South Carolina Educational Television

History

The state network traces its history to 1957, when the South Carolina General Assembly authorized a study in the use of television in the state's public schools. A studio was opened in the library of Dreher High School in Columbia. The first telecourses (a French course taught by Madame Lucille Turney-High and a geometry course taught by Cornelia Turnbull) aired on September 8, 1958 via closed circuit television. The South Carolina ETV Commission began operations on June 3, 1960, and by 1962 it extended closed-circuit television service to all 46 South Carolina counties.

In 1963, the Commission launched the first open-circuit educational station in South Carolina, WNTV in Greenville. One year later, WITV in Charleston signed on. Two years later, the state network's primary station, WRLK-TV in Columbia, made its debut. Over the years, the state network has grown to comprise eleven full-power stations. 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 in 1972, when WEPR in Clemson signed on the air (WEPR later moved its city of license 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 remamed 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.

R. Lynn Kalmbach was selected as the network's first project director in 1958. Henry J. Cauthen became executive director of the network upon the death of R. Lynn Kalmbach in 1965. Paul Amos took the helm as ETV's third president in 1998. Maurice "Moss" Bresnahan joined ETV as president and CEO from 2001 to 2008. David Crouch served as president in 2009. SCETV's current president and CEO is Linda O'Bryon, who served as co-creator of the Nightly Business Report.

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 at midnight on February 18, 2009.

Each station's post-transition digital allocations are as follows:

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. The current Commission consists of: Dr. Brent Nelsen, At-large Chair, Greenville; Ms. Parker Harrington, 1st Congressional District, Hilton Head; Ms. Elise Bidwell, 2nd Congressional District, Columbia; Mr. Craig Kinley, 3rd Congressional District, Anderson; Ms. Karen Martin, 4th Congressional District, Woodruff; Mr. David E. Vipperman, 5th Congressional District, Rock Hill; Ms. Nicole Holland, 6th Congressional District, Columbia; Ms. Jill Kelso, 7th Congressional District, Murrell's Inlet; and Molly Spearman, Ex-officio, State Superintendent of Education, Columbia. [1]

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 and Asheville). 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.

The SCETV stations are:

Notes:

Digital television

SCETV offers three digital television services available over-the-air, and through the digital tiers of some cable television providers. ETV HD is the primary feed with high definition content from PBS and SCETV broadcast in the 1080i 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, notably from Germany's Deutsche Welle and England's BBC television networks, along with live coverage from the South Carolina State House. Both SCC and ETVW are transmitted in 480i standard definition.

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 Time Warner Cable's systems on the North Carolina side of the Charlotte market.

On DirecTV and Dish Network, 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 and ETV World have yet to be offered by satellite services.

Television programming

Historical: (partial)