KCET offers view of its programming future

Asia-focused news. Cooking and science programs from Japan and Canada. And reruns of British sitcoms and dramas. These are the tentative first programming steps of KCET-TV Channel 28 as it seeks to plug the huge holes that will be left by its imminent departure from PBS.

The Los Angeles-based station, the largest independent public TV broadcasting outlet in the nation, is slated to exit the PBS network Jan. 1 when it will lose perennial PBS favorites. In addition to relying on a programming schedule that is largely available on DVD, and in some cases is decades old, KCET also plans to air familiar locally produced fare such as "SoCal Connected" and documentaries with popular host Huell Howser.