Kidsburgh Q&A: Paul Siefken on new role as head of Fred Rogers Company

Meet Paul Siefken, the new president and CEO of The Fred Rogers Company.

A native of New Orleans, the one-time high school English teacher is a seasoned veteran of children’s programming. He cut his teeth at the Cartoon Network where he promoting original programming, such as “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “The Powerpuff Girls.” He joined The Fred Rogers Company in 2013 as vice president of broadcast and digital media. In between, he was instrumental in the growth and popularity of PBS Kids, where he helped launch a bunch of popular shows from “Curious George and ” “Word Girl,” to “Sid the Science Kid,” and “Dinosaur Train.”

A Duke University alum, Siefken lives in Mt. Lebanon, with his wife, Anna Siefken, and two daughters, ages 12 and 14. When he’s not working, he likes to exercise, work around the house, read, write, and serve as amateur chauffeur for the girls.

When did you move to PBS Kids?

While at Cartoon Network, Anna and I had our first daughter. Looking at my daughter, I thought about opportunities to take the skills I learned at Cartoon Network and use my passion for education and combine them to do something else. That’s what led me to go look at PBS Kids.

What was different at PBS Kids?

Our approach to developing content at PBS Kids was really to broaden the educational offerings that were available. So we did look specifically for literacy programs. We also looked for science programs. And the thinking that we had was: When we want to focus on a program whose core goal is social-emotional content, we should make sure we get in touch with the Fred Rogers Company, which at the time was called Family Communications, Inc., because they invented social-emotional programming for kids on television.

So, of course, you called them?

It just so happened that when we were ready to start looking, the people (at Family Communications), had already been thinking about taking that leap into making something new. They had already been talking to Angela Santomero, who was the creator of “Super Why” and “Blue’s Clues,” about reimagining Mr. Rogers Neighborhood for today’s generation, which was an animated world called “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

And that, as they say, was that?

It was a few months after that we started talking about whether I wanted to make the move to Pittsburgh. The opportunity to come and work here was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Bill (Isler) also explained this was a transition thing for him, that he was looking at retiring after a few years and wanted to offer me the opportunity to not only come here and oversee all the content development for broadcast and digital, but then grow into the role of the president of the company.

What did you learn from three years of watching Bill Isler?

One of the most important elements of the Fred Rogers Company is that it is a Pittsburgh company. You can’t understand the importance of that fact until you’re here. You see the importance of Fred Rogers to the Pittsburgh community and the importance of the Fred Rogers Company to the Pittsburgh community. Bill was incredibly generous with his time to make sure I got to know the community and the people in the community.

How do you maintain and burnish that legacy?

The work that we’re producing is national in scale, but we’re able to share the recognition locally. The Children’s Museum launched a “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” exhibit this summer that’s done really well. We’ve done summer camps at the Carnegie Science Center for both “Odd Squad” and “Peg + Cat.” We work with Shell Games on the South Side who does all the digital content for “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” We work with Allegheny Intermediate Unit, who is training teachers in the Head Start program, and are using “Peg + Cat” to integrate math and media into their program. That’s through a National Science Foundation grant that requires the research be conducted here in Pittsburgh. I could go on and on.

What are the ingredients of an effective children’s program?

I think you need to start with the learning goals you’d like to achieve. Once you’ve decided, and you’re passionate about what you want to focus on, a successful children’s program is one that’s character-driven. When you think of the most successful children’s programs n history, whether they’re educational or not, they’re generally named after the main character. Everything from “SpongeBob SquarePants” to “Scooby-Doo” to “Daniel Tiger.” That’s because children connect with characters. You want to have a strong main character that children can identify with and see themselves in and want to be friends with. That’s why our mission states that we make quality children’s media that models an enthusiasm for learning.

In 1969, Fred Rogers went before Congress to save $20 million for PBS that was at risk. Might we see you on Capitol Hill if public broadcasting funds are threatened?

Well, I’m not going to comment on something that hasn’t happened, but I’ll always be an advocate for public television. I think it’s important that free public media always be available, not only for children, but for the American public. It’s important that we are able to create educational content that anyone can see at any time and for free. The audience for each of our programs over represents low-income households, it over represents households of different ethnicities. We are reaching a diverse community that is, I think, grateful to have educational content available anytime.

We’re not just talking about TV?

PBS has also done a wonderful job of making sure that’s also true online. You can watch more episodes through streaming video on the PBS Kids website than any commercial competitor. The PBS mobile app has been downloaded something like 50 million times. More and more that’s how children are accessing our content. In fact, “Daniel Tiger” is streamed an average of 40 million times a month. That’s all free and it’s available to anybody.

What’s your perspective on screen time for young children?

It should be about content. If it is age-appropriate and it is educational and it’s well-created content, that is something that can work for children, particularly when they’re watching along with a parent. We’ve had research, done by Texas Tech, that’s shown “Daniel Tiger” really does show improvement in children in key areas of social-emotional learning, specifically, emotional recognition and self-efficacy and empathy.

In this post-truth culture that we live in, is there a role for media literacy in your programs?

I think there is. It’s a complicated thing to create media that explains media literacy, but it is something that we’ve talked about. I had a conversation with the Heinz History Center, and they’re doing really interesting work with the Mister Rogers exhibit they have there. They’re having middle school kids watch Mister Rogers to figure out the messages he was trying to get across, and talking about how they might accomplish similar goals in today’s media environment.

Kids seem to grow up more quickly today than when Mister Rogers started in the late-’60s. Is your audience age range shrinking?

The media has changed a lot and the way it’s being delivered has changed a lot. Children haven’t changed a lot. The context of their world changes, but they’re still having to deal with angry feelings, feelings of frustration, and new experiences, like going to school for the first time. All of these things are still relatable to kids. We haven’t seen that they’re moving on to the next thing quickly. We’re talking to kids in a timeless way that’s beyond advances in technology and advances in media and allowing them to focus on the issues they’re dealing with right now.

You must watch some programming as part of your job?

We do watch other content that’s out there at the company. Every Wednesday we do screenings to make sure we are up to speed with what other people are making, and to appreciate what other people are making. We take time to also play games together online, and look at apps together. You cannot be in any kind of media position in today’s world and think you can just have your head down and work on your own thing because by the time you pick your head back up, the whole world has changed. For example, when “Daniel Tiger” was being created there was no such thing as an iPad, and now “Daniel Tiger” has five apps.

What’s your favorite thing about Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh reminds me a lot of New Orleans. Everybody’s got a great spirit. Everybody’s very proud of their city, and their sports teams. Everybody’s very interested in the legacy of their city and the history of their city and yet can be the biggest critics. I like that you can’t go very far in the city without bumping into someone you know.