The show was created by Marley Klaus and aired on twelve PBS member stations throughout California.
The program debuted in 2002 with host David Brancaccio; he anchored the show from the Los Angeles studios of PBS station KCET.
Rather than anchor from a television studio, McRee hosted the show from a different Californian location each week.
"California Connected" won more than 65 regional and national awards and, in 2007, the program won its first Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism for a story titled, War Stories From Ward 7-D. California Connected was co-produced by the following four PBS stations: KCET in Los Angeles, KQED in San Francisco, KVIE in Sacramento, and KPBS in San Diego.
California Connected will continue to provide access to its website, audio files, videos, blog, and RSS feed.