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Roger Ebert says "At the Movies" going on hiatus

/ Source: Reuters

Veteran film critic Roger Ebert said that his "At the Movies" television show will go on hiatus at the end of the year while additional funding is sought.

Ebert said the move was necessary to allow public television stations that carry the show to plan their early 2012 programming.

"We held off as long as possible but we had to give notice today," he wrote on his blog on Wednesday night, adding that it was "a sad but necessary moment of realism."

Ebert said that while American Public Television, which distributes "Ebert Presents At The Movies" had been very helpful, he and his wife, co-producer Chaz Ebert, have been funding "Ebert Presents" on public television channel PBS almost entirely by themselves since it premiered in January.

Since announcing the show's troubles earlier this month, Ebert said they had spoken to executives, charitable foundations, web delivery services, potential corporate sponsors and funding sources.

"We are still talking with them, but the time crunch has intervened," he said. "So we are going on hiatus while we sort it out."

The new show is the latest version of the legendary "Sneak Previews" movie review show that Ebert launched in 1979 with Gene Siskel. Co-hosted by Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, it is shown in more than 90 percent of the country.