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PBS offers 'Clinton' free PBS apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod, details

By April MacIntyre Feb 13, 2012, 16:12 GMT

Bill Clinton - Atlanta, GA, USA © Utho "denny" Coxall / PR Photos

Tune in alert as PBS announced that the first hour of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Clinton" will premiere exclusively on the free PBS apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch beginning today, Monday, February 13, one week before its broadcast on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 20, and Tuesday, February 21.

This hour will also be available for free download on iTunes for one week before broadcast.

From PBS

The full four-hour biography will be streamed on video.pbs.org, timed to the national broadcast. All episodes will be available for purchase on iTunes or on DVD and Blu-ray at shoppbs.org.

"Clinton," the latest installment in the critically acclaimed collection of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE presidential biographies, explores the fascinating story of an American president who rose from a turbulent childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history — and one of the most complex and conflicted characters ever to stride the public stage. The documentary recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy, and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11. It follows Clinton across his two terms as he confronted some of the key forces that would shape the future, including partisan political warfare and domestic and international terrorism, and struggled, with uneven success, to define the role of American power in a post-Cold War world. Most memorably, it explores how Clinton's conflicted character made history, even as it enraged his enemies and confounded his friends. Click here to see a clip from the first hour.

From Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director Barak Goodman ("My Lai"), the four-hour "Clinton" premieres in two parts on PBS. Part 1 premieres on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 20, 2012, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET.  Part 2 premieres Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET. The entire four-hour "Clinton" will be available for purchase on iTunes or on DVD and Blu-ray at shoppbs.org.

"The themes of William Jefferson Clinton's life — promise and achievement followed by crisis and then comeback — are the recipe for the secret sauce of great drama," said Mark Samels, executive producer of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. "We like to explore the people who have shaped the times in which they live, and Bill Clinton, both charismatic and confounding, certainly had a profound effect on the country during his presidency."

"With nearly one-third of our 148 million video streams in January coming from mobile apps, we felt that mobile was a perfect platform to preview the first hour of this much anticipated biography," said Jason Seiken, Senior Vice President, Interactive, Product Development & Innovation, PBS.  "We've seen that these kinds of previews can help generate viewer buzz and drive tune-in."

The PBS for iPad App features 250 hours of free video, including full-length programs and local programming from PBS member stations, as well as TV schedules, previews and a tune-in reminder calendar that can be synced with iCal. The PBS for iPad App is available for free from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The PBS App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch at www.itunes.com/appstore.