''Need to Know'' is an American

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...

produced by

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

PBS station) and broadcast weekly on all

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

(PBS) affiliate-stations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

(plus, ABC News 24, in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

). It aired from May 2010 until June 2013. PBS stated that the show was intended to fill the public affairs and "hard"/investigative news void left by both the one-hour ''

Bill Moyers Journal ''Bill Moyers Journal'' was an American television current affairs program that covered an array of current affairs and human issues, including economics, history, literature, religion, philosophy, science, and most frequently politics. Bill Moy ...

'' (which had ended with Mr. Moyers' ltimately temporaryretirement), and the cancelled, half-hour '' NOW on PBS'' (hosted by investigative journalist

David Brancaccio David A. Brancaccio (; born May 17, 1960) is an American radio and television journalist. He is the host of the public radio business program '' Marketplace Morning Report'' and the PBS newsmagazine ''Now''. Biography Early years Brancaccio w ...

, a Moyers protege). Both departing shows had been long-running, highly rated, and critically acclaimed for their journalistic quality and focus on issues that deeply impacted regular Americans' lives, yet went largely ignored by commercial TV news outlets. "''NTK''" branded itself the "TV and Web newsmagazine

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

gives you what you need to know." PBS had described the show as "a multi-platform current affairs news magazine, uniting broadcast and web in an innovative approach to newsgathering and reporting". Initially, it was co-hosted by Alison Stewart (a regular contributor to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and, at the time, '' The Rachel Maddow Show''s main substitute-host)) and Jon Meachem (a journalist, author, and then-editor-in-chief of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' magazine). Later, the show was hosted by one journalist (out of a rotating group of three) who presented pre-taped correspondent pieces, then asked follow-up questions of the correspondent, in-studio. A short segment followed, in which a prominent person reflected on a difference-making period from his or her past. Throughout its first year-plus, the show failed to live up to the lofty expectations and high production budget that PBS had set for it. Many loyal PBS viewers were sharply critical of the show's style and content (or, the alleged lack thereof), and thousands of "viewer mail" comments flooded into the offices of PBS' ombudsman. The show's ratings fell far short of those it replaced, and several attempts to re-tool it were made. For example, in April 2011, Meacham's role changed to that of "contributing editor" (i.e., a recurring commentary segment) and Stewart became the show's sole anchor. The show's format was changed further effective September 16, 2011, for both the broadcast and website;

's Scott Simon guest-hosted the first episode with this new format. The website stated that the show would "spend the next 15 months covering the campaign for president, but we’re going to do it differently ... covering the campaign from the voters’ perspective, not the candidates’". The costly production was halved to a 30-minute format, and Stewart left the show on September 9, 2011, citing the desire to focus on a book project and her family, plus, a lack of interest in the show's new direction. In May 2013, PBS officials informed the network's member stations that ''Need to Know'' would be replaced by ''Charlie Rose Weekend'' (later retitled ''Charlie Rose: The Week'') in July. WNET declined to comment on the cancellation. Many of the employees who had worked on ''Need to Know'' were expected to move to ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

''s new, weekend edition, also produced by WNET. Marc Rosenwasser, who was the executive producer of ''Need to Know'', served in the same capacity for ''PBS NewsHour Weekend'', which premiered on September 7, 2013.

External links

PBS site
*

References

{{Reflist, 30em PBS original programming 2010 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings 2010s American television news shows