PBS has launched a redesigned website with a new online player, a new iPad app, and they are targeting toward their grown-up viewers. It’s all part of a bigger plan to bring more local content to wider national audience.

Welcome to the new PBS.org. We’ve redesigned the site to provide users with a richer experience by highlighting content from local PBS stations, as well as the best of your favorite national programs. PBS.org now gives you easy access to videos, blog posts, articles and more from your community, and makes it easier to find TV schedule information and content specific to your stations. Visitors from more than 80 different communities across the country will be able to see links to locally produced content while browsing the site, with more areas coming soon.

The new PBS homepage now has a ribbon across the top featuring a ticker timeline with primetime TV schedules and an upcoming highlights section. There are also full-length episodes of many PBS shows and exclusive web-only extras. You can check out the Explore PBS section that lets you see content from all over - News & Public Affairs, A&E, Science & Nature, History, Parenting and more - all with dynamic content that’s always fresh. The site is also offering services such as widgets, podcasts and blogs and social network connectivity.

The PBS iPad app lets viewers watch PBS programs and stay up-to-date with the most popular series, access local PBS station schedules, and stream different content from the PBS archives. The new iPad app also comes with a sneak peak of the first episode of Circus. It’s available immediately for streaming on the iPad; the broadcast premiere isn’t until November 3rd. The iPhone and iPod Touch versions are coming in November and contain the same features as the iPad version.

[via PBS.org]