KVIE (channel 6) is a
PBS 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 ea ...
in
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
, United States. The station is owned by KVIE, Inc., a community-based
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
. KVIE's studios are located on West El Camino Avenue in the
Natomas
Natomas is a community in northwestern Sacramento, in the U.S. state of California.
North Natomas was historically an agricultural area on the floodplains of the Sacramento River, but grew quickly starting in the mid-1990s with extensive reside ...
district of Sacramento, and its transmitter is located in
Walnut Grove, California
Walnut Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,542 at the 2010 census, up from 669 at ...
.
After years of interest in educational television in the Sacramento area, KVIE began broadcasting in February 1959, airing evening educational programs from PBS predecessor
National Educational Television
National Educational Television (NET) was an American educational broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970, and ...
and daytime instructional output for schools. Originally located in studios in Sacramento used by a previous UHF station that had become outdated and run down by the 1980s, KVIE relocated to its present studios in 1990. KVIE's local programming has focused on topics including agriculture and activity at the California state capitol.
History
Construction
Channel 6 was allocated for educational use in Sacramento in 1952 after the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on new TV station applications in 1952.
The next year, the first interest was expressed in the educational channel by a consortium of school officials in 15 Northern California counties.
In 1955, it merged with a similar group in the Stockton area, the Delta-Sierra Educational Television Corporation.
The combined group, Central California Educational Television (CCET), had board members from
Ceres in the south to
Chico in the north and represented a total of 20 counties.
In early 1958, a fund drive was held to secure the finances needed to put the station in service.
John C. Crabbe, one of KVIE's founders, traveled the region and gave 92 speeches in 90 days. This drive raised $205,000, enough to qualify for matching funds.
In April,
KOVR
KOVR (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Stockton, California, United States, broadcasting the CBS network to the Sacramento area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate ...
extended an offer to the station, which was accepted, to use facilities it had acquired when it purchased the assets of UHF station
KCCC-TV the year prior on Garden Highway; KOVR would also carry demonstration programs to present educational television to the area until the station launched.
The FCC granted CCET a construction permit on July 30, 1958.
The consortium invited proposals for call signs,
selecting KVIE (for "Valley Information and Education" as well as the Roman numeral for 6 and education).
The pilot programs on KOVR ended in December 1958 in preparation for the launch of channel 6.
Early years
KVIE began broadcasting on February 23, 1959, with evening educational programming.
The first educational programs for schools were broadcast at the end of March.
In 1964,
KIXE-TV began broadcasting to the North State; KVIE programs were received by
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...
at
Chico State College
California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...
, local programs and identifications were added, and the result was transmitted to the region.
Founding manager and director John C. Crabbe resigned in 1968 at the request of the board of directors over budgetary issues;
this was later rescinded, and he resigned the next year instead. While bickering with the consortium of schools using its instructional programming and financial issues confronted KVIE at this time, 1970 also saw the station move its transmitter to Walnut Grove, giving its broadcasts parity with the market's three VHF commercial stations.
Previously, limited power and the orientation of many Sacramento-area TV antennas away from KVIE's transmitter near
Placerville and toward Walnut Grove hindered reception.
KVIE steadily increased its local programming. Most of its early efforts centered around activities at the state capitol. The station televised the full 14-hour death penalty hearing for
Caryl Chessman
Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted robber, kidnapper and serial rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Chessman was charged with 17 counts ...
and also aired governors' press conferences and legislative hearings.
The 1970s were turbulent times for station leadership. Art Paul succeeded Crabbe in 1970, and while he was successful at managing KVIE's finances—an issue in Crabbe's last years—station board members desired to increase local programming, and there were objections to several decisions and use of station funds.
The board of directors recommended not rehiring Paul when his contract expired.
Instructional programs also went by the wayside in 1978 as a result of
Proposition 13; schools could no longer afford the programs.
Under John Hershberger, general manager from 1979 to 1994, KVIE renewed its emphasis on local program production, which had been a sore point under Paul.
KVIE supporter organization Friends of Six, in a unique attempt to help raise funds for the station, opened ''At Six'', a restaurant in the Sierra 2 performing arts center;
the cafe lasted a year, beset by management turnover and poor advertising, and its closure left the station out $35,000 in money it gave for setup costs.
A new building and digitalization
The Garden Highway building, which had been constructed by KCCC-TV in stages in the early 1950s, was no longer adequate for KVIE by 1984, when studies were conducted to identify a site for a new station facility. KVIE had to lease other office space, and during the winter, portable toilets were necessary because the plumbing did not always work. Fundraising efforts began in 1985; at the same time, it was announced that KVIE would move to a new tower being erected by
KTXL (channel 40) in Walnut Grove.
Ground was broken on the present Natomas studios in 1988,
and the station moved in in January 1990.
In Hershberger's final years, the station made three controversial rounds of layoffs, totaling 31 positions, in response to a soft economy, but KVIE's finances improved despite the
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
.
After three years during which KVIE was led by former
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...
executive
Van Gordon Sauter, who launched several new TV programs including ''California Heartland'' and ''Central Valley Chronicles'',
David Hosley's nine-year tenure as general manager was dominated by the construction of digital transmission facilities and the upgrading of the physical plant.
Early in his tenure, in July 1999, KVIE managed the highest prime time rating of any public television station in the United States, surpassing
KQED in San Francisco, which had attracted the most viewers for seven consecutive years.
David Lowe became KVIE's general manager in 2008; at the nadir of the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, membership fell to 40,000 but had increased to 50,000 by 2018. That year, the station and Lowe received a "Pillar of Public Service" award from America's Public Television Stations for testing datacasting of
earthquake early warning alerts to businesses and public agencies.
Local programming
![KVIE pledge drive June 3, 2009 picture 3 (3673406516)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/KVIE_pledge_drive_June_3%2C_2009_picture_3_%283673406516%29.jpg)
In addition to PBS programming, KVIE produces in-house programs for distribution locally, regionally and nationwide. Having the widest distribution is ''
America's Heartland
''America's Heartland'' is a television program in the United States airing on public television since 2005. Produced by KVIE Sacramento, ''America's Heartland'' reporters and crews have brought in stories from all across the United States as w ...
'', a program covering agriculture issues nationally that debuted in 2005; this replaced the similarly themed ''California Heartland'', which aired for nine seasons.
As the public television station in the state capital, KVIE has also historically produced public affairs programs of statewide interest. Until its cancellation in the early 1980s, the statewide political roundtable ''California Week in Review'' originated at the station.
From 2002 to 2007, it was one of four co-producers of the statewide newsmagazine ''
California Connected''.
More recently, ''Inside California Education'', aired statewide, profiles issues facing the state's education system.
KVIE's local-service programs include ''Viewfinder'', a documentary series; ''KVIE Arts Showcase'', an arts magazine; ''Rob on the Road'', a series of regional profiles hosted by Rob Stewart; and ''Studio Sacramento'', covering public affairs issues in the region.
Funding
In fiscal year 2021, KVIE raised $16.75 million in revenue, nearly half of the total coming from membership contributions. Funds from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
account for 11 percent of revenue.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KVIE shut down its analog signal, over
VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition
UHF channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to VHF channel 9, using
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
6.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvie
PBS member stations
Television channels and stations established in 1959
1959 establishments in California
VIE
Vie (IPA: /'vi.e/), is a district (or ''quarter''), of Oradea, a city in Bihor, Romania. The name means ''vineyard'' in Romanian.
Geography
Vie is situated in the hills overlooking Oradea, in the northern part of the town. It spans quite a ...