'SoCal Connected' on KCET may not be finished yet *

The former team on KCET's award-winning news series "SoCal Connected" has mostly dispersed to the wind, as I have reported, but the public TV station says that the show itself still has life. KCETLink, the formal name of the station these days, is actively seeking support for a new season of "SoCal Connected." The sixth season has a tentative launch date of January, according to Ariel Carpenter, the vice president for communications at KCETLink. "While I have no additional information on staffing, I wanted to point out that we are working earnestly to assure another season of this award-winning show on air and online," Carpenter said via email.

KCETLink said back in March that the show might be back, but executive producer and chief of content Bret Marcus was let go and the other members of the mostly freelance team were given discouraging news about the show continuing. Co-host Madeleine Brand has since signed to host a new mid-day show on KCRW. One of the key investigative producers, Karen Foshay, also went to public radio as an investigations producer for KPCC. In December, the SoCal Connected team won a duPont Award and through the years racked up a number of honors.

KCETLInk this week also announced the lineup for its new Japanese programming channel with NHK World. The channel airs English-language programming. (* Fixed.)

LAO Observed file photo of KCET control room in Burbank.