Kids America

Characters/Segments

The show was hosted by Kathy O'Connell and Larry Orfaly. Each 30 minute segment on Kids America featured a character or guest. These included:

• Dr. Rita Book (E. A. "Betsy" Hass)
• Xeno The Alien (Dan Hagen)
• Martha’s Mishaps (Martha Dodge)
• The Duke of Words (Stuart Leigh)
• Marcy’s Party (Marcy Mankoff)
• Susan’s Songs (Susan Dias)
• Mother Nature
• Al Unctuous
• Dr. Fad (Ken Hakuta)
• Bob Public Radio (NPR intern Ira Glass who went on to a notable career in Public Radio)

A wide variety of music was also played from rock music to classical music during each half-hour segment. The show's engineer was David Nolan.

Cancellation

The final show aired on Christmas Eve 1987 after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting decided not to renew a grant which provided funding for the program. WNYC, the station which produced Kids America, declined to pursue other underwriting possibilities and in the following January secured trademarks on certain characters so they could not be re-used. After its cancellation, O’Connell continued her career in radio hosting Kids Corner on WXPN in Philadelphia.

At its cancellation, the show was broadcast on 26 stations nationwide and drew over 6,000 letters and phone calls per week. One of the difficulties of the show, and children's radio in general in the US, is that radio ratings do not count listeners less than 12 years old. This created a lack of incentive for radio stations to carry Kids America or any other children's radio programming.

The cancellation of Kids America left the United States with no nationally distributed radio programs aimed at children until Radio AAHS started to expand outside of Minneapolis in October 1992.

References

References

1. "Kids America".
2. Andrew L. Yarrow. (2 January 2008). "Children's Radio Show Is Canceled". The New York Times.
3. (19 May 1985). "Public radio to offer new shows". Times Daily.
4. "Small Things Considered". Peabody Awards.
5. https://kidsamericamovie.com/
6. (23 December 1987). "Closing the Book on 'Kids America'". The Los Angeles Times.
7. (13 July 1986). "Radio". Lakeland Ledger.
8. "Sounds of Silence: Public Radio's Canceled Program Archive".
9. (Fall 1986). ""HELLO, AMERICA": Radio Broadcast in the Years Before Television". Smithsonian Institution.
10. (4 December 1986). "Kidding Around Is On The Air". Chicago Tribune.
11. "WNYC FOUNDATION Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks".
12. Vadala, Nick. (2018-04-17). "WXPN's 'Kids Corner' celebrates 30 years of creating a radio oasis for Philly's children".
13. Robert Bianco. (19 June 1987). "If children's TV turns you off, try 'Kids America' on radio". The Pittsburgh Press.
14. "WNYC FOUNDATION Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks".
15. Barrientos, Tanya. (24 March 2011). "Staff Q&A with Kathy O'Connell". Penn Current.
16. Andrew L. Yarrow. (2 January 1988). "Children's Radio Show Is Canceled - New York Times". The New York Times.
17. Hulse, Jane. (1993-03-04). "FOR THE KIDS : Easy Listening : It's all fun, all the time, as 24-hour Radio AAHS broadcasts music, news and stories for the grade-school audience.".