CPB Grants Drive Expansion for WORLD Multicast Channel

BOSTON: The WORLD multicast channel has received two grants from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), which will bolster broadband and broadcast expansion efforts.

WORLD features a range of the best documentaries, nonfiction and news programming from U.S. public television. The 24-hour channel was launched in August 2007, and is now carried by 52 licensees/120 stations, accounting for more than 43 percent of U.S. TV households.

The grants, totaling $2.5 million, will help increase access and inclusion for the WORLD service, implementation of an online presence and fourth year of the WORLD linear channel. A primary focus will be on social media. A beta website at WORLDcompass.org has been launched. Linked through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the site was designed to provide interaction with a broader and younger audience target.

"CPB is proud to support this transformational and exciting project in public media,” said Patricia Harrison, the president and CEO of CPB. “WORLD will serve as a model that uses innovative platforms to foster a dialogue among diverse American voices.”

Project leader Marita Rivero, WGBH’s VP, general manager for television and radio, said, “The R & D phase has been an exciting collaborative experience. The ultimate goal is to provide our audiences with content that is immediate and inclusive—a place where they will want to interact with each other."