When Fred Rogers died in 2003, PBS' website communicated some ways to help children deal with Mr. Rogers' dying by presenting suggestions to parents of what to say to the children about Mr. Rogers and how to approach a child who inquires after him.
Beginning September 3, 2007, some PBS affiliates began replacing the show with new programs such as Super Why! and WordWorld. In June 2008, PBS announced that, beginning in the fall of 2008, it would stop transmitting Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as part of its daily syndication lineup to member stations, instead airing the program only once a week over the weekend. Milwaukee Public Television, for example, still carries the show once a week, on Sunday, over its primary HD/SD channel. Beginning on September 1, 2008, the Neighborhood program was replaced by new programming such as Martha Speaks, Sid the Science Kid, and an update of The Electric Company. However, individual member stations have the option of airing the Neighborhood independently of the PBS syndicated feed, with series home WQED in particular continuing to air the series daily until 2010. There was a campaign in 2008 and 2009 to urge PBS and all member stations to bring the show back seven days a week.
Animated spinoff
In July 2011 during the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour, it was announced that a new animated spinoff series, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, is in production, for debut on PBS in Fall 2012. The series will feature Daniel Tiger (formerly "Daniel Striped Tiger") as a host of the series, which will feature characters of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe all grown older, with the children now having families of their own.