It's not every day that you get to sit down with someone like Ken Burns - and just chat. It's not often that someone asks what you did for the afternoon and you get to respond, "Oh, I hung out with Ken Burns." So imagine how incredibly excited I was to find out that the season finale interview for The A List would be none other than - yes, you guessed it - Ken Burns. To say that he is an affable and passionate soul would be a huge understatement. He is as friendly as he is focused on his work, and he was as accessible to me and our crew as he makes his subject matter to his viewers. In the half hour that we spent together, Ken Burns and I discussed everything from his family and first experiences behind a camera, to the materpieces he's produced over time and the ones he has yet to create. I dare say it may be one of the best interviews yet! But don't take my word for it - tune in to the season finale of The A List on Thursday, May 21, at 8:30 p.m. and see for yourself.

If you missed any of the Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga episodes, you'll be able to catch them all in an Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga marathon. It begins at 1:30pm on Sunday April 19 with the premiere of "Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga: Behind the Scenes" hosted by Alison Lebovitz. This special local program will be followed by all three Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga episodes and then another airing of "Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga: Behind the Scenes". So make sure to tune in for this afternoon of must see local TV in the Tennessee Valley! That's the Antiques Roadshow Chattanooga marathon beginning at 1:30pm on Sunday April 19.

We're looking forward to a great night of television. Southern Accents starts the night at 8pm with visits to Belle Meade plantation, the Knoxville Zoo, Maple Grove Inn, and the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta.

Another local favorite, The A List, features a conversation about the Children's Holocaust Memorial and the Paper Clip Project with Linda Hooper, principal of Whitwell Middle School in Whitwell, TN.

Be sure to stay tuned for Antiques Roadshow - Chattanooga. The second of three shows taped here last summer features a military over-the-shoulder saxophone from the 19th century, a Confederate soldier's sword, and movie-marketing memorabilia.

And finally, at 10pm, a fascinating look at Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People.

Last night, Comcast made a change in the digital channel line-up for WTCI to take care of some viewer problems. Unfortunately, they didn't inform us (or the public not using their converter boxes) and our 45.1 and 45.2 signals disappeared. If you have Comcast and are using a new TV with a digital cable tuner, you will need to re-scan the channels to find WTCI's 45.1 and 45.2 signal again.

Incredible images from the new NOVA: Extreme Ice, Tuesday at 8pm

Southern Accents returns Thursday at 8pm with an all-new episode, focusing on Chickamauga and Summerville, Georgia.  We begin at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, then head into town to explore the Gordon Lee Mansion and enjoy a meal at Scarlett’s Tea Room.  A little further south, you’ll get a chance to visit the home where the late, great Howard Finster received a vision from God telling him to make sacred art.  Dillard’s bed and breakfast in Summerville and the James H. Floyd State Park are great options if you’re staying overnight in the area.  We’ll also suggest some restaurants in downtown Summerville.

And of course, The A List follows at 8:30.  Be sure to catch Alison's conversation with journalist and television host Jack Perkins.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke to Charlie Rose for tuesday night's broadcast.  If you missed it, you can watch the conversation here in its entirety.

On the next A List I get to sit down and talk one-on-one with Jack Perkins. I know many viewers out there have had the same question about this upcoming interview – Who is Jack Perkins? So, let me give you just a brief introduction to this man of many talents. Jack is a 50-year veteran as a journalist, as well as a renowned poet, photographer and author. As a longtime American reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman he was dubbed, “America's most literate correspondent” by the Associated Press. Jack has appeared on NBC Nightly News and The Today Show, and on A&E as host of Biography. He currently hosts A Gulf Coast Journal, a weekly magazine show, which airs on Tampa, Florida, PBS affiliate WEDU-TV. He also hosts and narrates special programs for our own WTCI.

Now, if you already happened to know most of that, I will let you in on something that might surprise you – Jack and his lovely wife, Mary Jo, have a beautiful cabin in historic Ellijay, Georgia, just a two-hour drive from Chattanooga. (Two and a half hours if you take the scenic route with your crew!) I got the rare opportunity to sit down with Jack to discuss his professional history and personal life. And it was both exciting and a little nerve-wracking to interview a man who has spent his entire career interviewing others. But thanks to a great crew and some fresh-brewed coffee from Mary Jo, it turned out to be an incredible experience for both of us.

So, even if you didn’t know Jack before, I can assure you that after the next A List, you definitely will! See you Thursday night, at 8:30 p.m.

The above images show what WTCI is dealing with trying to deliver programs from PBS to the home viewer. PBS programs currently are fed as 16x9, 4x3 and letterboxed. Home viewers may have an older 4x3 display or a newer 16x9. This leads to confusion trying to display the programming in correct aspect on all monitors. The image above is a compilation of possible outcomes depending on the orignal source and the display its is being viewed on.

February 17th has come and gone, thankfully without many problems for the third of public stations that chose to drop their analog signals as planned. The sunset of PBS standard definition National Program Service (NPS) feeds was also completed on schedule this month. Aspect ratio issues are now in sharp focus for public stations and the industry as a whole.  We had planned that industry AFD readiness would align with the changes in NPS services, but as you may know, we are ahead of the equipment vendors on this one. Many stations and producers have shared their concerns, recommendations and issues with center-cut, letterbox and how to deal with mixed aspect ratio content.  Unfortunately there is not a common agreement on how to deal with these issues.  Our commercial counterparts have mandated center-cut safe production, while PTV producers have for the most part decided to use the full capability of 16:9 widescreen displays.  Some stations have directed their cable and DBS partners to center-cut, while others want letterbox.  Some cable and DBS distributors have decided on their own how to deal with down-conversion.  Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a single solution that can realistically be implemented to resolve these issues.  We can only hope that we don’t alienate viewers while this situation stabilizes.

A big shout out to all the “A Listers” out there!  And a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to watch the show and have shared your kind words and positive feedback. We really appreciate it! And I can assure you that as much as you have enjoyed watching it, the crew and I have had even more fun shooting it. It has been a blast and we know it is only going to get better – so stay tuned!

Thought I would go ahead and put to rest a few unanswered questions that I know some of you have about the first few episodes. First, yes, your math was right, Jon Meacham is only 40 years old. And no, I had no idea what “Trollopian” meant. But I looked it up and I do now. Secondly, you’ll be happy to know that Doris Kearns Goodwin is just as warm and affable as she appears to be on camera, perhaps even nicer and friendlier in person, if that’s even possible. And before the cameras were rolling, we had a great conversation about her many appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and I learned that she actually turned him down for an appearance the week of the Inauguration because she wanted to be with her family after so much recent travel. What a woman!

Anyway, if you thought those first two interviews were at all entertaining, let me assure you that this week’s guest on The A List takes it up a notch. That's because he doesn’t just talk a good game; he also sings a mighty fine song. Of course, I’m talking about Chattanooga icon Dalton Roberts. It was such an honor to sit down with this local legend and talk about everything from his guitar picking, to his writing to his politicking. He is a genuine soul with a heart of gold, and I am thrilled he has joined the list of A List personalities because he is definitely an A+ in my book! (He even said he would consider writing a theme song for the show one day.)  So, don’t forget to tune in Thursday night at 8:30 on WTCI. And keep checking this site for more weekly blogs about the show. Because just like The A List, you never know what surprises might be in store. See you soon! 

Be sure to re-scan the digital channels after the analog shut-off. Some stations will be making channel changes and WTCI will be re-arranging the program line-up. On February 18, WTCI will be feeding one HD program and one SD program 24 hours a day. 45.1 will become the main channel (in high definition) while 45.2 will be the WTCI Create channel full of all the great cooking and how-to programs you have come to expect from PBS.

You can also manually search for WTCI's channel by punching up 29 on your digital tuner. By decree of the FCC, all stations will be using their initial analog channel number for their digital service from this point forward. The actual signal is on channel 29 and re-directs your TV to display it as channel 45. Confusing? Yes. But that is how it works.

Although Congress has passed new legislation that allows analog TV stations to continue to operate through June 12, 2009, WTCI has decided to continue with the planned analog shut-off on February 17, 2009. The analog transmitter will not be shut-down immediately. WTCI will continue to operate the analog transmitter as part of the FCC's 'Nightlight' program which permits eligible full-power television stations to continue their analog broadcasting for up to 30 days after the February 17, 2009 transition date for the sole purpose of providing “Analog Nightlight service,” i.e., providing emergency and DTV transition consumer information. Viewers will have one more week to watch programming on the analog TV channel. Then it will be avaialble for two more weeks for emergency information and instructions on how to receive the digital TV channel. An e-mail address has been set-up for questions related to the DTV conversion (dtv@wtcitv.org) or you can call the station (423) 702-7800.

On March 26th, WTCI's Southern Accents will feature a segment on Lance Ledbetter and his Dust-to-Digital record label.  We just found out last night that Lance is the winner of this year's Grammy award for Best Historical Album, Art Of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music Documented By Art Rosenbaum. WTCI congratulates LaFayette native Lance Ledbetter on this incredible honor.  We can't wait to share his story with you on March 26th.

Just wanted to remind everyone that WTCI has two exciting premiers tonight starting at 8; Southern Accents 17th season and the A List with Alison Lebovitz.

Southern Accents will start off the night with journeys to Fort Payne, Alabama to visit a glassblower who has garnered national attention with his work at Orbix Hot Glass, Lines Orchids in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, a photography workshop with Tom and Pat Cory, and the beautiful Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.

The premiere episode of the A List will feature part one of a two part interview with Jon Meacham, best-selling author, editor of Newsweek and Chattanooga native. Meacham’s latest book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, hit the New York Times best seller list when it debuted in November 2008. Lebovitz talks with Meacham about this latest best seller, his perspective on our nation’s history and future, life as editor of Newsweek, and his ties to Chattanooga. Part two of the Meacham interview will debut on February 12th.