In The Spotlight
Scholastic Scrimmage
Thursdays 7 & 7:30pm beginning January 8th
Returning for an all-new 21st season! This high school academic quiz show challenges top students from WVIA’s member school districts about all academic disciplines.
VIA Short Takes
Monday, January 12th 7pm
In this new episode of VIA Short Takes stories spotlighted will be "Wings of the Past: Discovering the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum", "A Canal Boat Journey on the Lehigh Canal", "Saving Turtle Creek: A Conservation Success Story" and "Above NEPA Part 4".
Encores: Tuesday, January 13th 4pm; Thursday, January 15th 9pm; Friday, January 16th 2pm; Monday, January 26th 7pm; Tuesday, January 27th 4pm
Keystone Edition - Legendary Coach Mark Duda
Monday, January 19th 7pm
A celebration of the inspiring life and career of legendary Lackawanna College football Coach Mark Duda, who has helped produce more than 450 NCAA Division I athletes, and more than 25 players who went on to sign NFL contracts. After his recent Parkinson's diagnosis,Duda retired at the end of the 2025 season. His work on and off the field has encouraged countless young men to become the best versions of themselves at home, in the classroom and out in the community.
Encores: Tuesday, January 20th 4pm; Thursday, January 25th 12pm; Tuesday, January 27th 3pm; Thursday, January 29th 9pm; Friday, January 30th 2pm
Holocaust Warnings: American Anti-Semitism and Extremism (Encore Presentation)
Monday, January 27th 7pm
The Holocaust began with words - hateful words aimed at Jews, and others. Words can encourage and compliment, but words can also startle and wound people personally and in public ways. Words matter. Can the Holocaust provide a template for understanding and confronting extremism today?
Drama
Our House
Saturdays 9pm - January 3rd - January 24th
When Fi Lawson arrives home to find strangers moving into her house, she is plunged into terror and confusion. Discovering that her husband, Bram, has disappeared, Fi's panic rises as she realizes the secrets and lies have only just begun. In this gripping story of intrigue, conspiracy and betrayal, will either survive the chilling truth that there are far worse things you can lose than your house.
Miss Scarlet on Masterpiece (Season 6)
Sundays 8pm, January 11th - February 15th
As Eliza and Blake’s once-fraught relationship begins to evolve, they find that working together may be a tricky prospect. Meanwhile, newlyweds Ivy and Potts adjust to married life, a new detective settles in at Scotland Yard, and Nash causes chaos, even from across the globe.
All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece (Season 6)
Sundays 9pm, January 11th - February 22nd
This season takes us back to the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales, where life in Darrowby is starting to find its rhythm again as the war in Europe winds down. It’s 1945, and the Skeldale family is stepping into a new chapter -- one shaped by change, hope, and the opportunities that come with a more peaceful future.
Bookish
Sundays 10pm, January 11th - February 15th
In post-war London, Gabriel Book, a literary enthusiast and bookseller, combines his day job with his favorite hobby -- helping solve murder cases. Although happily married to his best friend, Trottie, Book is a gay man at a time when homosexuality was illegal. When a new assistant arrives at the shop, it soon becomes clear his appointment wasn’t as random as it at first seems.
RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service
Saturdays 9pm beginning January 31st
Based on real-life stories, follow the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service as they navigate private lives as turbulent and profound as the heart-stopping emergencies they attend to in the Australian outback.
Broadchurch
Saturdays 10pm beginning January 31st
When a young boy is murdered, this small town of Broadchurch in Dorset suddenly becomes the focus of a major event in the full glare of the media spotlight. DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) lead the investigation.
History
American Experience - Bombshell
Tuesday, January 6th 9pm
Eighty years after the devastating atomic bombings that ushered in the nuclear age, Bombshell explores how the U.S. government sought to manipulate the truth about the bombings of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Through propaganda, censorship and the co-opting of the press, the government presented a benevolent picture of atomic power, minimizing the horrific human toll of the bombings. Bombshell sheds light on the efforts of a group of intrepid reporters to let the world know the truth.
The American Revolution
Fridays 9pm, January 9th - February 13th
To mark the publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, January 9, 1776, WVIA brings you this special weekly encore of Ken Burns' The American Revolution. Thirteen American colonies unite in rebellion, win an eight-year war to secure their independence, and establish a new form of government that would inspire centuries of democratic movements within the United States and around the globe.
News & Public Affairs
VOCES - American Sons
Monday, January 12th 10pm
Follow a group of Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan as they navigate the lingering trauma of war and the devastating loss of their comrade, Corporal JV Villarreal. Through Villarreal's haunting first-person video diary, audiences gain an intimate view of life on the front lines and the unbreakable bonds formed through sacrifice. The film serves as a poignant exploration of resilience, grief, and the urgent need for mental health support.
Horizons from PBS News
Saturdays 6pm beginning January 17th
Horizons from PBS News will feature experts and professionals in the world of science, health, technology and the environment and will dive into a single issue each week such as the Artificial Intelligence race, advances in medicine, and the latest developments in climate science. Horizons will be hosted by Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist and PBS News Hour correspondent William Brangham and will be executive produced by Talesha Reynolds, who also serves as senior producer of content and special projects for PBS News Hour.
Compass Points from PBS News
Sundays 6pm beginning January 18th
Compass Points from PBS News will take an all-encompassing look at a prominent international topic each week and will provide timely analysis with a panel of experts including former government officials and journalists on issues such as America’s power and influence abroad, the shifting world order under the Trump Administration, and what global conflicts and rising tensions could mean for America’s interests. Compass Points will be hosted by Peabody and duPont-Columbia award-winning journalist and PBS News Hour foreign affairs and defense correspondent Nick Schifrin and will be executive produced by Stephanie Kotuby, who also serves as executive producer of Washington Week with The Atlantic and senior editorial producer for PBS News Hour.
Independent Lens - Vivien's Wild Ride
Monday, January 26th 10pm
When legendary film editor Vivien Hillgrove begins losing her sight, she confronts memories of loss and resilience while reinventing herself as an artist with a disability. From her groundbreaking career in cinema to her life on a small farm with her partner, Karen, Vivien's story reveals how creativity, care, and connection can reshape what it means to see and belong.
Arts & Music
Great Performances - From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2026
Thursday, January 1st 8pm
Ring in the New Year with the Vienna Philharmonic at the world-famous Musikverein, with Hugh returning as host. The celebrations showcase the virtuosic dancing of the Vienna City Ballet performed on location in sumptuous Vienna landmarks.
Encores: Thursday, January 1st 9:30pm; Friday, January 2nd 1pm
American Masters - Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
Tuesday, January 27th 9pm
Learn about the life and career of Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author of Night. After his liberation from Buchenwald, Wiesel became a writer in France before immigrating to America. Over the course of his decades-long career, Wiesel fought the 'sin of indifference' by writing 57 books, teaching as a university professor, and championing for human rights.
Science & Nature
Nature - Tusker: Brotherhood of Elephants
Wednesday, January 14th 8pm
While the elephant’s matriarchal society has been widely explored, the world of male elephants remains much of a mystery. This episode will venture into this overlooked world. We have only recently discovered that elephants like Craig play a key role in elephant society, passing their wisdom on to younger males and keep the social order. The film captures the overlooked life of a great giant, and the irreplaceable role he plays in the survival of his species.
NOVA - Asteroids: Spark of Life?
Wednesday, January 21st 9pm
It's hard to imagine that large meteorites colliding with Earth with the power of 20 Hiroshima bombs can bring anything but cataclysm. Ever since a link was made between meteorite impacts and mass extinctions on Earth, we have feared rogue asteroids destroying our planet. There is no doubt, these objects can be takers of life - but is it possible that giant asteroid impacts were actually essential for the creation of life on Earth NOVA follows a series of discoveries behind a remarkable theory of how the violent destroyers of life could also have created the very special conditions - of chemistry and energy - that made life possible in the first place.
NOVA - Angkor: Hidden Jungle Empire
Wednesday, January 28th 9pm
Deep in the Cambodian jungle lie the ruins of Angkor, a marvel of urban engineering and seat of the once-mighty Khmer Empire. New discoveries are revealing how this ancient metropolis was built - and what likely led to its devastating collapse.
Secrets of the Dead - Queens of Combat
Wednesday, January 28th 10pm
Recent archaeological findings near Roman London have revealed the remains of what may be the first female gladiator ever discovered. This significant discovery, made in a burial pit containing gladiatorial artifacts, challenges previous notions about the presence of female fighters in ancient Rome, as few gladiator cemeteries have been excavated without evidence of women. Notable artifacts include a marble frieze at the British Museum depicting two female gladiators in combat, and a small bronze statuette in a Hamburg Museum, once thought to represent a woman washing but it’s now identified as a female gladiator wielding a curved sword. These women, referred to as Amazon and Achillea, were not merely enslaved people, but valuable assets akin to celebrity athletes. Inscriptions indicate they did not fight to the death and participated in various combat styles, including wild beast hunts, alongside men for centuries. However, a decree in 200 AD banned female fighters from the arena, reflecting societal concerns about their impact on the perception of women.