Ebert's 'At the Movies' put on hold

CHICAGO, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Chicago film critic Roger Ebert says he has put "At the Movies" on hold indefinitely because he has not found funding for the weekly half-hour show.

Ebert and his wife Chaz paid most of the production costs for the PBS program for a year while they looked for other investors.

The famed film critic announced on his blog Wednesday his decision to place the show on hiatus at the end of the month, the Chicago Tribune said.

"It was a sad but necessary moment of realism," Ebert said.

"We've spoken to the top executives of several channels and film distributors, charitable foundations, Web delivery services, potential corporate sponsors and crowd-funding sources," Ebert said in his blog. "And we are still talking with them, but the time crunch has intervened. It is a complicated process, and so we are going on hiatus while we sort it out."

The syndicated show starred film critics Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and Christy Lemire. It was produced in Chicago at WTTW, where Ebert and the late Gene Siskel began taping their "Sneak Previews" review program 35 years ago. Co-producer Ebert also served as host of a special segment each week.

Ebert, a longtime columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and former co-host of "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies," has battled cancer for years and lost his ability to speak. A syndicated version of "At the Movies," featuring lesser-known critics, was canceled in 2010.