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Reading Rainbow

Reading Rainbow
Genre
Created by
  • Cecily Truett Lancit
  • Larry Lancit
  • Twila Liggett
  • Lynne Ganek
  • Tony Buttino
Presented byLeVar Burton
Theme music composer
  • Steve Horelick
  • Dennis Neil Kleinman
  • Janet Weir
ComposerSteve Horelick
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons21
No. of episodes155 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • David McCourt
  • Twila Liggett
  • LeVar Burton
  • Tony Buttino (1983–1998)
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
  • Lancit Media Productions (1983-2001)
  • RCN Entertainment (2002)
  • On Screen Entertainment (2004-2006)
  • WNED-TV
Original release
Network
ReleaseJuly 11, 1983 (1983-07-11)[1][2] –
November 10, 2006 (2006-11-10)[3][4]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Reading Rainbow is an American educational children's television series that originally aired on PBS and afterward PBS Kids from July 11, 1983[1][2] to November 10, 2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 30-minute episodes were produced over 23 seasons. Before its official premiere, the show aired for test audiences in the Nebraska and Buffalo, New York markets (their PBS member stations, the Nebraska ETV [now Nebraska Public Media] and WNED-TV, respectively, were co-producers of the show).

The purpose of the show was to encourage a love of books and reading among children. In 2012, an iPad and Kindle Fire educational interactive book reading and video field trip application was launched bearing the name of the program.

The public television series garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards, 10 of which were in the "Outstanding Children's Series" category.[5] The concept of a reading series for children originated with Twila Liggett, PhD who in partnership with Cecily Truett Lancit and Larry Lancit, at Lancit Media Productions in New York created the television series. The original team also included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and host LeVar Burton. The show's title was conceived by an unknown intern at WNED.[6]

Each episode centered on a topic from a featured children's book that was explored through a number of on-location segments or stories. The show also recommended books for children to look for when they went to the library.

After the show's cancellation on November 10, 2006, reruns aired until August 28, 2009, when it was removed from the schedule.[3] At the time, it was the third-longest running children's series in PBS history, after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[note 1] It was the first PBS children's show to be broadcast in stereo. On June 20, 2012, the Reading Rainbow App was released for the iPad and, within 36 hours, became the #1 most-downloaded educational app in the iTunes App Store.[7] Developed by LeVar Burton and his company, RRKIDZ, the app allows children to read unlimited books, explore video field trips starring Burton, and earn rewards for reading. On the week of July 11, 2013, Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary.[8]

In May 2014, a Kickstarter campaign was launched to raise funds to make the app available online and for Android, game consoles, smartphones, and other streaming devices along with creating a classroom version with the subscription fee waived for up to 13,000 disadvantaged classrooms. The effort met its initial fundraising goal of $1,000,000 in 11 hours,[9] and ended a few days later at $5,408,916 from 105,857 backers.[10] This campaign led to the launch of Skybrary by Reading Rainbow, a web-based expansion of the Reading Rainbow app experience.[11]

Due to a legal dispute, licensing of the Reading Rainbow brand was revoked from RRKidz in October 2017, and all its platforms (including Skybrary)[citation needed] were rebranded to LeVar Burton Kids.[12]

An interactive revival titled Reading Rainbow Live debuted on Looped in March 2022.

  1. ^ a b O'Connor, John J. (July 11, 1983). "TV:'READING RAINBOW,' NEW SERIES". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Celebrating 60 Years: WNED PBS Marks its 60th Anniversary". Buffalo Toronto Public Media. March 30, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2024. July 11, 1983 was the birth of one of WNED PBS's most decorated series, "Reading Rainbow".
  3. ^ a b "'Reading Rainbow' Reaches Its Final Chapter". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "LeVar Burton Is Sued in Reading Rainbow Copyright Dispute — But You Don't Have to Take Our Word for It". People. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Reading Rainbow Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  6. ^ Rossen, Jake (May 19, 2017). "Take a Look: An Oral History of Reading Rainbow". mentalfoss.com. Mental Floss. Retrieved December 29, 2021. [Tony] Buttino: An intern at WNED came up with the name Reading Rainbow.
  7. ^ Kozlowski, Michael (June 27, 2012). "Interview with Levar Burton on the Reading Rainbow iPad App". Good E-Reader. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "Celebrations!". Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow's Kickstarter and the Love of Reading". Forbes. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  10. ^ Project Updates. Kickstarter. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  11. ^ "Reading Rainbow soars online as Skybrary". USA Today. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "Hooray, LeVar Burton Is Now Legally Allowed to Use His Reading Rainbow Catchphrase". Vulture. October 19, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2021.


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