
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992                   TAG: 9203270321
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

PBS WILL END `EDGE' IN MAY

"Edge," public television's droll, quirky and critically acclaimed pop culture show, has been canceled by PBS and will air its eighth and final episode in May, network officials said last week.

"As produced, `Edge' never realized its potential," PBS programming chief Jennifer Lawson said in a confidential memorandum sent to affiliates, explaining the decision against funding a second season.

"Although the series was meant to be provocative and thoughtful as well as entertaining, the stylization often got in the way of subtance," she wrote.

In a statement, PBS also cited the series' limited audience appeal, its failure to attract and sustain audiences, a decline in the number of stations carrying the show and its "lack of substantive ancillary value" in demonstrating the value of public TV.

The series' host, Robert Krulwich, whose main work is business and economics reporter for "CBS This Morning," acknowledged that "Edge" pieces were sometimes stronger in style than in content.

"As a general matter," said Krulwich, "I thought our strong stuff was very strong and our bad stuff was very bad."

by CNB