KSPS-TV

KSPS-TV

Spokane, Washington United States
Channels	Digital:7 (VHF) Virtual:7
Programming
Affiliations	7.1:PBS for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	KSPS Public Television (Friends of KSPS)
History
First air date	April 24, 1967(1967-04-24)
Former call signs	KSHD (CP, 1964–1966)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:7 (VHF, 1967–2009) Digital:8 (VHF, 2003–2009)
Former affiliations	NET(1967–1970)
Call signmeaning	Spokane Public Schools(original licensee) -or- Spokane's Seven
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	61956
ERP	45.1kW
HAAT	558 m (1,831 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	47°34′34″N117°18′2″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.ksps.org

KSPS-TV(channel 7) is aPBSmembertelevision stationinSpokane, Washington,United States, owned by KSPS Public Television. The station's studios are located on South Regal Street in theSouthgateneighborhood of Spokane, and its transmitter is located onKrell Hillsoutheast of Spokane.

History

On April 24, 1967, KSPS-TV first signed on the air,from the basement of Adams Elementary ofSpokane Public Schools.It was affiliated withNational Educational Television (NET),and moved to its successor network, PBS, on October 5, 1970. A series of school levy failures in the early 1970s forced the station to secure alternate funding and, in 1972, Friends of Seven, now known as Friends of KSPS, was founded to provide financial support to KSPS.

On July 26, 2012, the board of Spokane Public Schools voted unanimously to spin off KSPS to the Friends of KSPS. A day later, the Friends of KSPS board also voted unanimously to move forward with taking full control of the station. The transition from an educational license to a community license was completed in fall 2013. School board employees working for KSPS would become employees of the non-profit organization. Gary Stokes, the executive director of the Friends of KSPS, says that he hopes to "keep things as business-as-usual as possible. That includes keeping the employees a part of our station." Friends of KSPS has become the primary financial supporter for the station in recent years and Stokes said he believed that his organization was in a position to take over the station outright. The station plans to remain at Ferris High School in the short term; the school board has no plans to sell the building in which the station is located.Soon after the sale closed and the station officially became a community-licensed station, Friends of KSPS changed its trading name to KSPS Public Television.

Programming

KSPS provides programing from PBS and local sources. The station's main signal reaches parts ofWashingtonandIdaho,and it operates a translator network covering parts of Washington, Idaho,OregonandMontana.It is also carried oncablein most ofAlbertaand parts ofBritish Columbia,and on satellite systems across western Canada. Montana and Alberta are on theMountain Time Zone,and programs are viewed one hour later by local time.

A significant portion of the station's donations and viewing audience comes fromCalgaryandEdmonton.Calgary and Edmonton each have populations which are more than double the entire population of KSPS's American coverage area, and most of the station's members live in those two cities. Not only must KSPS take its large Canadian audience into account in its programming, but a significant portion of its donations are inCanadian dollars.It is one of five local Spokane TV stations seen in Canada on Shaw Cable.

It was the first station to carryMary Ann Wilson'sSit and Be Fitprogram, as KSPS serves as the primary production studio and distributor of the series since it debuted in 1987.

Tower collapse

On November 29, 2006, ice and wind caused the top 200 feet (61 meters) of the station's antenna at the Krell Hill transmission site to collapse, disrupting its off-air signal. Other area television broadcasters promised to lend short-term support. Cable and satellite feeds in the U.S. and Canada were not affected, as fiber is used to transmit the signal to the head ends. Over-the-air broadcasts were interrupted for almost a month while the tower was being repaired.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of KSPS-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
7.1	1080i	16:9	KSPS-HD	Main KSPS-TV programming /PBS
7.2	480i		KSPS World	World
7.3	720p		KSPS Create	Create
7.4	480i		KIDS	PBS Kids

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSPS-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overVHFchannel 7, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 8 (where its digital signal was originally slated to remain post-transition) to channel 7.

Translators

• K32MC-DBaker Flats Area
• K08PQ-DBig Arm,Elmo, MT
• K32HA-DBonners Ferry, ID
• K34NN-DBrewster&Pateros
• K23MU-DBridgeport
• K07JO-DChelan Butte
• K26LJ-DCoeur d'Alene, ID
• K05GL-DCoolin, ID
• K31DS-DCoolin
• K26CK-DCottonwood/Grangeville, ID
• K10RA-DCoulee City
• K32HH-DKalispell, MT
• K13IY-DLeavenworth
• K24JN-DLewiston, ID
• K30MJ-DLibby, MT
• K12CW-DMalott–Wakefield
• K11BM-DMethow
• K23FH-DMilton-Freewater, OR
• K08PR-DMissoula, MT
• K17EV-DOmak
• K12CV-DRiverside
• K23NM-DSandpoint, ID
• K17OF-DStemilt,etc.
• K12CX-DTonasket
• K17KR-DWinthrop
• K13BA-DWinthrop–Twisp
• K11KE-DWoods Bay, MT

External links

• Official website