PBS NewsHour iPhone App features HD Quality Video, Customizable News Feeds

(Arlington, VA)  PBS NewsHour today announced the launch of the PBS NewsHour iPhone App, offering access to NewsHour video and expanded multimedia content on the go.   Available free from the iPhone App store, the application features news updated throughout the day, HD-quality video, customizable news feeds and much more. 

“The iPhone App is just the latest step in the NewsHour move to extend beyond the hour and offer our signature brand of journalism, MacNeil-Lehrer journalism, anywhere, anytime,”  said Jim Lehrer  “Although the technology may have changed, our commitment to in-depth reporting, balanced analysis and civil discourse is as strong as ever.”

In addition to complete video podcasts of the broadcast and news headlines as they happen, the application is customizable, allowing users easier access to the content they find most interesting, be it politics, business, arts, international news or science. 

The NewsHour App is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch with operating system versions 3 & 4 and syncs via Wi-Fi or the user’s 3G cellular network to download the latest news directly to the device.

“The app is the latest in a series of digital offerings that have helped us extend the NewsHour’s personal relationship with our audience,” said Linda Winslow.  “Online features of our oil spill coverage, including: a widget, streaming video of the spill, and interactive interviews via YouTube and Google were all extremely popular, earning the web site over 14 million views and expanding the NewsHour’s growing community of fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter.”

PBS NEWSHOUR is seen five nights a week on more than 315 PBS stations across the country and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The program is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, in association with WETA Washington, DC, and THIRTEEN in New York. Major corporate funding for The NewsHour is provided by Chevron, Bank of America and Intel, with additional support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.