There were Dickens quotations and a little of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" at the WQED board meeting last night in Oakland, but the biggest news was a thoroughly modern idea.

The station is partnering with Steeltown Entertainment Project to create the Pittsburgh Innovative Media Incubator, and its first project will be funding for a talk show pilot to be directed by Squirrel Hill native Jamie Widdoes.

"People have learned that our facilities are as good, if not better, than what's available in Hollywood," said Deborah L. Acklin, president and CEO of WQED Multimedia. "Jamie and other Pittsburgh ex-patriots, I think they're very sentimental about it."

Mr. Widdoes recently directed the most-watched episode in the history of the CBS hit "Two and a Half Men."

"The next few months will be spent formatting the show. Jamie, he's out working with talent out in L.A.," said Carl Kurlander, executive producer of the Steeltown Entertainment Project.

The show will be aimed toward empowering women and air on WQED. It also will be shopped in syndication to companies such as the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

"The Incubator model has the potential to be transformative in terms of bringing television production to the region. The Incubator will also give this region an equity stake in these productions by investing in some of the great talent this town has produced," Mr. Kurlander added.

The television project will be funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Other notable items from the meeting:

• "Pittsburgh From the Air" gets a modern promotion boost in that 36 local theaters will have Digital Out of Home (DOOH) media featuring it shortly. It is also the first WQED production to come out on in Blu-ray as well as DVD formats.

• Kweilin Nassar, who served in various positions at the station from 1990-2001, will return as director of broadcast sales. Also, familiar Pittsburgh media personality Lynn Cullen joins the cast of "4802," which recaps news affairs on Friday nights.

• WQED will introduce its fourth free digital channel, called "WQED Showcase." It will debut later this fall and feature free, over-the-air programs 24/7, including popular pledge shows, archived cooking programs, Rick Sebak documentaries and multi-documentary specials hosted by Mr. Sebak and Chris Fennimore. The "Showcase" channel will be available at 13.4 on local cable systems but not through satellite television services.

• An introduction to "Hamlet" gives viewers a taste of "GiST-iT." The venture between WQED Multimedia and Pense Productions will produce animated short versions of literary classics. "It is not a way to get out of reading the book, it's an invitation into the story," said Scott Sander, present of Pense Productions.

• On-air fundraising surpassed budgeted goals this year. Included in the programming was a timely boost from Richland's Jackie Evancho, the singing wunderkind who appeared on a PBS special