PBS Kids programming on Oceanic Time Warner digital channel 443 — adored by children and trusted by parents — will no longer be shown in Hawai'i starting this evening.

PBS has rebranded the shows as "PBS Kids Sprout" and is moving the lineup from Time Warner Cable to Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable provider. Comcast does not serve Hawai'i.

PBS Kids shows include "Bob the Builder," "Teletubbies" and "Sesame Street."

PBS Hawai'i will continue its 13-hour block of PBS programs targeting the wee set, so these shows — with kiddie icons such as Elmo, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Clifford and even Mister Rogers — are not vanishing from the viewing landscape.

But with youngsters prepping for preschool and kindergarten classes, and with moms and dads also getting ready for work, many families bypass mornings and rely on the afternoon and early evening hours to provide entertainment — and education — for their children. PBS Kids has been available 24/7.

"I'm so sad; I'll have to tell my daughter," said Lisa Minato, a Mililani mom who works at an engineering firm. "Missy will be 3 next month and she's in pre-school; she watches 'Caillou' every day, but not in the morning. We enjoy it together; we have DVR, so we record the shows if we miss them. Our son Zachary, 5, who's in kindergarten, loves 'ZOOM' and 'Dragon Tales.' "

"It's a valuable source for families, providing opportunity for children to learn early literacy," said Lani Lave, Head Start program manager for Parents and Children Together, a private, nonprofit family service agency. "Shows like 'Barney,' 'Sesame Street' and others on PBS are age-appropriate; for a parent, you don't have to worry about content and potentially offensive topics or commercials."

Mike McCartney, CEO and president of PBS Hawai'i, expressed disappointment at the termination of PBS Kids, which has been on air for about 2 1/2 years. While he said that more kids watch the nondigital PBS channel — the local affiliate here was No. 1 in the May Nielsens, for a 72.2 per cent viewership in the 2 to 5 age group — he hopes to restore a digital channel designated for an all-kids, all-the-time menu.

There are a couple of options, he said. With the evolution of digital, PBS eventually will maintain a second channel that could potentially become the new home for kid-friendly shows, since the local affiliate already has the rights to all shows broadcast in the current 13-hour block between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. It's also possible that Oceanic could negotiate rights with PBS Kids Sprout and Comcast to revive channel 443 with PBS Kids Sprout programming.

Cheryl Ann Akau, who also is with Head Start, is concerned about her grandchild, Anthony Thomas Akau-Oshiro, 3, who is stimulated by PBS Kids shows like "Caillou," "Mister Rogers," "Jay Jay the Jet Plane," "Reading Rainbow," "Berenstain Bears," and "Clifford the Big Red Dog." "He is at Seagull (Preschool) in Kapolei, so he watches mostly in the evening, after he comes home," she said.

"I try not to use PBS as a sitter, but I do have to wash the dishes," Minato said. "I can trust the shows — and the kids enjoy them."

Tracy Hoevel, a stay-at-home Kailua mom, said her daughter, Sydney, 2, loves "Sesame Street," "Boohbah," "Barney" and "Dragon Tales." "We sit in bed together to watch these shows," Hoevel said. "The kid learns her ABCs; the parents get a break." But Hoevel is unaffected by the loss of PBS Kids because "we just have basic (not digital) service ... so I didn't know there was a 'round-the-clock PBS station."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.