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| Channels | |
|---|---|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bernard Helgenberger |
| History | |
First air date | July 1977 |
Call sign meaning | Pohnpei |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 1 kW |
KPON-TV (channel 7) is a television station broadcasting from Kolonia, capital of Pohnpei State, in the Federated States of Micronesia. The station is a commercial operation.
KPON-TV started broadcasting in the first week of July 1977, founded by Bernard Helgenberger. The station first went on the air on a test basis, which would only become regular if the license was sent from the headquarters in Saipan, which Helgenberger was bound to receive by the end of the month. The station initially had no name, and adopted the KPON callsign after starting regular broadcasts. The headquarters were located in the former jailhouse in Kolonia's District Center. [1]
When the station went on air, the operating hours were 3 to 11 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays. [2] The station was scrambled, with a US$15 fee paid for a monthly subscription. Notable programming included Hawaii Five-O , Sesame Street , All in the Family , The Electric Company , movies and other programs from the three commercial networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and some from PBS. [2]
Its signal was clearly receivable in Kolonia, the state capital, one side of Sokehs and one side of Net Municipality. Growth of the reception was hampered by mountains, which disabled the station from expanding towards outlying municipalities. Local programming was scheduled for 1978, when the station was about to receive its own equipment. With that, the station would enable the carriage of special sessions of the Congress of Micronesia and local sports events. There was also a plan for a local news program, with Helgenberger receiving requests from people who wanted to be "Ponape's first Walter Cronkite". At launch, it became the seventh television station to sign on in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. [2]
The goal set by Television Ponape (whose parent company was Bernard's Enterprises) was to reach the 167 subscriber benchmark in order to reach the break-even point, which KPON wanted to achieve within its first year of operation. Weeks upon its launch, KPON had received 60 subscriptions. There were 100 television sets available for purchase upon launch, 80 in color and 20 in black and white. At first, all of the 21-inch color sets were sold, while others would bring their own sets, mostly used, from other areas in the Trust Territory, especially Saipan. [2]
The launch of the station affected attendance figures in movie theaters. Helgenberger owned one before 1977, which he later converted to a warehouse. Attendance fell 50% in the Marshall Islands and in Saipan. [2]
KPON-TV lost its monopoly in 1989, when a cable company, TV Pohnpei, Inc., started broadcasting in June that year. [3] [4] Helgenberger also owned the cable company until his death in 2001; the cable company is now owned by FSMTC. [5]
The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae—that span across the western Pacific just north of the equator, for a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi). Together, the states comprise around 607 islands and a combined land area of approximately 702 km2 or 271 sq mi.
The Federated States of Micronesia are located on the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The history of the modern Federated States of Micronesia is one of settlement by Micronesians; colonization by Spain, Germany, and Japan; United Nations trusteeship under United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and gradual independence beginning with the ratification of a sovereign constitution in 1979.
This article is about communications systems in the Federated States of Micronesia.
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the US during the Pacific War, as Japan had administered the territory since the League of Nations gave Japan a mandate over the area from Imperial Germany after World War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations and invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was disputed, but by the war's end, the islands had come under the Allies' control. The Trust Territory of the Pacific was created to administer the islands as part of the United States while still under the auspices of the United Nations. Most of the island groups in the territory became independent states, with some degree of ties kept with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau are today independent states in a Compact of Free Association with the US, while the Northern Mariana Islands remain under US jurisdiction, as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth.
Pohnpei is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei is the largest island in the FSM, with an area of 334 km2 (129 sq mi), and a highest point of 782 m (2,566 ft), the most populous with 36,832 people, and the most developed single island in the FSM.
Palikir is the capital city of the Federated States of Micronesia located in the western Pacific Ocean. A town of slightly under 5,000 residents, it is part of the larger Sokehs municipality, which had a population of 6,647 as of 2010, out of the nation's total population of 106,487. It is situated on the northwest side of Pohnpei island, a high volcanic island surrounded by a fringing coral reef. Nearby to the northeast is the island's largest settlement, the coastal town of Kolonia. It was declared the capital of Micronesia in 1989.
The flag of the Federated States of Micronesia was adopted on 30 November 1978. The blue field represents the Pacific Ocean. In an echo of U.S. heraldic practice, the stars represent the four federated states: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Yap, arranged like the points of the compass.
Pohnpei State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Its capital is Kolonia. With an area of 346 miles, it is the largest state.
Kolonia is a coastal town and the capital of Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It's not to be confused with the far smaller Colonia, the capital of the State of Yap. It was also the former FSM capital before being replaced by Palikir in 1989, located nearby to the southwest in the municipality of Sokehs. It has 6,074 people.
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is a public community college in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began operation in 1963 as the Micronesian Teacher Education Center.
Micronesian Americans are Americans who are descended from people of the Federated States of Micronesia, although the term may also include people descended from the US unincorporated territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. According to the 2020 US Census, a total of 21,596 residents self-identified as having origins in the country, which consists of four states. More than half of these residents identified their origin as Chuuk State (12,464) with the rest as follows: 4,918 people from Pohnpei, 2,066 from Yap, and 2,148 people from Kosrae.
Iris Green Falcam was an American-born Micronesian librarian, researcher and public servant. Falcam served as the First Lady of the Federated States of Micronesia from 1999 to 2003 during the tenure of her husband, former President Leo Falcam.
The Federated States of Micronesia Athletic Association (FSMAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
The Japanese Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The official name at that time was Japanese: 南洋庁ポナペ国民学校奉安殿, romanized: Nan'yō Chō Ponape Kokumin Gakkō Hō-an-den, lit. 'Nan'yō Government Ponape National School Hōanden'.
Bailey Olter High School, formerly Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS), and Pacific Islands Central School, is a senior high school in Kolonia, Pohnpei Island, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia. As of 2018 the school, operated by the Pohnpei State Department of Education, has about 1,500 students, making it the state's largest high school. Its service area includes Kolonia, Nett, Sokehs, and U.
Ambilos Iehsi was a Micronesian politician. He served as a member of the House of Representatives and Senate of the Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands between 1967 until 1979, and then as Secretary of Resources and Development of the Federated States of Micronesia.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Federated States of Micronesia refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The church's first known missionaries arrived on July 5, 1978. As of December 31, 2022, there were 5,966 members in 23 congregations in FSM. The LDS Church has congregations in every state in the FSM.
The Lidorkini Museum was a museum in Kolonia on the island of Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia.
WAAB-TV is a television station in the state of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Set up by an American company with support from the Yapese government in 1979, it is a terrestrial television station broadcasting on channel 7. The station is owned by Yap State Media and Protocol.
Bethwel Henry was a Micronesian politician. He was a leading figure in establishing the Federated States of Micronesia and served as the nation's first Speaker of the Congress.
