Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
statewide Nebraska | |
---|---|
Branding | NET |
Channels | Digital: see table below |
Affiliations |
PBS (television) NPR (radio) |
Owner |
KUON: The University of Nebraska Others: Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission |
First air date |
November 1, 1954 (television) October 10, 1989 (radio) |
Call letters' meaning | see table below |
Former affiliations | Television: NET (1954-1970) |
Transmitter power | see table below |
Height | see table below |
Facility ID | see table below |
Transmitter coordinates | see table below |
Website | netnebraska.org |
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) is a state network of non-commercial educational public broadcasting radio and television stations in Nebraska and is based in Lincoln. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission. The television stations are all members of PBS, while the radio stations are members of NPR.
The network is headquartered in the Terry M. Carpenter & Jack G. McBride Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center in Lincoln, and has a satellite studio in Omaha.
History
Television
Nebraska was one of the first states in the nation to begin the groundwork for educational broadcasting. The University of Nebraska successfully applied to have channel 18 in Lincoln allocated for educational use in 1951.
In 1954, however, John Fetzer, owner of KOLN-TV, offered to donate his station's old channel location on channel 12 (it had recently moved to channel 10) to NU. This allowed UNL to use more signal at less cost. UNL quickly jumped at this proposal, and KUON-TV went on the air on November 1 from KOLN-TV's studios. It was operated in trust for NU until 1956. In 1960, the Nebraska Council for Educational Television was created by six school districts in Nebraska. By 1961, 5 VHF and 3 UHF channels were allocated for educational use in Nebraska—the largest set ever approved for educational use in a single state. In 1963, the state legislature, per a committee's recommendation, approved plans for a statewide educational television state network under the control of the Nebraska Educational Television Commission. A deal was quickly reached in which Lincoln's KUON-TV would remain under NU's ownership, but serve as the new state network's flagship.
In 1965, KLNE-TV in Lexington became the first station in the new state network, followed a few months later by KYNE-TV in Omaha. The state network grew quickly; six stations signed on from 1966 to 1968 to complete the state network. It began a full seven-day schedule in 1969.
In 1975, NBC unveiled a new logo that was identical to the Nebraska ETV logo, but for the blue coloring of the right trapezoid in the NBC logo. The commission sued NBC for trademark infringement, a suit which generated national attention. In an out-of-court settlement, NBC donated a color mobile unit and other equipment totaling over $800,000. NBC paid an additional $55,000 to reimburse the commission for the costs of eliminating the old logo from all advertising. Nebraska ETV's new logo was unveiled in 1976.
A CPB study, Study of School Use of Television and Video, found Reading Rainbow (a co-production of NET and Buffalo, New York's WNED-TV until 2006) to be the most used and viewed children's television program in America during the 1990-1991 school year.
Since 1974, NET has operated a studio in Omaha, on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. It is primarily used when KYNE breaks off from the state network to broadcast programming of specific interest to the Omaha market.
In autumn 2008, NET stations KUON, KMNE, KPNE, KRNE, and KTNE turned off their analog channels. Station KXNE turned off their analog channel in November 2008, and stations KHNE, KLNE, and KYNE turned off their analog channels on 2/17/2009 (the original digital TV cut-off date).
Radio
The Educational Television Commission had its mission broadened to radio in 1984, but it was 1989 before it could begin the groundwork for building a state radio network. For many years, there were only two NPR members in the entire state--Omaha's KIOS and Lincoln's KUCV. In 1989, however, UNL bought KUCV from Union College. KUCV officially relaunched from its new studios on October 10, 1989. In 2001, KUCV moved from 90.9 FM (where it had been since its sign-on in 1974) to 91.1.
In 1990, public radio stations opened in Alliance, Lexington, Columbus, Norfolk, and Hastings. North Platte, Bassett, Merriman, and Chadron followed in 1991. The entire Nebraska Public Radio Network (NPRN) was formally dedicated on October 8 in a special ceremony, broadcast live on NPRN and NETV.
The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Facilities Corporation was established to facilitate lease/purchase of the GTE SpaceNet 3 transponder.
Television stations
NET Television consists of nine full-power stations. Combined, they reach almost all of Nebraska, as well as parts of Iowa, Kansas, and Wyoming. Eight of the stations are owned by the NETC. The flagship station KUON is owned by the University of Nebraska, but through a long-standing agreement is operated by the Commission.
Station | City of license | Channels (TV / DT) |
First air date | Call letters’ meaning |
ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter Coordinates |
KUON-TV | Lincoln | 12 (PSIP) 12 (VHF) |
November 1, 1954 | University Of Nebraska | 75 kW | 253 m | 66589 | 41°8′18″N 96°27′20″W / 41.13833°N 96.45556°W |
KHNE-TV | Hastings | 29 (PSIP) 28 (UHF) |
November 18, 1968 | Hastings NEbraska | 200 kW | 366 m | 47987 | 40°46′20″N 98°5′21″W / 40.77222°N 98.08917°W |
KLNE-TV | Lexington | 3 (PSIP) 26 (UHF) |
September 6, 1965 | Lexington NEbraska | 375 kW | 331 m | 47975 | 40°23′5″N 99°27′30″W / 40.38472°N 99.45833°W (Nebraska Educational Tower Holdrege) |
KMNE-TV | Bassett | 7 (PSIP) 7 (VHF) |
September 1, 1967 | Middle NEbraska | 27 kW | 453 m | 47981 | 42°20′5″N 99°29′2″W / 42.33472°N 99.48389°W |
KPNE-TV | North Platte | 9 (PSIP) 9 (VHF) |
September 12, 1966 | North Platte NEbraska | 85 kW | 334 m | 47973 | 41°1′22″N 101°9′14″W / 41.02278°N 101.15389°W |
KRNE-TV | Merriman | 12 (PSIP) 12 (VHF) |
December 9, 1968 | MeRriman NEbraska | 75 kW | 322 m | 47971 | 42°40′37″N 101°42′39″W / 42.67694°N 101.71083°W |
KTNE-TV | Alliance | 13 (PSIP) 13 (VHF) |
September 7, 1966 | Television NEbraska | 27 kW | 466 m | 47996 | 41°50′27″N 103°3′18″W / 41.84083°N 103.05500°W |
KXNE-TV | Norfolk | 19 (PSIP) 19 (UHF) |
November 10, 1967 | X (Across) NEbraska | 475 kW | 253.2 m | 47995 | 42°14′15″N 97°16′41″W / 42.23750°N 97.27806°W |
KYNE-TV1 | Omaha | 26 (PSIP) 17 (UHF) |
October 19, 1965 | Your NEbraska | 200 kW | 117 m | 47974 | 41°15′28″N 96°0′32″W / 41.25778°N 96.00889°W |
Note:
- 1. KYNE occasionally breaks off from the NET Television state network to broadcast local programming. KYNE's programming became digital-only on February 17, 2009.[1]
The state network also has 14 translators.
Cable and satellite availability
NET Television is available on nearly all cable systems in Nebraska. Selected cable systems in northern Kansas carry Hastings' KHNE in addition to Smoky Hills Public Television; these counties are part of the Hastings/Kearney side of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney media market. Additionally, Omaha's KYNE is carried on most cable systems in southwestern Iowa.
On satellite, KUON, KYNE, KPNE, KXNE, and KTNE are carried on the local Lincoln, Omaha, North Platte, Sioux City, and Cheyenne, Wyoming Dish Network feeds, respectively. KTNE is the sole PBS station available to satellite viewers in the Cheyenne market. KUON, KYNE, and KXNE are available on the Lincoln, Omaha, and Sioux City DirecTV feeds, respectively.
Radio stations
NET Radio is governed by the NET Commission and the NET Foundation for Radio Board. It consists of all NPR member stations in the state except for KIOS in Omaha; that station is operated by the Omaha Public Schools. Programming consists of classical music and NPR news and talk.
NET Radio broadcasts two HD Radio channels. The first is a simulcast of the analog signal, while the second airs increased news programming as well as jazz. Both stream live on the Internet.
There are nine full-power stations in the state network:
Station | Frequency | City | Callsign Meaning |
KUCV | 91.1 FM | Lincoln (flagship) | Union College (original owner) Voice |
KCNE-FM | 91.9 FM | Chadron | Chadron Nebraska |
KHNE-FM | 89.1 FM | Hastings | Hastings NEbraska |
KLNE-FM | 88.7 FM | Lexington | Lexington NEbraska |
KMNE-FM | 90.3 FM | Bassett | Middle NEbraska |
KPNE-FM | 91.7 FM | North Platte | North Platte NEbraska |
KRNE-FM | 91.5 FM | Merriman | MeRriman NEbraska |
KTNE-FM | 91.1 FM | Alliance | Towards NEbraska |
KXNE-FM | 89.3 FM | Norfolk | X (Across) NEbraska |
The state network also has five low-power repeater signals.
Digital TV
The digital channels of NET's main stations are multiplexed (all times Central):
Digital channels
Channel | Programming |
---|---|
.1 | Main NET Programming / PBS HD |
.2 | NET2 PBS World |
.3 | NET 3 Create |
References
- ↑ http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10557376 Digital delay muddles broadcasters' plans, BRYAN REDEMSKE, Omaha WORLD-HERALD, February 6, 2009
External links
- Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
- NET History
- NET Television
- NET Radio
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KUON
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KHNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KLNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KMNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KPNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KRNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KTNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KXNE
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KYNE
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KUON-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KHNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KLNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KMNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KRNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXNE-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KYNE-TV
- Listen Live
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