KUSM
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| statewide Montana United States |
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|---|---|
| Channels | Digital: (see article) |
| Subchannels | xx.1 PBS xx.2 PBS Kids xx.3 Create xx.4 PBS World xx.5 TVMT simulcast |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner |
Montana State University The University of Montana Montana University System |
| First air date | October 1, 1984 |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
PBS Profile PBS CDBS |
| Website | www.montanapbs.org |
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 six stations — flagship KUSM-TV channel 9 in Bozeman; full-power satellites KUFM-TV channel 11 in Missoula, KBGS-TV channel 16 in Billings, KUHM-TV, channel 10 in Helena, KUGF-TV, channel 21 in Great Falls and KUKL-TV channel 46 in Kalispell — and a network of 60 low-powered repeaters in Montana. KUSM and KUHM are licensed to MSU, KUFM to UM, and KBGS, KUGF and KUKL to The Board of Regents of the Montana University System.
KUSM signed on for the first time on October 1, 1984, making Montana the last state with an educational station within its borders, 14 years after Mississippi became the last state east of the Mississippi River with its own PBS station. 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 viewers had to rely on cable for PBS programming. Depending on the location, cable systems in western Montana piped in KSPS-TV in Spokane or KRMA-TV in Denver, while cable systems in eastern and central Montana piped in Prairie Public Television from North Dakota or KUED. KSPS and 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.
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