Background of educational television in Southern California
KCET was the second attempt at establishing an educational station in the Los Angeles area: KTHE, operated by the University of Southern California, had previously broadcast on channel 28, beginning on September 22, 1953.[1] It was the second educational television station in the United States, signing on six months and four days after KUHT in Houston, but ceased broadcasting after only nine months on the air because its primary benefactor, the Hancock Foundation, determined that the station was too much of a financial drain on its resources.
Station history
Early history, as an NET station
KCET—the call letters of which stand for either California Educational Television, Committee for Educational Television, Community Educational Television, or Cultural and Educational Television—first signed on the air on September 28, 1964, as an affiliate of National Educational Television (NET). The station was originally licensed to the non-profit group Community Television of Southern California (CTSC).[2] Part of the station's initial funding came from four of Los Angeles's commercial stations–KNXT (channel 2; now KCBS-TV),[3]KNBC (channel 4),[4]KTTV (channel 11)[5] and KCOP (channel 13)[6]–along with grants from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[7] KCET initially broadcast in black and white from Monday through Friday.[8]James Loper, a co-founder of CTSC, served as the station's director of education from 1964 to 1966 and then vice president and general manager from 1966 to 1971.[9] Loper then served as president of KCET from 1971 to 1983.[9][10]Creative Person—John Burton a 30-minute film biography of Glass artist and Philosopher John Burton was the first color film commissioned by KCET-TV in 1965. It won the first two Los Angeles area Emmys for KCET for John Burton, and for the production by George Van Valkenburg.[11] Van Valkenburg also produced a one-hour documentary film titled Paris Air Show 1967 for KCET.[12]
KCET was originally located at 1313 North Vine Street in Hollywood, at what was the original Mutual-Don Lee Broadcasting System Building.[13] The facility was also originally home to two of Los Angeles' first television stations—KTSL (channel 2; now KCBS-TV), and KFI/KHJ-TV (channel 9; now KCAL-TV), which both signed-on the air in May, and August 1948 respectively. Both stations eventually moved out by the early 1960s, just a couple of years before KCET officially took to the air. ABC also began taking up occupancy in the building, using it as a secondary studio facility for its television studio lot (which at the time also housed KABC-TV) near the eastern end of Hollywood.
Prior to applying for and receiving a construction permit to build the new channel 28, CTSC attempted to acquire one of Los Angeles's seven existing VHF commercial stations. In 1968, Community Television of Southern California emerged as a potential buyer of KTLA's channel 5 license from then-owner Gene Autry,[14] but could not raise the cash needed to make a serious offer.[15] If CTSC succeeded in moving KCET to channel 5, the move would have mirrored a similar occurrence seven years earlier in the New York City area, where local broadcasters assisted a non-profit group in purchasing commercial independent VHF station WNTA-TV and converting it into non-commercial, educational WNDT (it is now WNET).
As a PBS member station
KCET's longtime studios in Los Angeles.
On October 5, 1970, KCET became a charter member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at the programming service's inception. For most of the next 40 years, it was the second most-watched PBS station in the country and occasionally produced programs distributed to PBS and to individual public television stations. The station served as Southern California's flagship PBS member station, with San Bernardino-licensed KVCR (channel 24)—which the San Bernardino Community College District signed on the air on September 11, 1962—as the service's original sole secondary outlet. KCET gained additional competitors when the Coast Community College District signed on Huntington Beach-licensed KOCE-TV (channel 50) on November 20, 1972, and the Los Angeles Unified School District signed on secondary Los Angeles member KLCS (channel 58) on November 5, 1973.
In 1971, KCET purchased the former Monogram Pictures property at 1425 Fleming Street (now Hoover Street) in a historic area of East Hollywood—which was used as a film and television studio from 1912 to 1970—to serve as the station's headquarters, an acquisition assisted in part by financial contributions from both the Ford Foundation and the Michael Connell Foundation. The building was renamed the Weingart Educational Telecommunications Center and housed KCET's master control, digital control rooms, ingest, and editing stations on the first floor, and engineering, and new media operations, and news and public affairs departments on the second floor.
In 1994, KCET and Store of Knowledge Inc., a Carson-based company, launched the KCET Store of Knowledge in Glendale as the first of many partnership stores with PBS affiliates. The store was a partnership between KCET, educational store Lakeshore Learning Materials, and the venture capital firm of Riordan, Lewis and Haden, which included former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan.[16][17] In 2004, as part of its image-reclaiming public relations after the Gulf oil spill, BP started granting KCET half the funding for preschool shows including A Place of Our Own and Los Ninos en Su Casa, a Spanish language version. The other half of the $50 million grants for the show and supporting outreach programs came from First 5 California plus additional funding from an anonymous donor. The show won Peabody and local Emmy awards and was shown nationally over PBS. KCET renamed its production studio to BP Studios in thanks.[18]
PBS included BP's and other grants for the two pre-school shows in its complex progressive dues structures, even though the grants came with the stipulation that they could not be used for administrative costs. The PBS dues for KCET had previously been $4.9 million but with the grants included the dues increased by 40% to close to $7 million. Other large funding sources that had previously been counted on were shrinking and thus could not be tapped to pay the dues. KCET's request that these specific grants, which were restricted to show production only, not be counted towards the dues owed was denied; PBS executives indicated that PBS stations were expected to anticipate their dues and increase their reserves to pay them, and therefore would not give special treatment to KCET. With the January 2010 half-year payment coming up, KCET offered to reduce their status to a secondary affiliation, reducing the dues owed to a total of $1.3 million. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) would pay $750,000 and a special campaign was to raise the rest. PBS rejected the offer, insisting the station remain as the primary affiliate.[18]
As an independent public television station
On October 8, 2010, KCET announced that it could not reach an agreement to remain with PBS, and would end its partnership with PBS after 40 years to become an independent public television station—the second-largest such station in the United States in terms of market size, behind WNYE-TV in New York City—on January 1, 2011. KCET station management cited unsolvable financial and programming disputes among its major reasons for leaving PBS. After channel 28 left PBS, KOCE-TV replaced KCET as the area's primary PBS station.[19][20] Prior to the new affiliation arrangement, KCET discussed plans to purchase KOCE-TV from its licensee, the Coast Community College District, but later opted not to place a bid for the station. A consortium involving Southern California's PBS stations—KCET, KOCE, secondary Los Angeles affiliate KLCS and San Bernardino-licensed KVCR—was also proposed to be formed to unite various functions, certain programming, fundraising and marketing, to save money.[21] However, KCET passed on the offer.
On February 4, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined KCET $10,000 for failure to make its public file available for inspection by the general public.[22] On March 30, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that in light of the sharp decrease in KCET's ratings and pledges following disaffiliation from PBS, it was in negotiations to sell the Hollywood studio to the Church of Scientology, with KCET relocating to a smaller site following the sale.[23] The sale of the property, which was sold for $45 million, closed on April 25, 2011, with part of the proceeds going towards KCET's leasing of the studios until new facilities were found.[24][25][26] KCET relocated in April 2012 to a new complex in a high-rise, state-of-the art building, The Pointe located in Burbank. The move left CW affiliate KTLA (channel 5) as the last remaining radio or television broadcaster in Los Angeles that maintains studio facilities in Hollywood, as other area stations had moved their operations to other L.A.-area neighborhoods and cities within the region.[24] At the end of the 2011 fiscal year, contributions and grants to KCET decreased even further, down 41% from the previous year to $22.3 million.[24]
In August 2011, KCET and Eyetronics Media & Studios (a company owned by former Walt Disney Company executive Dominique Bigle) agreed to partner on producing or acquiring Southern California-focused original series.[27]
Merger with Link TV
In October 2012, KCET announced it intended to merge with San Francisco-based Link Media (owner of non-commercial satellite network Link TV) to form KCETLink, a joint non-profit venture based in Burbank operating as a single 501(c)(3) multimedia organization; under the terms of the agreement, KCET would also add Link TV on one of the station's digital subchannels. KCETLink then reached a much wider broadcast audience that includes Link Media's 33 million subscribers on DirecTV and Dish Network, and KCET's 5.6 million households in Southern and Central California.[28] On January 5, 2015, Michael Riley, former executive at ABC Family (now Freeform), was named the new CEO of KCETLink (replacing Al Jerome, who left in March 2014).[29] KCET would later stop carrying Link TV over the air, replacing it with Create.
Merger with KOCE; return to PBS
On April 25, 2018, KCETLink Media Group and the KOCE-TV Foundation announced that they would merge. KOCE would remain the primary PBS station for the market, but KCET would return to the network as a secondary member, and both stations would continue to provide their existing programming services. Once the merger was completed, KOCE moved from its Costa Mesa, California, facility to the current KCET facility in Burbank, while maintaining the Costa Mesa location as a secondary facility. In a joint statement, the two organizations stated that this merger would "[combine] PBS SoCal's beloved quality programming and community engagement excellence with KCETLink's passion for creating smart, original content that captures the spirit of the region".[30][31] The merger was completed on October 1, 2018, with the combined company branded as Public Media Group of Southern California.[32]
In October 2019 (one year after the merger with KOCE was completed), KCET officially rejoined PBS after eight years as an educational independent station.
Subchannel history
In 2006, KCET launched a digital channel, KCET Desert Cities, for digital television and cable for the Coachella Valley. (In September of that year, KCET announced a similar channel for Orange County in partnership with California State University, Fullerton to be launched in late 2007, when it replaced a simulcast of KCET's analog signal.)[33] In August 2007, KCET began carrying PBS and American Public Television's cultural, news and history-oriented network PBS World on digital subchannel 28.4, and the Spanish language educational network V-me on digital subchannel 28.3.
With KCET discontinuing its membership with PBS on January 1, 2011, KCET restructured its subchannel offerings; KCET-DT 28.2 converted to children's programming service under the brand KCET Kids & Family, itself a conversion of KCET Desert Cities and KCET Orange (with programs seen on the respective channels being shifted to KCET's main channel to occupy a daytime lifestyle block), while PBS World was replaced by MHz Worldview on KCET-DT4. (V-me programming continued to be carried on KCET-DT3.)[34] KCET primary subchannel offered themed nights during the first year of operation.[35] On January 1, 2013, as a byproduct of the Link Media merger, LinkTV—under the brand "KCETLink", which replaced the channel's national feed on local cable and satellite providers and simulcasted LinkTV-licensed content—replaced KCET Kids & Family on digital subchannel 28.2.
On August 5, 2013, KCET replaced MHz Worldview with NHK World on subchannel 28.4. (MHz Worldview moved to a subchannel of KLCS-DT.)[36] On March 30, 2017, KCET ceased carrying V-Me on its subchannel as the network transitioned to a commercial ad-supported channel. KCET is in the process of determining what might replace the network. It was replaced by KCETLink+ on the same day.[37] KCETLink+ was eventually shut down and NHK World moved up to the 28.3 subchannel with its former 28.4 subchannel discontinued.
Programming
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2019)
While it acted as the flagship PBS station for the Pacific Time Zone, for the most part, KCET mainly distributed Los Angeles-based productions for other independent producers, rather than producing much programming in its own right for the national PBS system.[38] The mascot who appears during breaks is Captain Infinity, who breaks the fourth wall.[citation needed]
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenauconcentration camp, KCET produced a six-part miniseries in conjunction with the BBC called Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State.
Huell Howser's California's Gold was produced at the KCET lot, until the series ended following Howser's death in 2013.
KCET also produced the weeknight talk show Tavis Smiley and a PBS science show, Wired Science. A television program designed for care-givers, A Place of Our Own and its Spanish language equivalent, Los Niños en Su Casa are taped at the KCET studios, produced with a grant from BP.
KCET also produced California Connected, a television newsmagazine about various people, places and events throughout California, co-produced with KQED in San Francisco, KVIE in Sacramento, and KPBS in San Diego. This series ended its run in 2007 after five seasons.
Karen Foshay, Judy Miller, Justine Schmidt, Bret Marcus, John Larson and Rick Wilkinson of KCET at the 69th Annual Peabody Awards for SoCal Connected: Up in Smoke
KCET's 2012 schedule included Open Call a weekly series showcasing arts and culture in Southern California hosted by opera singer Suzanna Guzmán; expansion of its interview program, LA Tonight with Roy Firestone; Your Turn to Care, a four-part documentary about caregivers hosted by Holly Robinson Peete; the BBC crime drama Inspector George Gently; the British ITV dramedy, Doc Martin; and Classic Cool Theater, a showcase of classic films, cartoons and newsreels.[24]
Current original programming includes the history series Lost L.A., the arts series Artbound, and the food series Breaking Bread with chef-host Roy Choi.[45]
Starting in early 2019, KCET began integrating its originally-produced programming with that of KOCE's, including distribution of its programs on PBS' video platforms.[46] In addition, KCET also began re-introducing PBS-distributed programming on its daily schedule in August 2019, including PBS NewsHour (which is aired live at 3 p.m. PT with the national 6 p.m. ET airing), Amanpour, Nova, American Masters, and other notable news programs and documentaries commonly found on other PBS member stations.
Over its 16 years on the air, Life & Times covered major issues such as politics, education, the environment, demographics, transportation, science, culture and arts. It also offered viewers profile, features, and interviews with authors, community leaders, elected officials, educators, artists, activists, actors and scholars. While it was on air it won more than 25 L.A. Area Emmy awards, numerous Golden Mikes and many other awards.
Analog-to-digital conversion and spectrum incentive auction
KCET began transmitting a digital television signal on UHF channel 59 in 2000. From that point until 2007, the majority of the programs (apart from most of those that aired during prime time) that were carried on KCET's main channel—which, like most PBS stations that transmitted digital television signals during that time period, served as a designated high definition feed—differed from the schedule maintained by its analog UHF channel 28 signal. It was simulcast on digital subchannel 28.2. In August 2007, programming from the main signal was integrated into the HD subchannel to accommodate for spectrum space, while at the same time preserving the integrity of the HD transmissions.
The station shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 28, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal operated on a high-band UHF channel (in the 52 to 69 channel range) that was removed from broadcast use after the official June 12, 2009, transition date; as a result, KCET selected its former analog channel allocation on UHF channel 28 for its post-transition digital operations.[48]
On September 10, 2014, it was announced that after negotiations with KLCS' licensee, the Los Angeles Unified School District, KCET and KLCS will consolidate their broadcast signals onto one over-the-air channel band, so the remaining wireless spectrum can be divested during the FCC's 2016 spectrum incentive auction. Both stations will retain separate licenses.[49][50] Earlier in the year, KLCS had participated in a trial of channel sharing with KJLA.[51][52][53][54]
Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, is a non-commercial American satellite television network providing what it describes as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It is carried nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network. Link TV was launched as a daily, 24-hour non-commercial network on December 15, 1999. It receives no money from the satellite providers, but relies instead on contributions from viewers and foundations.
KQED is a PBS member television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by KQED Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQEH and NPR member KQED-FM (88.5). The three stations share studios on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District and transmitter facilities atop Sutro Tower.
KPBS is a PBS member television station in San Diego, California, United States. Owned by San Diego State University as part of KPBS Public Media, it is a sister station to NPR member KPBS-FM (89.5). The two outlets share studios at the Conrad Prebys Media Complex at Copley Center on Campanile Drive on the SDSU campus. The TV station's transmitter is located on San Miguel Mountain in southwestern San Diego County.
KNBC is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licensed Telemundo outlet KVEA. Both stations share studios at the Brokaw News Center in the northwest corner of the Universal Studios Hollywood lot off of Lankershim Boulevard in Universal City, while KNBC's transmitter is located on Mount Wilson.
The Daystar Television Network is an American evangelical Christian-based religious television network owned by the Word of God Fellowship, founded by Marcus Lamb in 1993. Daystar is headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Bedford, Texas. The network is based around prosperity theology.
KLCS is a tertiary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. Owned by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), it is one of eight television stations in the U.S. that are operated by a local school system. KLCS' studios are located at the former Downtown Magnets High School campus on West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.
WTVS is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an additional studio at the Maccabees Building in Midtown Detroit. The station's transmitter is located at 8 Mile and Meyers Road in Oak Park. WTVS partners with the Stanley and Judith Frankel Family Foundation in the management of classical and jazz music station WRCJ-FM (90.9).
KVCR-DT is a PBS member television station in San Bernardino, California, United States. It is owned by the San Bernardino Community College District alongside NPR member KVCR. The two stations share studios at the San Bernardino Valley College campus on North Mt. Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino; KVCR-DT's transmitter is located atop Box Springs Mountain.
KOCE-TV is a PBS member television station licensed to Huntington Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's secondary PBS member, KCET. The two stations share studios at The Pointe in Burbank; KOCE-TV maintains a secondary studio at the South Coast Corporate Center in Costa Mesa and transmitter facilities atop Mount Harvard. Since 2011, the station has been branded as PBS SoCal.
KJLA is a television station licensed to Ventura, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area as an affiliate of Visión Latina. The station is owned by Costa de Oro Media, LLC, a company run by Entravision Communications founder, CEO and chairman Walter Ulloa. KJLA's studios are located on Corinth Avenue in West Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, they are produced by independent public television distributors such as American Public Television, and are not labeled as "PBS Kids" programming, as it is mainly a programming block branding. The target audience is children between the ages of 2 and 8. The network is also available in sub-Saharan Africa and Australia.
KPJK is a non-commercial independent television station licensed to San Mateo, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by Northern California Public Media, it is sister to PBS member station KRCB and NPR member stations KRCB-FM (104.9) and KRCG-FM (91.1). KPJK's studios are located on West Hillsdale Boulevard on the campus of the College of San Mateo in southwestern San Mateo, and its transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower in San Francisco.
WKMJ-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the flagship station for KET2, the second television service of Kentucky Educational Television (KET), which is owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television.
World Channel, also branded as World, is an American digital multicast public television network owned and operated by the WGBH Educational Foundation. It is distributed by American Public Television and the National Educational Telecommunications Association and features programming covering topics such as science, nature, news, and public affairs. Programming is supplied by the entities, as well as other partners such as WNET and WGBH. It is primarily carried on the digital subchannels of PBS member stations.
KHIZ-LD, virtual channel 51, is a low-powered Independent television station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States. The station’s transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson, California.
OC Channel was an over-the-air, digital broadcast, television news network. The channel is broadcast on a digital sub channel of PBS member station KOCE in Huntington Beach, California. This service is no longer in operation as a secondary lineup of PBS programming is currently carried on channel 50.2, as of May 2017.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programmes to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS NewsHour, Arthur, Sesame Street, and This Old House.
KET ED, known as the Education Channel, was a digital television programming service operated by PBS member network Kentucky Educational Television. The service provided programming from the Annenberg/CPB project, along with encore presentations of some PBS programming, and much of KET's locally produced in-house instructional television (ITV) productions.
Public Media Group of Southern California (PMGSC) is a non-profit broadcasting organization operating two TV stations and a non-commercial satellite television channel.
↑ "Television - KCET: Boboquivari". The Tim Buckley Archives. Retrieved 13 December 2021. 'Boboquivari' is a Hopi indian word loosely translated as 'joining together,'
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
