PBS's senior VP programming Jacoba 'Coby' Atlas admits it is becoming harder to hold audiences over multiple hours for a series, so the American pubcaster is increasingly asking producers to be even more rigorous about whether they need as much time to tell a story.
"Before, producers would have come in at six hours. Now they are defending four hours, and we're saying 'How about two hours?'" says Atlas. "We always respect the creative vision. The message is be as tough on yourself as you can be, but there will always be exceptions."
This spring, the pubcaster is gearing up for the launch of Texas Ranch House, the next installment of Wall to Wall's 1900 House format. After Frontier House and Colonial House, this is the third go-round with the concept for PBS. It will follow a group of modern-day people who are 'sent back in time' to live on a cattle ranch circa 1867. The scope of the series was expanded, with producers Thirteen/WNET and the US arm of Wall to Wall seeking to explore early American race relations.
The series is one of the channel's most popular, and Atlas admits that the fact other channels around the world, primarily in the UK, are cooling their heels on the living history craze is causing her some angst. "We've heard that experiential history has kind of run out of juice. It is distressing to us because that means that our international coproducing partners may not be so willing to join us on upcoming ones, but we're not tired of it. We still love it."
