KCOS (channel 13), branded on-air as PBS El Paso, is a
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, United States, owned by
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
. The station's studios are located on Viscount Boulevard (northeast of
I-10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
) in
northwest El Paso Northwest El Paso (better known as West El Paso or the West Side) is an area of El Paso, Texas that is located on the west side of the Franklin Mountains. It is home to some of the most affluent neighborhoods within the city of El Paso, Texas. It h ...
, and its transmitter is located atop the
Franklin Mountains on the El Paso city limits.
History
The station first signed on the air on August 18, 1978, originally broadcasting on VHF channel 7. It was the first
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
television station to sign on since
KVIA-TV (the original occupant of channel 13 in El Paso) debuted 22 years earlier in September 1956.
Prior to KCOS's debut, El Paso was the largest city in the United States that did not have a PBS member station. Some viewers in the market were able to receive
Las Cruces, New Mexico–based
KRWG-TV (channel 22). However, the
Franklin Mountains significantly impaired KRWG's signal coverage deep into the market, rendering the station unviewable in most of El Paso itself. PBS arranged for
NBC affiliate
KTSM-TV (channel 9) to carry ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' in the market from the show's 1969 debut until KCOS' sign-on (this was a common practice in other markets throughout the country that similarly lacked access to
public television). Until KCOS signed on in 1978, cable providers in the El Paso market piped in KRWG and out-of-market PBS station
KNME
KNME-TV, virtual channel 5 ( UHF digital channel 35), branded on-air as NM PBS, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Jointly owned by the University of New Mexico ...
in
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
.
On July 10, 1981, KCOS switched channel positions with KVIA-TV, the city's
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate, and moved to VHF channel 13. This was done to give KVIA-TV a greater broadcast signal range on parity with KTSM-TV and
CBS affiliate
KDBC-TV
KDBC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in El Paso, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KFOX-TV (channel 14). Both stations share studios on South Alto Mesa ...
(channel 4).
On August 12, 2019, a purchase agreement was announced that would see KCOS sold to
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
for a token amount of $1,000, due to the El Paso Public Television Foundation struggling to fundraise throughout the decade. All local personnel will remain in place under the new ownership, which would see it become a sister station to
Lubbock's
KTTZ-TV
KTTZ-TV (channel 5) is a PBS member television station in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It is owned by Texas Tech University alongside radio stations KTTZ-FM (89.1) and KTXT-FM (88.1). Operating under the umbrella branding of Texas Tech Public ...
,
KTTZ-FM
KTTZ-FM (89.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a public radio format in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., The station is owned by Texas Tech University and features news radio, classical and jazz music and programming from National Public Radio.
Histo ...
and
KTXT-FM
KTXT-FM (88.1 FM) is a non-commercial educational college radio station licensed to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, United States. KTXT-FM is licensed to broadcast 35,000 watts of power to Lubbock and the surrounding South Plains of ...
. The sale was completed on September 30, 2019.
On November 4, 2019, KCOS rebranded as PBS El Paso to mark its new ownership, as well as align itself with the new brand identity of PBS unveiled that day.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed:
Analog-to digital conversion
KCOS shut down its analog signal, over
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 13, at 11:30 p.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 signal relocated from its pre-transition
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 30 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kcos (Tv)
Texas Tech University
PBS member stations
Television channels and stations established in 1978
COS (TV)
1978 establishments in Texas