City Provo, Utah Slogan At Home With Eleven | Branding Eleven Affiliations PBS | |
Channels Digital: 44 (UHF)
Virtual: 11 (PSIP) Subchannels 11.1 PBS
11.2 BYUtv
11.3 BYUtv International | ||
KBYU-TV, virtual channel 11 (UHF digital channel 44), is a PBS member television station serving Salt Lake City, Utah, United States that is licensed to Provo. The station is owned by Brigham Young University BYU), which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). KBYU maintains studio facilities located on the BYU campus in Provo, and its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City.
Contents
- Digital channels
- Analog to digital conversion
- Programming
- Translators
- Other BYU Broadcasting divisions
- References
The station has a large network of broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah, as well as portions of Idaho and Colorado. It is one of at least two PBS member stations that is owned and operated by a religious-based organization (the other being KMBH in Harlingen, Texas).
KBYU-TV was first licensed by the Federal Communications Commission on November 7, 1965. It first signed on the air just over a week later, on November 15. This made Salt Lake City one of the smallest markets with two non-commercial educational stations. In 2010, KBYU rebranded as "Eleven."
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
KBYU-TV also utilizes the alternate audio tracks that can be activated through the second audio program function, both carried on the third alternate audio track: the station's main channel features an audio simulcast of KBYU-FM (89.1), while digital subchannel 11.2 features an alternate audio feed of BYU Radio (which is commonly found streamed over the Internet).
Analog-to-digital conversion
In 1997, KBYU-TV was allotted UHF channel 39 for its digital signal, but in 1999, the station changed its digital allotment to UHF channel 44 as part of a digital channel realignment coordinated by DTV Utah, a consortium of eight Salt Lake City market television stations, of which KBYU is a member. KBYU-DT began broadcasting its digital signal on November 15, 2000 and it was licensed on January 23, 2003.
KBYU-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 44, using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 11.
Programming
Programming on KBYU-TV is general PBS fare, with emphasis on children's, informational and entertainment programming. The station also airs special programs related to the LDS church, and offers a nightly block of classic television programs, such as I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show and Little House on the Prairie (as such, it is one of the only, if not the only, public television stations in the United States that broadcasts programming normally acquired for U.S. commercial syndication).
KBYU-TV has produced some notable programs for national distribution. Ancestors, produced in conjunction with the Family History Library and PBS, was a highly successful series of videos on family genealogy. It was so well received that KBYU-TV produced a second series of videos, also entitled Ancestors, which proved to be even more successful [1]. Small Fortunes: Microcredit and the Future of Poverty, produced in 2005, explored the business of Microcredit through eleven providers of the service. Another show produced by KBYU was Hooked on Aerobics, which was on the air for many years.
Translators
KBYU-TV uses an extensive network of translator stations to extend its signal throughout Utah, plus parts of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada:
Other BYU Broadcasting divisions
BYUtv is broadcast on KBYU's second digital subchannel, nationwide via cable television providers, Dish Network and DirecTV, and is streamed worldwide at BYUTV.org. Often confused with KBYU-TV's main channel, BYUtv is a separate programming entity. Related to BYUtv is its sister station BYU Television International, which is yet another separate programming entity which airs on KBYU's third digital subchannel.
BYU Broadcasting also operates classical music radio station KBYU-FM (89.1), as well as internet-exclusive radio services.