There’s no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.
After 26 years, PBS kids literacy show Reading Rainbow closed the book for the final time last Friday; a lack of funding is the reason, reports The Buffalo News.
John Grant, director of content at Buffalo’s WNED, hinted that a “shift in national educational policy” south of the border may have played a part in axing the multiple Emmy and Peabody award winner, which is hosted by Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Burton.
“Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read,” Grant said. “You know, the love of reading. It encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.”
Donald K. Boswell, WNED’s president and CEO, told irate viewers not to blame PBS or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“We just couldn’t find enough funding. It was a mutual decision,” he said.
Boswell added that WNED had not produced a new episode of Reading Rainbow for the last three years; it costs $210,000 per episode, including the cost of buying the rights to books used in the series.
Reading Rainbow is the third longest running children’s series on PBS, behind Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
The series won’t die out completely, as it can be seen on educational videos in schools.
“We feel bad about the end of production,” Grant says. “We’re really happy about building on the legacy that’s been created, that encourages kids to read and have a love of books.”
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