PBS makes Thomas weekdays for new season and date

PBS has announced that the new series of Thomas & Friends will begin airing in the US this October.

In a press release, the public broadcasting service also revealed details of the show's move from its weekend schedule to a new weekday slot after a surge in ratings.
In addition, the first TV airing of the King of the Railway special will be broadcast at some point in the capacity of Season Seventeen's run. @TrueBlueEngine simultaneously tweeted the news.

PBS' General Manager of Children's Programming, Lesli Rotenberg explained the move.

Thomas will join other PBS Kids favorites including Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Dinosaur Train and Super Why! as part of our children’s programming lineup.
[Its] designed to use the power of media to help kids build key skills for success in school and in life.

Hit Entertainment's Group Director for American Broadcasts, Claudia Scott-Hansen shared a similar response.

The popularity of the Thomas & Friends series is at an all-time high, and we expect this move to continue the momentum of the brand.

The brand new seventeenth series of Thomas & Friends begins airing on PBS Kids on October 7th 2013.

READ PBS' FULL PRESS RELEASE

CHECK YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC STATION FOR LISTINGS

Thanks to MrTrainfan1000 for the alert.