Louisiana Public Broadcasting

"KLTS" redirects here. For the air force base in Altus, Oklahoma assigned that ICAO code, see Altus Air Force Base.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting
statewide Louisiana
United States
Branding LPB
Slogan It's more than television.
Channels Digital: see table below
Affiliations PBS
Owner Louisiana Educational Television Authority
First air date September 6, 1975
Call letters' meaning see table below
Transmitter power see table below
Height see table below
Facility ID see table below
Transmitter coordinates see table below
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Public Broadcasting Profile
Public Broadcasting CDBS
Website www.lpb.org

Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a state network of PBS member stations serving the state of Louisiana. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television Authority. The network serves most of the state outside of Greater New Orleans: that market's PBS member station, WYES-TV is the only PBS station in Louisiana which is not associated with LPB; a noncommercial independent station in that market, WLAE-TV, is 50% owned by LPB and carries some of the state network's programming, primarily news and public affairs (though WLAE also carried select PBS programming until 2013). Louisiana Public Broadcasting's studio facilities and offices are located in Baton Rouge.

History

Louisiana became one of the first states in the Deep South with an educational television station licensed to the state when KLSE signed on from Monroe on March 1, 1957. Louisiana State University professor Lucille Woodward had urged Governor Robert Kennon to create an Educational Television Commission as part of the State Department of Education, and KLSE was intended as the first station in a statewide educational television network along the lines of Alabama Educational Television (now Alabama Public Television). However, KLSE signed off the air in 1964. For the next eleven years, the only area of the state with a clear signal from a National Educational Television or PBS station was New Orleans, which was served by WYES-TV. That station had signed on one month after KLSE, but was separately owned and operated.

Woodward continued to urge the Louisiana State Legislature not to drop the idea of educational television service in the state during the 1960s. Finally, in 1971, the recently created Louisiana Educational Television Authority approved the money to build and sign on the stations. On September 6, 1975, WLPB-TV in Baton Rouge debuted as the state's first PBS member station outside of New Orleans. Five more stations launched throughout the state, extending LPB's signal to portions of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas: KLTM-TV in Monroe signed on in September 1976, followed by KLTS-TV in Shreveport in August 1978, KLPB-TV in Lafayette, KLTL-TV in Lake Charles in May 1981 and finally, KLPA-TV in Alexandria in July 1983.

In 1985, Shreveport native and longtime Baton Rouge resident Beth Courtney was named president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, a capacity she remains in to this day. LPB began broadcasting in stereo in 1990.[1] In 2001, LPB launched a cable-only channel, LPB Kids & You, on cable channel 11 in Baton Rouge. The channel, a predecessor to LPB 2, aired children's programming during primetime (atypical for PBS stations, which normally air children's programs only during the daytime hours) and adult and creative programs during the daytime hours. When PBS U and PBS Kids ceased operations in 2005, the channel became LPB Plus and expanded its cable coverage to Lafayette. In 2008, the service changed its name to LPB 2.

Stations

Station City of license Channels
(Digital)		 First air date Third and fourth
letters of
callsign
meaning		 ERP
(Digital)		 HAAT
(Digital)		 Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
WLPB-TV Baton Rouge 27 (UHF) September 6, 1975 Public
Broadcasting		 200 kW 295 meters (968 ft) 38586 30°22′23″N 91°12′17.3″W / 30.37306°N 91.204806°W / 30.37306; -91.204806 (WLPB-TV)
KLTM-TV Monroe 13 (VHF) September 8, 1976 Television
Monroe		 6.7 kW 153.8 meters (505 ft) 38589 32°31′40″N 92°6′8.7″W / 32.52778°N 92.102417°W / 32.52778; -92.102417 (KLTM-TV)
KLTS-TV Shreveport 24 (UHF) August 9, 1978 Television
Shreveport		 57 kW 258 meters (846 ft) 38591 32°40′40.1″N 93°55′30.6″W / 32.677806°N 93.925167°W / 32.677806; -93.925167 (KLTS-TV)
KLPB-TV Lafayette 24 (UHF) May 19813 Public
Broadcasting		 50 kW 463.2 meters (1,520 ft) 38588 30°2′39″N 92°22′15.3″W / 30.04417°N 92.370917°W / 30.04417; -92.370917 (KLPB-TV) (analog)
30°19′18.1″N 92°16′58.7″W / 30.321694°N 92.282972°W / 30.321694; -92.282972 (KLPB-TV)
KLTL-TV Lake Charles 18 (UHF) May 5, 1981 Television
Lake Charles		 55 kW 299.1 meters (981 ft) 38587 30°23′46.8″N 93°0′3.6″W / 30.396333°N 93.001000°W / 30.396333; -93.001000 (KLTL-TV)
KLPA-TV Alexandria 25 (UHF) July 1, 1983 Public
Alexandria		 76 kW 413 meters (1,355 ft) 38590 31°33′57.2″N 92°32′50.7″W / 31.565889°N 92.547417°W / 31.565889; -92.547417 (KLPA-TV)

Note: 1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KLPB-TV signed on May 2, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on May 13.

Digital television

Digital channels

LPB multiplexes its stations' digital signals, transmitting three subchannels:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[2][3][4][5][6][7]
x.1 1080i 16:9 LPBHD Main LPB programming / PBS
x.2 480i 4:3 LPB2 PBS Kids (6 a.m.-9 p.m.)
PBS Encore (9 p.m.-6 a.m.)
x.3 16:9 LPB3 Create

Analog-to-digital conversion

Louisiana Public Broadcasting's stations shut down their analog signals at 7:00 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:[8]

Programming

Louisiana Public Broadcasting's flagship news program is Louisiana: The State We're In, which debuted in 1976. For nineteen years, political consultant, raconteur, and author Gus Weill hosted the acclaimed "Louisiana Legends" program on the state network. Among the original programs that LPB has produced includes Evangeline, which was broadcast by PBS stations throughout the United States and educational stations in Canada in 2000. One of Justin Wilson's cooking series was also produced by LPB.

Hurricane coverage

During coverage of major hurricanes affecting the state (as has happened with Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Gustav in 2008), LPB's Baton Rouge facilities are used by New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL-TV (channel 4) as a backup studio to provide additional news coverage from the station inland, and act as the station's main set should WWL-TV be unable to broadcast from its Rampart Street facilities in New Orleans. As part of this agreement, WWL's coverage airs across the entire LPB network to provide a statewide conduit for news and information from a well-established news organization.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "TV notes: WLPB to have down time," July 6, 1990, The Morning Advocate, Baton Rouge
  2. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WLPB
  3. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KLTM
  4. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KLTS
  5. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KLPB
  6. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KLTL
  7. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KLPA
  8. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.

External links

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