| statewide Oregon (except southwestern Oregon) |
|
|---|---|
| Branding | OPB |
| Channels | Analog: see table below Digital: see table below |
| Affiliations | NPR, PRI (radio) PBS (television) |
| Owner | Oregon Public Broadcasting |
| First air date | January 23, 1923 (radio) October 7, 1957 (television) |
| Call letters' meaning | see table below |
| Former affiliations | NET (1957-1970) |
| Transmitter power | see table below |
| Height | see table below |
| Facility ID | see table below |
| Transmitter coordinates | see table below |
| Website | www.opb.org |
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local programming as well as television programs from Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and the BBC World Service.
OPB is also a major producer of television programming for national broadcast on PBS or on Create, with shows such as History Detectives, Barbecue America, Foreign Exchange, and travel shows hosted by Rick Steves and Art Wolfe.
(As of 2006[update]), OPB has over one million viewers throughout its region and an average of over 380,000 radio listeners each week. The part of southwestern Oregon not served by OPB is served by Jefferson Public Radio and Southern Oregon Public Television.
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OPB traces its roots to January 23, 1923 when KFDJ-AM signed on from the Corvallis campus of Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). It became KOAC-AM on December 11, 1925. In 1932, KOAC became a service of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education General Extension Division[1]
KOAC Radio won OPB's first Peabody Award when it was recognized for Outstanding Public Service by a Local Station for a 1942 program called Our Hidden Enemy, Venereal Disease.[2]
KOAC-TV (Corvallis) began operation October 7, 1957. KOAC-AM-TV soon became the primary station for a large state network of radio and television stations. Originally known as Oregon Educational Broadcasting, it became as the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS) in 1971. In 1981, OEPBS was spun off from the Oregon State System of Higher Education, moved to Portland, and became the community-licensed Oregon Public Broadcasting. KOAC's former Portland satellites, KOAP-FM-TV, became the flagship of the new organization.[1] In addition to the studio and transmission facilities in Corvallis, there was another production studio located on the top floor of Villard Hall at the University of Oregon in Eugene that was connected by microwave link. Up until 1965, all programs from the Eugene studio were live, since they did not get any video recording equipment until then.
KOAP-TV (Portland) signed on the air February 6, 1961; it became the flagship of OPB in 1981 and changed its calls to KOPB-TV on February 15, 1989.
KTVR-TV (La Grande) went on the air December 6, 1964 as a commercial television station, an NBC primary affiliate that also carried selected ABC television network programs. KTVR was a satellite of Boise, Idaho station KTVB, but had a La Grande studio at 1605 Adams Ave., producing a nightly newscast and other local programming. However, by 1967, the La Grande studio and office had been closed and KTVR was a total satellite of KTVB. KTVR was unique in the Pacific time zone because as a repeater of a Mountain time zone station, its "prime-time" schedule was broadcast from 6 to 9 p.m. OEPBS bought KTVR on August 31, 1976 and converted it to PBS programming on February 1, 1977. At first, KTVR rebroadcast programming from KWSU-TV in Pullman, Washington and KSPS-TV in Spokane, Washington until OEPBS completed a TV link to La Grande. On September 1, 1977 OEPBS took KTVR off the air for transmitter repairs, due to increasing technical problems. KTVR returned to the air on January 1, 1978, carrying OEPBS programming for the first time.
KOAB-TV (Bend) began broadcasting on February 24, 1970 as KVDO-TV, an independent station licensed to Salem. Channel 3 struggled to compete with Portland's established independent, KPTV, and in 1974 the station was bought out by Liberty Communications, then-owners of Eugene's ABC affiliate KEZI. The intention was to make KVDO a full-power satellite of KEZI. KATU, Portland's ABC affiliate, responded by taking legal action, forcing KEZI to instead operate KVDO on a limited basis. OEPBS purchased the station on February 19, 1976, and turned the station into a PBS affiliate, rebroadcasting OEPBS programming that was already available from KOAC and KOAP (now KOPB). A few days later on February 28, 1976 a disgruntled viewer protesting KVDO's sale to OEPBS cut guy wires, toppling the channel 3 TV tower. On September 20, 1976 KVDO signed back on the air with a new tower. On August 6, 1983, after many complaints about duplication of service to Salem-area viewers (see above), KVDO was shut down. OEPBS petitioned the FCC to move Channel 3's license and channel allocation to Bend, where they had no PBS coverage; the FCC honored their request. On December 22, 1983 channel 3 signed back on the air as KOAB. Call letters changed to KOAB-TV when KOAB-FM signed on the air January 23, 1986.
KOAC won a 1972 Peabody Award for a program called Conversations with Will Shakespeare and Certain of His Friends.[2]
KEPB-TV (Eugene) began operation on February 27, 1990 as Eugene's first public television station, rebroadcasting OPB programming clearer than KOAC's rimshot signal from Corvallis.
OPB installs Oregon’s first digital transmitter, taking a critical first step in the digital television transition.[3]
For 2001 and 2002, the Oregon state government provided about 14 percent of OPB's operation budget; for 2003 and 2004, it was cut to nine percent.[4]
In 2007, OPB Radio added World Have Your Say (WHYS) to its schedule, with its listeners becoming the show's most numerous contributors from the United States and second worldwide in number only to Nigeria.[5] According to WHYS host Ros Atkins, a "significant number of listeners [disliked the] 'tone' and 'production'" of the show, resulting after three years to the removal of the show from OPB's schedule.[5]
On December 4, 2007, OPB launched OPBmusic, a 24-hour online radio channel spotlighting Pacific Northwest musicians.[6]
In 2010, OPB won a 2009 Peabody Award for a radio series called "Hard Times," which followed a group of Oregonians through the recession year of 2009.[2][7]
In March 2009, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting chose OPB to manage the pilot version of American Archive, CPB's initiative to digitally preserve content created by public broadcasters.[8]
| Station | City of license | Channels (Digital) |
Channels (Virtual) |
First air date | Call letters’ meaning |
ERP (Digital) |
HAAT (Digital) |
Facility ID | Transmitter Coordinates |
| KOPB-TV1 | Portland | 10 (VHF) | 10 (VHF) | February 6, 1961 | Oregon Public Broadcasting |
32.4 kW | 524 m | 50589 | |
| KOAC-TV | Corvallis | 7 (VHF) | 7 (VHF) | October 7, 1957 | Oregon Agricultural College |
18.1 kW | 357 m | 50590 | |
| KEPB-TV | Eugene | 29 (UHF) | 28 (UHF) | September 27, 1990 | Eugene Public Broadcasting |
100 kW | 403 m | 50591 | |
| KOAB-TV2 | Bend | 11 (VHF) | 3 (VHF) | February 24, 1970 | KOAC Bend |
90 kW | 245 m | 50588 | |
| KTVR3 | La Grande | 13 (VHF) | 13 (VHF) | December 6, 1964 | TeleVision Grande Ronde |
16.1 kW | 775 m | 50592 |
Notes:
OPB Television is available on all cable systems in its service area. On Dish Network, KOPB-TV, KEPB-TV, and KOAB-TV are available on the Portland, Eugene and Bend feeds, respectively. KOPB-TV and KEPB-TV are available on the Portland and Eugene DirecTV feeds.
As of July 6, 2011, Oregon Public Broadcasting has three digital channels:[9]
Digital channels
| Channel | Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| xx.1 | OPB | Main OPB programming / PBS |
| xx.2 | OPBPlus | PBS encore |
| xx.3 | OPB-FM | OPB Radio opbmusic KMHD Jazz Radio |
OPB is also one of the partners of The Oregon Channel, a public affairs network. Programming consists of Oregon legislative sessions and other public affairs events. The Oregon Channel is a Government-access television (GATV) service that is currently available only on cable TV.
All of OPB's digital channels are also available from two nation-wide cable systems (Comcast and Frontier FiOS) and three others serving specific Oregon regions and communities: Clear Creek (cooperative serving the Redland area of Oregon City), BendBroadband (serving Central Oregon), and Crestview Cable Communications (serving Madras, Prineville, and La Pine).[9]
On July 6, 2011 OPB combined OPB and OPB SD into one HD channel on xx.1. OPB Plus moved from xx.3 to xx.2 and OPB Radio moved from xx.4 to xx.3.
After the analog television shutdown scheduled for June 12, 2009:[10]
Currently, OPB Plus is show material from the Create network during the daytime, and news and public affairs programming during the evenings and nights.
There are also many low-powered repeaters statewide that rebroadcast OPB programming. A few repeaters are not owned by OPB.
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There are also two repeaters in Washington: K31IR-D in Grays River, and K28IH-D in Longview.
| Station | City | Frequency |
| KOPB-FM (flagship) | Portland | 91.5 FM |
| KETP | Enterprise | 88.7 FM |
| KHRV | Hood River | 90.1 FM |
| KOAB-FM | Bend | 91.3 FM |
| KOAC K276BU |
Corvallis | 550 AM 103.1 FM |
| KOAC-FM | Astoria | 89.7 FM |
| KOAP | Lakeview | 88.7 FM |
| KOBK | Baker City | 88.9 FM |
| KOBN | Burns | 90.1 FM |
| KOGL-FM | Gleneden Beach | 89.3 FM |
| KOJD | John Day | 89.7 FM |
| KOPB | Eugene | 1600 AM |
| KOTD | The Dalles, Oregon | 89.7 FM |
| KRBM | Pendleton | 90.9 FM |
| KTMK-FM | Tillamook | 91.1 FM |
| KTVR-FM | La Grande | 89.9 FM |
Additionally, since the spring of 2009 OPB has operated KMHD, the Portland area's main jazz station. It is still licensed to Mount Hood Community College, but operated out of OPB's studios in Portland.
Currently only KMHD and KOPB-FM carry HD radio content.
The OPB HD radio channels:
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| OPB FM HD-1 | Main OPB radio programing |
| OPB FM HD-2 | opbmusic[16] |
| KMHD-FM HD-1 | Main KMHD "Jazz Radio" programming |
Translators upgrading to full power stations
FCC Information for OPB's television stations:
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FCC Information for OPB's television repeaters:
BIAfn's Media Web Database—Information on OPB's television stations:
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