South Carolina Educational Television (branded as South Carolina ETV, SCETV or simply ETV) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS)

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 ea ...

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 ...

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 A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

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 Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, 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 and Rock Hill.

History

The state network began in 1957, after the

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and ...

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 French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 c ...

course taught by Cornelia Turnbull) aired on September 8, 1958 via

closed circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

. 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 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 Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

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 b ...

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 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 PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

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 Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals ** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...

transmitters that cover almost all of South Carolina, as well as eastern portions of Georgia (including Augusta and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

) 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 ass ...

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 Spartanburg County is a county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 327,997, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Spartanbu ...

'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

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 scree ...

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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, 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 betwee ...

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

's BBC 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

480i 480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital television in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Laos, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). T ...

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

Cable and satellite availability

SCETV's television network is carried on nearly every cable television provider in South Carolina. Additionally, Rock Hill's WNSC-TV is carried on

Charter Spectrum Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these ser ...

's systems on the North Carolina side of the Charlotte market. On

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

and

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling ...

, 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.

Logos

File:South_Carolina_ETV,_first_broadcast_logo._1963.jpg, South Carolina Educational Television logo, 1963 Image:South_Carolina_ETV_logo,_1967.jpg, South Carolina ETV Network, first color logo, 1967 File:South Carolina Educational Television logo.png, South Carolina ETV logo, 2016

SCETV original programming (current and past)

Television programming

*''By the River'' *''Carolina Business Review'' (in conjunction with

UNC-TV The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, whi ...

and WTVI in

) *''Carolina Classrooms'' *''

A Chef's Life ''A Chef's Life'' was an American documentary-style cooking show created by Cynthia Hill and Vivian Howard. The series was produced by Markay Media and was broadcast by PBS. The series premiered September 7, 2013, and its final episode, a seri ...

'' (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) *''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

: 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 *''

The Day the Universe Changed ''The Day the Universe Changed: A Personal View by James Burke'' is a British documentary television series written and presented by science historian James Burke, originally broadcast on BBC1 from 19 March until 21 May 1985 by the BBC. The ser ...

'' (BBC series, presented by SCETV in the U.S., 1986) PBS *''

The Dooley and Pals Show ''The Dooley and Pals Show'', sometimes shortened to just ''Dooley and Pals'', is an American children's television series. The main character is Dooley, a friendly alien who has landed in a backyard on Earth. He explores the planet with the chi ...

'' (SCETV distributed the secular version of this children's series to PBS stations) *''Enemies of War'' (2001) ITVS / PBS *'' Firing Line'' (produced by SCETV for PBS from 1971 to 1999) *''Germans in America'' (four-part history series 2008) public TV (syndicated) *''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

: 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'' *'' The Magic School Bus'' (Animated

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

Ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special type of ellipse in ...

production based on the children's book series; presented by SCETV and aired on PBS from 1994–1998), later moved to the Fox 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

Corita Kent Corita Kent (November 20, 1918 – September 18, 1986), born Frances Elizabeth Kent and also known as Sister Mary Corita Kent, was an American artist, designer and educator, and former religious sister. Key themes in her work included Christian ...

, 1990) PBS *''Priscilla's Yoga Stretches'' *''Profile'' *''Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey'' (2001)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) ...

William Greaves William Greaves (October 8, 1926 – August 25, 2014) was an American documentary filmmaker and a pioneer of film-making. He produced more than two hundred documentary films, and wrote and directed more than half of these. Greaves garnered many ...

/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) *''

Studio See ''Studio See'' was a magazine-style children's TV show aimed at children 10–15 years old that aired from January 22, 1977 to March 26, 1979 on PBS, with reruns continuing through until 1983. It was also seen on Nickelodeon from 1981 to 1983. ...

'' (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 https://www.learner.org/catalog/producers/vvcreators

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , list1= {{Columbia TV {{Charleston TV {{Myrtle Beach/Florence TV {{Savannah TV {{Augusta TV {{Charlotte TV {{GSA TV {{PBS South Carolina {{Public broadcasting in the United States Television stations in South Carolina PBS member networks Educational and instructional television channels 1963 establishments in South Carolina