Independent public broadcaster MHz NETWORKS has launched MHz WORLDVIEW, an internationally diverse 24/7 program stream for public television stations. The new stream aims to attract globally aware viewers with a wide range of international programming blocks - World News, Foreign Affairs, International Mysteries, World Music, Sports, and Foreign Films - all of it English accessible (in English or subtitled).

The evening World News block features newscasts from Taiwan, India, Japan, France and Germany - with Bolivian and Russian news being added in March, and Pan-African news arriving by June. The World Music block features Strictly Global, with videos from Chile, Japan, Thailand, Mali, Russia, England, Australia, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Germany, to name a few. The Emmy Award-winning MHz Presents, features artists from all genres of music, guests such as Floetry, The Chieftains, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Afro Celts, Suzanne Vega, and dozens more. Both Strictly Global and MHz Presents are MHz original productions. The International Mystery block features iconic detectives from all over the world; the super sleuths that become "can't miss it" viewing opportunities.

MHz NETWORKS has been operating as an independent public television organization (non-PBS affiliated) for over a decade. Shrinking Federal and State funding over that time forced MHz to become more entrepreneurial, with the ultimate goal being to create financial self-sustainability. MHz WORLDVIEW has been funded internally by MHz.

In a nod to the largest group of recent immigrants, Spanish-speaking groups from Latin and South America, MHz WORLDVIEW is presenting a Spanish-Language block of daily news and informational programming. The four-hour block will feature two MHz original productions, Hablemos de Salud and Jorge Gestoso. Now in its tenth year as a TV production, Hablemos features Dr. Elmer Huerta, known throughout the U.S. Latino communities through his syndicated radio program. The program presents preventive medical advice through taped segments and live phone calls. Jorge Gestoso features the previous anchor of CNN Noticias as he interviews top political and cultural personalities. Gestoso is a well-known and trusted figure among America's Latino population. Additional Spanish-language magazine programming from around the world will round out the Spanish block.

Dialogue is MHz WORLDVIEW'S signature series in its Foreign Affairs block. It is a co-production between MHz NETWORKS and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a non-partisan think tank funded by Congress. Dialogue tries to reach below the surface to the cultural underpinnings from which political thought flows. George Liston Seay candidly interviews some of the world's top scholars, authors, politicians, and even royalty. Specials from the Wilson Center have included a one-hour examination of the 9/11 Commission report with chairmen, Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean. The block concludes with weekly political affairs programs from Germany, Taiwan, and India.

The Indian programming block on MHz WORLDVIEW recognizes the influx of South Asian immigrants to the U.S. Exclusive daily news and weekly news magazines are supplied by Asian News International (ANI). This Week in India is a weekly snapshot of the pulse of India – the world's largest democracy and fastest growing economic power. Darshan, is an Indian American-oriented interview program, providing the inside story behind trends of interest to all Americans.

Because the MHz WORLDVIEW service is so diverse, it works very well as a broad-based educational tool. Schools will love the foreign-language opportunities, particularly with the English subtitles. In addition, through a U.S. Department of Education grant, MHz has created a model outreach program that uses film production as a tool for K-12 students, which culminates in the annual MHz Shortz Student Film Festival. Last year the Shortie Festival received 150 films created by over 1000 students from 40 states. The films will become a Shortie block of programming on MHz WORLDVIEW. Building off of Shortie's success MHz has launched a national film festival called Spectrum, which aims to capture independent producers' views of a multicultural America.

Interstitial programming on MHz WORLDVIEW comes from washingtonpost.com, one of the premier news websites. In a unique alliance, MHz WORLDVIEW will be the broadcast outlet for washingtonpost.com's video stories, usually housed on washingtonpost.com's website. MHz WORLDVIEW will be presenting these exclusive stories as interstitial material between programs. Other short-form content used as interstitial programming includes MHz's own WORLDVIEW stories - one to three-minute short stories of people retelling events that encouraged and challenged them to look at the world differently.

Viewers who would like to see MHz WORLDVIEW offered through their local public TV station should contact them directly.

MHz NETWORKS, which operates in Northern Virginia and serves the Washington, D.C. market through WNVC and WNVT, is owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC), headquartered in Richmond, VA. CPBC is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation which also operates WCVE-TV/FM and WCVW in Richmond, VA and WHTJ-TV in Charlottesville, VA. The WORLDVIEW program stream in sponsored in part by the GlobeCast WorldTV service and is available on Intelsat America 5. MHz produces its original programs through its two production studios, one in Northern Virginia at its technical operations center, the other at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.