KETC
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St. Louis, Missouri United States |
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| Branding | The Nine Network |
| Channels |
Digital: 39 (UHF) Virtual: 9 () |
| Affiliations |
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| Owner | St. Louis Regional Public Media, Inc. |
| First air date | September 20, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | St. Louis Educational Television Commission (former name for St. Louis Regional Public Media) |
| Former channel number(s) |
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| Former affiliations | NET (1954–1970) |
| Transmitter power | 142.5 kW |
| Height | 324.2 m (1,064 feet) |
| Facility ID | 62182 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°28′55.8″N 90°23′52.6″W / 38.482167°N 90.397944°WCoordinates: 38°28′55.8″N 90°23′52.6″W / 38.482167°N 90.397944°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | ninenet.org |
KETC, virtual channel 9 (UHF digital channel 39), is a PBS member television station located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The station is owned by St. Louis Regional Public Media. KETC maintains studio facilities located at the Dana Brown Communications Center on Olive Street in St. Louis' Grand Center neighborhood, and its transmitter is located in South St. Louis County.
The station first signed on the air on September 20, 1954, the call letters KETC represent the St. Louis Educational Television Commission, the former name of the organization responsible for bringing public television to St. Louis. It was the first community-licensed educational television station in the United States. The station's first general manager was Charles Guggenheim who hired the technical staff and first group of producer/director/writers, five in all. While waiting for the broadcasting tower to be completed, a number of programs were recorded using kinescope recording technology (the same as used for "The Honeymooners"). Once on the air, there were a number of award winning programs produced by Mayo Simon, Bill Hartzell, Ran Lincoln and Guggenheim. They included the first live broadcast of the St. Louis City Council. Another featured the Post Dispatch nature columnist Leonard Hall of Possum Trot Farm. Among the taped program series was a pioneering science program intended for sixth graders to see in their classrooms, "Science in Sight", produced by Martin L. Schneider. Film making was encouraged and with Len Hall's collaboration a documentary film about the rare beauty of the relatively unprotected Current River was produced. It was later used by the national Audubon Society in the successful effort to make Current River the first National Scenic River under the protection of the National Park Service. Soon after the station went live, its emphasis on current affairs and local politics, fostered by Guggenheim, rattled the political leaders. Following a public controversy, covered by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and under the influence of the well-connected local public relations firm, Fleischman and Hilliard, Guggenheim was replaced by Martin Quigley who had no experience in broadcasting. A few months later, Shelby Storck was hired. An experienced broadcaster, recommended by Guggenheim, he emceed the station's first evening of broadcasting.
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Wikipedia