Launched November 6, 1999 Broadcast area Nationwide | Country Philippines Headquarters Pasig City | |
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Owned by ABS-CBN
Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. Slogan "Learners learn best with K Channel."
"Ibang Klase!" | ||
Knowledge Channel, also known as K Channel, is a Filipino cable television network and the country's first and only educational channel. It is made available to the public education system free of charge through philanthropic support. Programming to this channel is available daily from 5:40 AM to 12 midnight on cable and satellite, except during selected holidays (such as All Saints/All Souls Day, Christmas, New Year, and Holy Week breaks) or upon the management's announcements.
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It is also being test-carried to terrestrial television as a freemium channel in ABS-CBN TV Plus and although it broadcasts via a separate feed on weekdays from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM since April 2016. During off-air hours, the channel space is allocated to hook-up ABS-CBN's O Shopping from its main cable feed.
Background
Established by Sky Cable Corporation, ABS-CBN Corporation, and the Lopez Group of Companies in 1999, Knowledge Channel is being operated by the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI). KCFI is a non-stock, non-profit foundation geared towards educating and empowering poor and marginalized children through media, that they realize their full potential to best serve themselves, their communities and help build a better world.
KCFI mission is to make Knowledge Channel accessible to all public schools nationwide.
History
Rina Lopez Bautista, part of a family whose holdings includes media, energy, and telecommunications, established a non-profit organisation, the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI), in 1999.
The Knowledge Channel began broadcasting on November 6, 1999, providing 18 hours of educational programs on cable television that supplemented the curriculum of the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd). KCFI entered into a 10-year memorandum of agreement (MoA) with DepEd, with DepEd proclaiming the channel as required viewing in all public schools in 2000 and has since then renewed its partnership with another 10 year MoA signed in November 2009.
Today, the Knowledge Channel is available to over 3 million public school students in over 2,000 public elementary and high schools in 54 provinces in all regions of the country, and has an expanded household viewership in 58 provinces. However, out of almost 42,000 public schools throughout the country, only 4.7% so far has access to Knowledge Channel.