Montana PBS
Montana PBS is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member Public television state network for Montana. It is a joint venture between Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana-Missoula (UM). The network is headquartered in the Visual Communications Building on the MSU campus in Bozeman, Montana, with a separate studio on the UM campus in Missoula.
The network comprises four stations — flagship KUSM-TV channel 9 in Bozeman; full-power satellites KUFM-TV, channel 11 in Missoula, KBGS-TV, channel 16 in Billings, KUGF, channel 21 in Great Falls, and a network of 60 low-powered repeaters in Montana. KUSM is licensed to MSU, KUFM to UM, and KBGS and KUGF to The Board of Regents of the Montana University System.
History
KUSM signed on for the first time on October 1, 1984, making Montana the last state to have its own PBS station, 14 years after Mississippi became the last state east of the Mississippi River with a PBS station within its borders. The transmitter was donated by Montana broadcasting pioneer Joe Sample. MSU didn't have enough funding at the time to support a public television station, and the Gallatin Valley didn't have nearly enough people at the time for viewer-supported public television. Station engineers switched to and from the signal of KUED in Salt Lake City for most PBS programming until 1987. Prior to 1984, Montana received PBS programming from KSPS-TV in Spokane; Prairie Public Television in North Dakota; KRMA-TV in Denver; and KUED. KSPS and Rocky Mountain PBS (formerly KRMA) still operate translators in Montana. Additionally, some commercial stations in Montana, including KTVQ in Billings and KFBB in Great Falls, carried Sesame Street and may have carried other PBS programs besides.
Also in 1987, KUSM was added to TCI's cable systems in central and eastern Montana, completely replacing KUED in that part of the state by 1990.
UM had won a construction permit for KUFM-TV in 1992, but had trouble getting on the air until 1996. UM and MSU joined forces to form Montana PBS, which broadcast for the first time as a network on New Year's Day 1997.
Montana PBS's third full-powered station, KBGS-TV in Billings, signed on in late-2009. This UHF, station, however, is licensed to broadcast at 29.8 kW, lower than Montana PBS's repeater for Billings, K20HB channel 20, which broadcasts at 58 kW. The fourth full-powered satellite, KUGF, digital channel 21, signed on in fall 2010.
The network has expanded rather slowly, relying mainly on cable coverage for its viewership. This didn't pose as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance, as cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in most of Montana.
Programming
Most of the local programs such as Backroads of Montana, 11th and Grant, and Montana Ag Live, as well as Montana historical documentaries and current event programs, are created by independent producers for Montana PBS. Due to a strong program for journalism and radio/television at UM and for documentary filmmaking at MSU, other programs broadcast on Montana PBS are produced by students.
Some of the Montana-made programming is also available on-line.
Stations
Notes:
- 1. Virtual channel (PSIP).
Translators
Montana PBS operates one of the largest translator networks in Montana. Montana State University holds licenses for:
Montana State University has also applied for translators on channels 16 (5 watts, Kalispell) and 51 (150 kW, Great Falls).
Satellite
Montana PBS is available free-to-air on AMC 21 (125°W) Ku-band satellite television.[1]
References
External links
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See also: Butte/Bozeman TV • Great Falls TV • Missoula TV
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See also: Helena TV • Alberta TV
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See also Billings and Western North Dakota TV
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