South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Updated on Sep 22, 2024

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Branding SDPB/PBS South Dakota		Slogan Learn. Dream. Grow.
Channels Analog: see table belowDigital: see table below Affiliations Television:PBS (1970-present)Radio: NPR Owner South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunication(South Dakota Board of Directors for Educational Telecommunications) First air date May 29, 1922 (radio)July 5, 1961; 55 years ago (1961-07-05) (television)

South Dakota Public Broadcasting, or SDPB for short, is a state network of non-commercial educational television and radio stations serving the state of South Dakota. The stations are operated by the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunication, a state agency which holds the licenses for all of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio stations licensed in South Dakota except KRSD in Sioux Falls, which is owned and run by Minnesota Public Radio, and KAUR, which is owned by Augustana College and operated by MPR. The studios and offices are located at 500 N. Dakota Avenue in the Allen Neuharth Media Center on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion, South Dakota.

Radio

Educational broadcasting in South Dakota began in 1919 with experimental broadcasts at USD's College of Engineering. USD was granted a full license in 1922, and went on the air that May 29 as WEAJ. It became KUSD in 1925. By 1952, the station settled at 690 AM at 1,000 watts, operating only during daylight hours to protect CBF in Montreal. In 1967, it acquired an FM sister station, KUSD-FM at 89.7. Also in 1967, South Dakota State University in Brookings signed on KESD-FM. The three stations merged in 1982 as South Dakota Public Radio, which in turn merged with the State Board of Directors for Educational Television (now the Bureau of Information and Telecommunication) in 1985. Between 1985 and 1991, five other stations joined the network. One of them was KCSD, which signed on in 1985 as part of a partnership between Sioux Falls College (now the University of Sioux Falls) and the ETV Board in an effort to improve the network's reception in South Dakota's largest city. Until 2013, KCSD's license was held by the University of Sioux Falls and operated by the state network under a management agreement. The network bought KCSD outright in 2013.

In 1992, a Chevrolet Suburban went on a joyride through the Vermillion Golf Course, where KUSD-AM's towers were located. The Suburban crashed into one of the AM station's towers and knocked it down. The insurance settlement was not large enough to restore full operations, and KUSD-AM went off the air for good in 1994.

As of February 2017, SDPR now broadcasts both their main network and a secondary HD Radio network of classical music (heard on the HD2 channels of most of the network's stations) over the television stations of SDPB on their DT5 and DT6 subchannels.

South Dakota Public Radio stations in the lineup include:

South Dakota Public Radio also rebroadcasts on the following translator stations:

In March 2007, South Dakota Public Radio started broadcasting on HD Radio.

Television

The flagship TV station is KUSD-TV, transmitted on UHF channel 34 (PSIP channel 2), in Vermillion. It signed on the air on July 5, 1961 as the state's first Educational television station. Eight more stations signed on from 1967 to 1995, extending its reach to parts of Minnesota and Iowa. One of them was KCSD-TV, which signed on to improve the network's reach in the state's largest city. Although the analog channel 2 signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions, KUSD-TV provided spotty coverage to parts of the Sioux Falls area until cable gained more penetration in the 1980s. It was likely that KCSD-TV would have been necessary in any event due to the digital transition, since FCC rules required a station's digital signal to cover at least 80 percent of its analog footprint.

SDPB television stations included in the state network are:

Note:

1. Virtual channel (PSIP).

Translators

The television programming from SDPB is also rebroadcast on the following translator stations (low-power rebroadcasters):

Digital channels

The digital signals of SDPB's stations are multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

During 2009, in the lead-up to the analog-to-digital television transition that would ultimately occur on June 12, SDPB shut down the analog transmitters of its stations on a staggered basis. Listed below are the dates each analog transmitter ceased operations as well as their post-transition channel allocations:

KUSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on February 17, 2009, the original date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 2.

KBHE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 9.

KCSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 23, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 24. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 23.

KDSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 16, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 16.

KESD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to VHF channel 8 for post-transition operations.

KPSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, 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 relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 25 to VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.

KQSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 15 to VHF channel 11 for post-transition operations.

KTSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 10, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 21 to VHF channel 10 for post-transition operations.

KZSD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 23 to VHF channel 8 for post-transition operations.

Programming

Although SDPB provides PBS programming, it also produces original programs such as:

A Falconer's Memoir (2000) PBS

Dakota Life — a magazine show focusing on South Dakota life.

Kids' Quest — an educational series for students.

On Call Television — a show which discusses medical topics.

South Dakota Focus — a panel discussion show.

Statehouse — a show which focuses on the South Dakota State Legislature.

Nature Adventures — a series about wildlife in South Dakota.

No Cover No Minimum — a series showing live performances of South Dakota music groups and solo acts such as Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Judd Hoos, and Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band.

SDPB has also produced educational programs, such as:

By The People, For The People — a series about government in South Dakota.

Dakota Pathways — a series about the history of South Dakota.

Infinite Variety — a series about the geography and environment of South Dakota.

South Dakota Adventure — a series about the history and culture of South Dakota.

Our Statehouse A Capitol Idea — a multimedia project about the history of the South Dakota Capitol.

The Badlands: Nature's Time Capsule — a multimedia project about Badlands National Park.

SDPB has also syndicated educational programs, such as:

Once Upon a Time — a children's show produced by Nebraska Public Television in the 1980s which focused on children's reading.

References

South Dakota Public Broadcasting Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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