South Carolina Educational Television (branded as South Carolina ETV, SCETV or simply ETV) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service (
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
)
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
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 eart ...
s serving the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. It is owned and operated by the South Carolina Educational Television Commission, an agency of the
state government which holds the
licenses
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
for all of the PBS member stations licensed in the state. The broadcast signals of the eleven television stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
The network's primary operations are located on George Rogers Boulevard in
Columbia, across from
Williams-Brice Stadium on the campus of the
University of South Carolina; SCETV operates satellite studios in
Spartanburg
Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...
,
Sumter Sumter may refer to:
People Given name
* Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist
* Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general
Surname
* Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer
* Shavonda E. Sumter ( ...
and
Rock Hill.
History
![SCETVDreherHighSchool](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/SCETVDreherHighSchool.JPG)
The state network began in 1957, after the
South Carolina General Assembly authorized a study in the use of instructional television in the state's public schools. A studio was opened in the library of
Dreher High School
Dreher High School is a co-educational four-year public high school in Richland County School District One located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Dreher, established in 1938, is one of the oldest public high schools in South Carolina ...
in Columbia, South Carolina. The first telecourses (a
French course taught by Madame Lucille Turney-High and a
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...
course taught by Cornelia Turnbull) aired on September 8, 1958 via
closed circuit television. By action of the South Carolina General Assembly, The South Carolina ETV Commission was created as a state agency and began operations on July 1, 1960, and by 1962 it extended closed-circuit, classroom television service to all 46 South Carolina counties.
In 1963, the Commission launched the first open-circuit (broadcast) educational station in South Carolina, WNTV in
Greenville. One year later, WITV in
Charleston signed on. Two years later, WRLK-TV in Columbia, made its debut. The network grew to eleven television transmitters covering all of the state. After years of receiving
NET
Net or net may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence
* Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2
* Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
and PBS programs on
tape delay, it entered PBS' satellite network in 1978. In 2000, SCETV broadcast the first digital television program in the state. Since 2003, the state network identifies on-air as simply "ETV."
The Commission entered
public radio in 1972, when WEPR in
Clemson signed on the air (WEPR later moved its
city of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American br ...
to Greenville). The state radio network eventually expanded to eight stations and was called the South Carolina Educational Radio Network (SCERN) until 2003, when it was renamed ETV Radio. While "ETV" generally refers to television, SCETV viewed "ETV" as a general brand name for both its radio and television properties. In 2015, however, the radio network rebranded as
South Carolina Public Radio
South Carolina Public Radio (SCPR) is the National Public Radio member network serving the state of South Carolina. It is operated by the South Carolina Educational Television Commission, an agency of the South Carolina state government. It is ...
.
R. Lynn Kalmbach was selected as the network's project director in 1958 and led it until his death in 1965. Henry J. Cauthen became ETV's president and general manager and served in numerous leadership roles developing American public broadcasting, including chair of 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, ...
(CPB). Cauthen retired in 1997. Paul Amos took the helm as ETV's third president in 1998 until his death in 2000. Maurice "Moss" Bresnahan joined ETV as president and CEO from 2001 to 2008. David Crouch served as interim president in 2009. Linda O'Bryon served as president from 2010 to 2017. Anthony Padgett is the current president and CEO.
Digital TV era
Despite the
DTV Delay Act
The digital transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of terrestrial television programming. According to David Rehr, then president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, th ...
national transition extension to June 12, 2009, SCETV discontinued the analog signals of its 11 full-power stations February 18, 2009.
Each station's post-transition digital allocations and the FCC Repack Plan (2017) are as follows:
On April 13, 2017, the FCC identified SCETV will be compensated $43.2 million to have WRET-TV go off-the-air as part of the
Spectrum auction
A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources. Depending on the specific auction form ...
. WRET will relinquish RF 43 and go into a channel sharing arrangement with WNTV, starting on January 23, 2018. On August 30, 2017,
PBS Kids was added on new subchannel .4 and online.
On October 31, 2017, SCETV submitted an application to change the digital terrestrial signal of WITV from channel 7 (VHF) to channel 24 (UHF); the changeover was scheduled to take place between May and July 2020.
Commission
There are nine members of the ETV Commission. Eight are appointed by the Governor for six-year terms—one from each Congressional District and one from the State at-large who serves as Chairman. The ninth member is the State Superintendent of Education who is ex-officio.
Network
SCETV's television network consists of 11
digital transmitters that cover almost all of South Carolina, as well as eastern portions of Georgia (including
Augusta and
Savannah) and southern portions of North Carolina (including
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
and
Asheville
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...
). SCETV's headquarters and main production facility is located in Columbia, with production facilities in Rock Hill, Spartanburg and Sumter.
Regional television stations
SCETV initially planned to make all eleven of its television stations capable of airing local programming. Four full-fledged stations were built and staffed in Beaufort, Rock Hill, Spartanburg and Sumter before the idea was abandoned in the early 1980s. After a massive reduction in force in 2004, the stations were downgraded to production facilities. In 2012, WJWJ-TV in Beaufort was converted into a repeater of the network.
[http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/02/02/1950600/wjwj-studios-close-for-financial.html]
The original plan was for each station to carry callsigns of the form WxTV, but after WNTV and WITV signed on it was determined that there were not enough such callsigns available.
Beginning with the third station, WRLK-TV in Columbia, most of the remaining callsigns represent prominent officials who either supported SCETV or represented the station's coverage area.
Many of the stations have
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
s named after former elected officials in the state. WRLK-TV was named after R. Lynn Kalmbach, the first general manager of ETV Commission,
while WRET-TV was named for Richard E. Tukey, the director of
Spartanburg County's Chamber of Commerce from 1951 to 1979.
WJPM-TV, WJWJ-TV and WRJA-TV were all named after state legislators: WEBA-TV for
Edgar Brown, WJPM-TV for James Pierce Mozingo III, WJWJ-TV for James M. Waddell, Jr. and WRJA-TV for R. J. Aycock.
WHMC used the callsign WIIB before sign-on. WJWJ-TV (branded as "ETV Lowcountry") previously maintained a regional production facility which was closed down in 2012.
WNSC-TV (branded as "ETV Carolinas"), WRET-TV (branded as "ETV Upstate"), and WRJA-TV (branded as "ETV Sumter") are regional production facilities. The other six transmitters are full-time relays of WRLK (branded as "ETV Headquarters"). WRET-TV used the callsign WRTS-TV before sign-on.
Digital television
SCETV offers four
digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
services available
over-the-air, and through the
digital tiers of some
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
providers. ETV HD is the primary feed with
high definition content from PBS and SCETV broadcast in the
1080i
1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scre ...
resolution format. The South Carolina Channel (SCC) carries the national Create service daily, with regionally produced documentary programs focusing on the Carolinas airing during the evening hours. ETV World (ETVW) provides live newscasts from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, notably from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's
Deutsche Welle and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television networks, along with live coverage from the South Carolina State House. SCETV PBS Kids is the fourth channel, a 24/7 service also available online. SCC, ETVW and ETVK are transmitted in
SCETV's television network is carried on nearly every cable television provider in South Carolina. Additionally, Rock Hill's WNSC-TV is carried on
, WRLK-TV, WNTV, WITV, WNSC-TV, WJWJ-TV, WEBA-TV and WJPM-TV are respectively carried on the Columbia, Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Charleston, Charlotte, Savannah, Augusta and Florence/Myrtle Beach local feeds. The South Carolina Channel, ETV World and SCETV PBS Kids have yet to be offered by satellite services.
'' (with Markay Media, Peabody 2013), Emmy for Outstanding Directing Lifestyle/Culinary/Travel, 2014)
*''ETV Classics''
*''Expeditions with Patrick McMillan''
*''For Your Home''
*''Live at the Charleston Music Hall''
*''Live coverage of the South Carolina State House''
*''Making it Grow''
*''Palmetto Scene''
*''Reel South'' (in conjunction with
and The Southern Documentary Fund)
*''This Week in South Carolina'' https://www.scetv.org/watch/this-week-south-carolina
Historical: (partial)
*''Action Packed Cliffhangers'' (1980s series on the serials from the golden age of cinemas)
*''
: Roanoak'' (mini-series, 1986) PBS
*''At Home Southern Style''
*''Carolina Journal''
*''Crucible of Empire: The Spanish American War'' (1999) Great Projects Film Company Inc. for PBS
*''
'' (SCETV distributed the secular version of this children's series to PBS stations)
*''Enemies of War'' (2001)
'' (produced by SCETV for PBS from 1971 to 1999)
*''Germans in America'' (four-part history series 2008) public TV (syndicated)
*''
: The Consul'' (opera, 1977) PBS
*''Great Performances: Vanessa'' (opera, 1978) PBS
*''Great Projects: The Building of America'' (2002) Great Projects Film Company Inc. for PBS
*''Jobman Caravan''
*''
production based on the children's book series; presented by SCETV and aired on PBS from 1994–1998), later moved to the
network.
*''Mary Long's Yesteryear'' (Mary Long died in 1998, but reruns continue on ''The South Carolina Channel'')
*''NatureScene'' (nature walk series with hosts Rudy Mancke and Jim Welch, videography by Allen Sharpe, 1978–2003) syndicated, public television
*''Palmetto Places''
*''Piedmont Quiz Bowl'' - 1980s and 1990s (WRET-TV in Spartanburg)
*''Primary Colors: The Story of Corita'' (documentary on
, 1990) PBS
*''Priscilla's Yoga Stretches''
*''Profile''
*''Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey'' (2001)
/PBS
*''Stateline''
*''Sandlapper's Corner'' (Late 1970s children's educational show focused on South Carolina culture and history)
*''Six Gun Heroes'' (1980s series on the western stars from the golden age of cinema)
*''
'' (SCETV's magazine-style children's show, seen nationwide on PBS in the late 1970s and early 1980s)
*''Under The Blue Umbrella'' (In-school program from the 1970s that dealt with a single-subject; nationally syndicated to PBS stations)
*''Under The Yellow Balloon'' (Similar to ''Blue Umbrella''; from the early 1980s)
*''Voices and Visions'' (13-part poetry series, 2004) PBS
*
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