I'm fairly certain I'm one of the only TV critics in the country who attends board meetings of a local PBS station. I know most of the other TV critics and they all tend to look at me funny when I mention attending these rubber-stamp-a-paloozas.

I'm sure I would not have thought to attend these meetings on my own, but it was a practice among PG TV writers pre-dating my tenure, and in the midst of Plans A through Z to sell WQEX, it was necessary.

These days, with WQED Multimedia seemingly on sound financial footing, you could argue the need to attend has diminished. Sometimes I have made that suggestion. But I can never argue that position too strenuously because I always find value in attending. Whether it's keeping tabs on this public asset's financial position or learning about new projects or a division whose purpose was always murky to me (I've only just begun to understand the work of WQED's education outreach department in the past year), I find the meetings are rarely a waste of time.

Anything and everything of true import is discussed and decided upon in closed-to-the-press executive meetings before the board meeting, leaving the board to rubber stamp everything put before it (in nine years, I don't think I've ever heard a board member voice dissent and it's rare for board members to even ask questions, although sometimes a newbie will). But it's a credit to the station's staff that they make the board meeting time worthwhile by reporting on activities of the company, particularly programming, which is what most viewers are interested in.

Regardless of your feelings about the use of WQEX as a home shopping channel, the station's improved position has resulted in more high-quality original programming than it had 10 years ago. Along with "On Q," WQED has ramped up production of more original specials on subjects with local and state-wide interest.

Here's what WQED has on tap for 2008:

• A televised town hall meeting with the Carnegie Science Center on the Bodies exhibit, set for late February or early March.

• A weekly look at Pittsburgh history will air during "On Q" to celebrate the city's 250th anniversary.

• A new "Dave & Dave" special will celebrate the city's 250th, but details of the program are under wraps.

• Rick Sebak's next local special, scheduled for March, will be "Invented, Engineered and Pioneered in Pittsburgh."

• "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" will celebrate its 40th anniversary on PBS in 2008. Festivities are planned.

• In 2008, "Black Horizons" will celebrate 40 years on the air, making it the longest-running African-American public affairs show in the country (though the folks at WBGH evidently disagree and claim a show they have is older).

• "Flyboys: Western Pennsylvania's Tuskegee Airmen," a new local special by Chris Moore and Olga George, will air Feb. 7.

• WQED is developing a documentary on the history of Western Pennsylvania's oil region, a co-production with the Oil City-based Oil Region Alliance.

• In the new year, WQED-FM will extend its daily local programming by two more hours to 10 p.m.

Finally, some financials: WQED finished its 2007 fiscal year at the end of September with an above break-even position of $136,000. Through November, WQED is $11,000 ahead of its break-even budget. The company's cash position is $1 million better than it was a year ago.