KIDS GO! For A Place Of Their Own |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/early-elementary-school-kids-turning-to-pbs-kids-go-for-a-place-of-their-own/ |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> Most PBS member stations aired the PBS Kids Go! block on weekdays during after-school hours, generally 3–6 pm depending on local station scheduling.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=In 2004, PBS Focuses on New Platforms While Delivering on Public Service Mission |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/in-2004-pbs-focuses-on-new-platforms-while-delivering-on-public-service-mission-november-22-2004/ |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> In addition to the block, there was a PBS Kids Go! section on the PBS Kids website which featured games, videos, and other activities that were targeted towards older children.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 5, 2005 |title=PBS KIDS GO! |url=http://pbskids.org/go/ |access-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205025439/http://pbskids.org/go/ |archive-date=February 5, 2005 }}</ref> The brand was used on air and online for nearly nine years from 2004 until its closure in 2013.

==History==

=== Development and launch ===
Upon recognizing that they were very few educational programming for elementary-age children, with most of PBS Kids' programs being viewed by preschoolers, PBS wanted to focus more on including shows for and targeting older children.''<ref name=":0" />'' The PBS Kids Go! programming block was launched on October 11, 2004, alongside the premiere of brand new series ''[[Maya & Miguel]]'' and ''[[Postcards from Buster]]''. Also part of the block were existing PBS Kids series, ''[[Arthur (TV series)|Arthur]]'' and ''[[Cyberchase]]'', both of which were already targeting a slightly older audience.

=== Cancelled 24-hour channel ===
In 2005, PBS joined with [[Comcast]] and other production companies to form the cable channel [[Universal Kids|PBS Kids Sprout]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2004 |title=Comcast, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop Announce Plans to Launch Ground-Breaking 24-hour Preschool Children's Television Channel |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/comcast-hit-entertainment-pbs-and-sesame-workshop-announce-plans-to-launch-ground-breaking-24-hour-preschool-childrens-television-channel-october-20-2004/ |access-date=August 5, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> effectively replacing PBS' original 24-hour [[PBS Kids#24/7 Network|PBS Kids Channel]]. This left many local PBS stations with a vacancy on their multicast digital channel offerings (many filling it with a locally-based PBS Kids channel), during a time when digital and high-definition broadcasts were increasing reach and gaining popularity. In April 2006, PBS announced plans for a replacement 24-hour digital multicast network called the '''PBS Kids Go! Channel'''. This would expand upon the afternoon PBS Kids Go! block on PBS, with additional new content and reruns of returning programs, such as [[HIT Entertainment]]'s ''[[Wishbone (TV series)|Wishbone]]'' and ''[[Kratts' Creatures]]''. Other exclusive content for this channel would include a one-hour Spanish-language block called "PBS Kids Vayan!" (Spanish for "Go!", which would air select shows in Spanish with English subtitles), an evening "Go! Family" block, and an educational "Go! Figure" school block.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 4, 2006 |title=PBS KIDS GO! Channel To Launch October 2006 |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-kids-go-channel-to-launch-october-2006-april-4-2006/ |access-date=August 5, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref><ref name="crt2">{{cite news |last=Egner |first=Jeremy |date=April 3, 2006 |title=World and Go! streams flow into PBS plans |url=http://23g9r82i3f1d2a63qz3akhv1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/archive-site/dtv/dtv0606multicast.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425232107/http://23g9r82i3f1d2a63qz3akhv1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/archive-site/dtv/dtv0606multicast.shtml |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2016 |work=Current}}</ref> 

The PBS Kids Go! Channel was originally set to launch in October 2006. However, stations found that the sliding scale licensing fees were too high for what little exclusive programming they would have received, especially after spending additional funds for the PBS HD feed. With only one-third of PBS stations initially committing to carry the new network, the plans for the channel were ultimately withdrawn.<ref>{{cite news|last=Everhart|first=Karen|title=PBS Kids Go! channel: plan is no-go for now|url=http://23g9r82i3f1d2a63qz3akhv1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/archive-site/ch/ch0613kidsgo.shtml|access-date=April 4, 2016|work=Current|publisher=Current Publishing Committee|date=July 17, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509001554/http://23g9r82i3f1d2a63qz3akhv1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/archive-site/ch/ch0613kidsgo.shtml|archive-date=May 9, 2016}}</ref>

PBS would later revive the 24/7 PBS Kids Channel on January 16, 2017 (a little over three years after the discontinuation of PBS Kids Go!), this time being structured as a [[Multiplatform Television Service|multi-platform service]] with an online livestream of the channel on the PBS Kids website and video app, in addition to utilizing largely the same distribution methods that had been used for the original channel.<ref>{{cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=February 23, 2016 |title=PBS To Launch PBS Kids – A 24/7 Children's Channel And Live Stream |url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/pbs-launch-kids-channel-live-stream-1201707522/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701034805/http://deadline.com/2016/02/pbs-launch-kids-channel-live-stream-1201707522/ |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |access-date=September 10, 2017 |work=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref>

=== Later years ===
Despite the failure to launch the 24-hour PBS Kids Go! Channel, the PBS Kids Go! afternoon block continued to air on local PBS stations over the next several years and continued to expand its lineup with new series, such as ''[[Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=FETCH!™ with Ruff Ruffman Unleashed on the Web on PBS KIDS GO! |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/05/prweb387655.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807021857/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/05/prweb387655.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 7, 2009 |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=PRWeb}}</ref> ''[[WordGirl]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=LITERACY TAKES THE LEAD ON PBS KIDS AND PBS KIDS GO! |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/literacy-takes-the-lead-on-pbs-kids-and-pbs-kids-go-november-14-2007/ |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Electric Company (2009 TV series)|The Electric Company]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisman |first=Jon |date=July 13, 2009 |title=PBS offers surge of 'Electric Company' |url=https://variety.com/2009/tv/news/pbs-offers-surge-of-electric-company-1118005899/ |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Wild Kratts]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=bbAdmin |date=July 28, 2010 |title=Kratt Brothers Team up with 9 Story for New Animal Adventure Comedy Series - "Wild Kratts" on PBS Kids GO!® Premieres January 2010 |url=https://9story.com/kratt-brothers-team-9-story-new-animal-adventure-comedy-series-wild-kratts-pbs-kids-go-premieres-january-2010/ |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=9 Story Media Group |language=en-US}}</ref> Many stations also carried other series under the PBS Kids Go! brand, such as ''[[Design Squad]]'' and reruns of ''Wishbone'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 3, 2008 |title=PBS Pressroom - WISHBONE |url=http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/wishbone |access-date=July 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203082855/http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/wishbone |archive-date=February 3, 2008 }}</ref> which typically aired over the weekend.

As online streaming began to increase in popularity, PBS developed the PBS Kids Go! video player on its website in 2008. This federally-funded, innovative video streaming platform featured video clips from a number of PBS Kids Go! shows which rotated on a weekly basis and linked to interactive online games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBS KIDS GO! Debuts Full-Screen Online Video Player |url=https://www.awn.com/news/pbs-kids-go-debuts-full-screen-online-video-player |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=Animation World Network |language=en}}</ref> The video player would later evolve into the PBS Kids Video app, which is now the primary source for free streaming of on-demand video clips and full episodes of PBS Kids programming.

=== Closure ===
On May 15, 2013, PBS announced at their annual conference that the PBS Kids Go! brand would be discontinued in the fall, with all Go! programming rebranded with an updated, universal branding design across all of PBS's children's programming.<ref>{{Cite tweet |url-access=limited |title=Register |user=yvonneinla |number=334674238369849345 |url=https://twitter.com/yvonneinla/status/334674238369849345}}</ref> PBS considered the nine-year long effort to age up its overall audience to be successful, but studies showed that brand recognition was not strongly differentiated from that of PBS Kids, and many shows ended up being successful with broad audiences in both younger and older age groups.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2013 |title=PBS Kids Go! goes bye-bye as colorful branding revamp rolls out to stations {{!}} Current.org |url=https://current.org/2013/08/pbs-kids-go-goes-bye-bye-as-colorful-branding-revamp-rolls-out-to-stations/ |access-date=July 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810105103/https://current.org/2013/08/pbs-kids-go-goes-bye-bye-as-colorful-branding-revamp-rolls-out-to-stations/ |archive-date=August 10, 2013 }}</ref> PBS Kids was rebranded on October 7, 2013, coinciding with the debut of ''[[Peg + Cat]]''; with that rebrand, PBS Kids Go! was officially discontinued. After the shutdown, all shows that premiered before the launch of the PBS Kids Go! block returned to the main PBS Kids block after nearly a decade, and all shows that premiered during the PBS Kids Go! block were permanently moved to the main PBS Kids block.

==Programming==
* <sup>1</sup> Premiered before the launch of ''PBS Kids Go!''
* <sup>2</sup> Only aired as reruns.
* <sup>3</sup> Continued premiering new episodes after the closure of ''PBS Kids Go!''

===Former programming===
====Original programming====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
|-
|''[[Arthur (TV series)|Arthur]]''<sup>1</sup> <sup>3</sup>
| rowspan="5" |October 11, 2004
| rowspan="2" |October 7, 2013
|-
|''[[Cyberchase]]''<sup>1</sup> <sup>3</sup>
|-
|''[[DragonflyTV]]''<sup>1</sup>
|May 30, 2010
|-
|''[[Postcards from Buster]]''
|February 25, 2012
|-
|''[[Maya & Miguel]]''
|October 10, 2007
|-
|''[[Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman]]''
|May 29, 2006
|November 4, 2010
|-
|''[[Design Squad]]''
|February 21, 2007
|December 9, 2009
|-
|''[[Wishbone (TV series)|Wishbone]]''<sup>1</sup> <sup>2</sup>
|June 2, 2007
| rowspan="2" |October 7, 2013
|-
|''[[WordGirl]]''<sup>3</sup>
|September 3, 2007
|-
|''[[Animalia (TV series)|Animalia]]''
|January 5, 2008
|January 23, 2010
|-
|''[[The Electric Company (2009 TV series)|The Electric Company]]''
|January 19, 2009
|April 4, 2011
|-
|''[[SciGirls]]''<sup>3</sup>
|February 11, 2010
| rowspan="2" |October 7, 2013
|-
|''[[Wild Kratts]]''<sup>3</sup>
|January 3, 2011
|}

==Shorts and web series==
PBS Kids Go! aired shorts and other interstitial content related to its main programming, usually in between episodes or right before the end credits. Short-form programming included ''Cyberchase for Real'' (which premiered alongside ''[[Cyberchase]]'' in 2002), ''[[WordGirl short episodes|The Amazing Colossal Adventures of WordGirl]]'' (debuted on November 10, 2006, and later became a [[WordGirl|full series]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=LITERACY TAKES THE LEAD ON PBS KIDS AND PBS KIDS GO! |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/literacy-takes-the-lead-on-pbs-kids-and-pbs-kids-go-november-14-2007/ |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> and ''Oh Noah!'' (debuted as ''Noah Comprende'' on April 11, 2011)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=PBS Launches New Spanish Language and Music Web Series on PBSKIDSGO.ORG |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-launches-new-spanish-language-and-music-web-series-on-pbskidsgoorg/ |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref>, both of which were featured on air and online. As with many other PBS Kids shows, there was miscellaneous live-action interstitial content featuring children talking about things they do; about their families' heritage; or other topics specific to the associated program, typically used as a [[Filler (media)|time-filler]]. In addition, there were web-exclusive short series on the PBS Kids Go! website, including ''Fizzy's Lunch Lab'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=LAUGHTER IS THE KEY INGREDIENT IN FIZZY'S LUNCH LAB," A NEW HEALTH-THEMED WEB-ONLY PROPERTY LAUNCHING NOVEMBER 16 ON PBSKIDSGO.ORG |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/laughter-is-the-key-ingredient-in-fizzys-lunch-lab-a-new-health-themed-web-only-property-launching-november-16-on-pbskidsgoorg-september-30-2009/ |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> [[The Jim Henson Company|Jim Henson]]'s ''Wilson & Ditch: Digging America'',<ref>{{Cite web |title='WILSON & DITCH: DIGGING AMERICA' NEW PBS CHILDREN'S WEB-ONLY SOCIAL STUDIES SERIES ON PBSKIDSGO.ORG THIS FALL (August 2, 2009) |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/wilson-ditch-digging-america-new-pbs-childrens-web-only-social-studies-series-on-pbskidsgoorg-this-fall-august-2-2009/ |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=About PBS - Main |language=en}}</ref> and ''Chuck Vanderchuck's 'Something Something' Explosion''.<ref name=":1" /> The PBS Kids Go! website was also home for new companion websites of canceled series ''[[Kratts' Creatures]]'' and ''[[Zoom (1999 TV series)|Zoom]]'', and other educational websites, such as ''[[KidsWorld Sports]]'' and ''It's My Life''.

==Writing and illustrating contest==
{{Main|PBS Kids Writers Contest}}
In 2009, PBS launched a writing and illustrating contest called ''PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest'' to continue the annual writing and illustrating competition for children in kindergarten through 3rd grade, which started in 1995 as the ''[[Reading Rainbow]] Young Writers and Illustrators Contest''. In 2014, it was renamed to ''PBS Kids Writers Contest''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{PBSKids shows}}

{{Former KidsTVBlocksUSA}}

[[Category:Television programming blocks in the United States]]
[[Category:PBS original programming]]
[[Category:PBS Kids|Go!]]
[[Category:PBS Kids shows]]
[[Category:2004 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:2013 disestablishments in the United States]]