Prairie Public Television
 |
|
| Type | Terrestrial state public broadcasting network |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States Canada |
|
First air date
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KFME: January 19, 1964 PPT network: 1974 |
|
Broadcast area
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North Dakota, Northwest Minnesota, Eastern Montana additional coverage in portions of northern South Dakota and southern Saskatchewan Canadian cable coverage in portions of Manitoba and northwestern Ontario |
| Owner | |
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Key people
|
John E. Harris III, CEO Bob Dambach, Director of Television |
|
Former names
|
North Central Educational Television |
| 9 full-power television stations, 3 translator stations |
|
|
Sister public radio services
|
Prairie Public Radio (NPR) |
| Affiliation | PBS (1970–present), American Public Television |
|
Former affiliations
|
KFME: NET (1964–1970) |
|
Official website
|
PrairiePublic.org |
Prairie Public Television is a state network of public television stations operated primarily by . It comprises all of the PBS member stations in the state of North Dakota.
The state network is available via flagship station KFME in Fargo and eight satellite stations covering all of North Dakota, plus portions of Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario. PPT is also available on most satellite and cable television outlets.
In 1959, North Central Educational Television, the predecessor organization to Prairie Public, was incorporated. On January 19, 1964, KFME signed on from Fargo as North Dakota's first educational television station.
The Prairie Public name was adopted in 1974, the same year the first satellite station, KGFE in Grand Forks signed on, marking the beginning of the statewide network. A year earlier, KFME had almost shut down due to lack of funding. KFME acquired a color video tape recorder in 1967, and color cameras in 1975.
The FCC had allocated educational frequencies to Bismarck, Minot, Williston and Dickinson in the 1960s. While KFME was picked up on cable in Bismarck in the early 1970s, most of the western part of the state was one of the few areas of the country without educational programming. it would be 1977 before the state legislature granted Prairie Public funding to build a statewide public television network. KBME in Bismarck was established in 1979, bringing over-the-air public television to the western portion of the state for the first time. KSRE in Minot followed suit in 1980 and KDSE in 1982. Prairie Public purchased the Fargo American Life Building in 1983 and moved its studios there in 1984. In 1989 KFME and cable feeds went to a 24-hour television broadcast schedule. The Prairie Satellite Network distance education state network, with 70 sites, was completed in 1994. Later, KWSE in Williston signed on in 1983, and KJRE in Ellendale/Jamestown signed on in 1992.
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Wikipedia