KQEH

Summary

KQEH (channel 54), branded on-air as KQED Plus, is a PBS member television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by KQED Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQED (channel 9) and NPR member KQED-FM (88.5) in San Francisco. The three stations share studios on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District and transmitter facilities atop Sutro Tower; until January 17, 2018, KQEH's transmitter was located atop Monument Peak.

KQEH
CitySan Jose, California
Channels
BrandingKQED Plus
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerKQED Inc.
KQED, KQET, KQED-FM, KQEI
History
First air date
October 19, 1964 (59 years ago) (1964-10-19)
Former call signs
KTEH (1964–2011)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 54 (UHF, 1964–2009)
  • Digital: 50 (UHF, until 2018)
NET (1964–1970)
Call sign meaning
portmanteau of KQED and former KTEH call sign (meaning of KTEH not known)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35663
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT511.7 m (1,678.8 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°45′19″N 122°27′10″W / 37.75528°N 122.45278°W / 37.75528; -122.45278 (KQEH)
Links
Public license information
  • Public file
  • LMS
Websitewww.kqed.org/tv

History edit

The station first signed on the air on October 19, 1964, as KTEH, originally intended to serve the South Bay. In the late 1990s, KTEH bought KCAH in Watsonville, which was founded in 1989 to serve as the PBS station for the Santa CruzSalinasMonterey market. Before being acquired by KQED, KTEH maintained a Technical Volunteer program, which allowed volunteers to learn how to operate cameras, audio, shading, directing, and other production and technical responsibilities, while minimizing its costs. These volunteers made up the technical crews for all of their pledge drives and auction programming, as well as other occasional live broadcasts.

In 2006, KQED Inc. and the KTEH Foundation agreed to merge to form Northern California Public Broadcasting.[2] As a result of the merger, KCAH changed its call letters to KQET on August 12, 2007. Subsequently, on October 1, 2007, KQET, which became a satellite of KTEH following its acquisition of the station, switched programming sources from KTEH to KQED. KQET's programming is carried on the second digital subchannel of KQED.

In December 2010, the Board of Directors of Northern California Public Broadcasting changed the organization's name to KQED Inc. KTEH shut down its studio on Schallenberger Road, moved its operations to the KQED studio in San Francisco, changed its call letters to KQEH, and rebranded itself as "KQED Plus" on July 1, 2011, after research found that most viewers were unaware that KTEH was related to KQED; other aspects of the station's operation, including programming and staff, were not affected by this change.[3]

Programming edit

In April 1981, KTEH started showing the British science-fantasy show Doctor Who, which ran on the station until January 2003. On April 10, 2007, Doctor Who returned to the station with the airing of the program's 2005 revival. KTEH has also aired another British sci-fi show, Red Dwarf. In 1998, KTEH aired the entire eighth series of Red Dwarf in one night. In doing so, many episodes were shown on KTEH before their broadcast on British television.[4][5]

In the mid-1990s, Scott Apel hosted airings of The Prisoner with commentary, using an episode ordering he devised. The ordering is still a popular one in the Prisoner fandom, referred to as "KTEH order".[citation needed]

KTEH also has a long history of close ties to the anime fandom. From the early 1990s up until 2003, Sunday night viewers were treated to a selection of anime found nowhere else on United States TV at the time. KTEH was notable as the station that saw the broadcast premiere of the American-subtitled Neon Genesis Evangelion, as well as the dubbed version of the Tenchi Universe TV series. These shows were later shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block. Other anime that have aired on KTEH include Bubblegum Crisis, Key the Metal Idol,[6] subtitled versions of Dirty Pair Flash, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Urusei Yatsura,[7] and Sakura Wars, and dubbed versions of Serial Experiments Lain,[8] City Hunter, Ruin Explorers, Please Save My Earth,[9][10] Ranma ½,[11] Robotech, and Generator Gawl.[12][13]

Karen Roberts was the person responsible for acquiring the programming for both British television series and Japanese anime.[14]

Local productions edit

KTEH has produced many television programs over the years, some of which have been nationally broadcast. Its current production schedule includes:[15]

  • This is Us – an Emmy Award-winning[16] show featuring profiles of remarkable people and places in Northern California.
  • Saving the Bay – an Emmy Award-winning documentary about San Francisco Bay which went on to a national release in 2011.
  • video i – an award-winning showcase of documentaries, dramas, and experimental films.
  • KTEH Cooks with Garlic – local viewers preparing their favorite garlic recipes. Winner of the first PBS Interactive Innovation of the Year Award.[17]
  • Moneytrack – an ongoing series on investment management.

KTEH was the production company for several other productions:[18]

  • The War: Nisei Soldiers (2007)
  • The War: Soldados (2007)
  • Dave Tatsuno: Movies and Memories (2006)
  • Cosmopolitan (2003)
  • Return to the Valley (2003)
  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad with Robert Kiyosaki (2001)
  • Adventures with Kanga Roddy (1998)
  • The First Seven Years (1998)
  • Cadillac Desert (1997)
  • The Battle for Mono Lake (1997)[19]
  • The Men Who Sailed the Liberty Ships (1994)
  • When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories (1992)
  • The Day After Trinity (1981)
  • Tomorrow/Today (1981)
  • Kaleidoscope (1979)
  • Fluorocarbons: The Unfinished Agenda (1977)
  • The Aerosol Factor (1975)

Technical information edit

Subchannels edit

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of KQEH[20]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
54.1 1080i 16:9 KQED+HD Main KQEH programming / PBS
54.2 KQED-HD Simulcast of KQED
54.3 480i WORLD KQED World
54.4 KIDS KQED Kids
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion edit

KQEH (as KTEH) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[21] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, using PSIP to display KQEH's virtual channel as 54 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition. On January 17, 2018, KQEH ceased broadcasting on UHF channel 50 from Monument Peak Tower near Milpitas, and moved to UHF channel 30 broadcasting from Sutro Tower in San Francisco, a frequency shared with KQED.[22]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KQEH". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KQED, Inc. (San Francisco) and KTEH Foundation (San Jose) Form New Broadcast Organization: Northern California Public Broadcasting". KQED. KQED.org. May 1, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2006.
  3. ^ Barney, Chuck (June 22, 2011). "TV station KTEH to drop call letters, become KQED Plus". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. ^ "Mr. Hippo reviews Episode 2 of "Red Dwarf" Series 8". AintItCool.com.
  5. ^ "Reader reviews "Red Dwarf" Series 8 premiere !!!". AintItCool News.
  6. ^ "PSME to air on KTEH". Anime News Network. July 6, 1999. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  7. ^ Antonucci, Mike (February 8, 1998). "Anime Magnetism Drawing Power of Japanese Animation Tapes, Festivals Makes Imprint on U.S. Culture". The Mercury News. Moreover, in a nod to the purists who want subtitles instead of dubbing, KTEH is running a block of four anime episodes in that format March 8, starting at 9 p.m. The program is Urusei Yatsura, a comedy about aliens who want to repossess the Earth and the luckless, lecherous lad who opposes them.
  8. ^ "Miss Media Junkie: Anime on PBS". Miss Media Junkie. June 15, 2018.
  9. ^ "Viz Series Goes Broadcast". Anime News Network. January 3, 2000. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  10. ^ Chun, Kimberly (February 13, 1998). "Fans Become Animated About Japanese-Style Cartoons". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  11. ^ "San Jose TV station to show Dirty Pair Flash". Anime News Network. November 9, 2000. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  12. ^ "Macross on TV". Anime News Network. December 5, 2000. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  13. ^ Berryhill, Garry (March 4, 2002). "KTEH Announces Anime Broadcast". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "Karen Roberts". San Francisco Chronicle. September 7, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  15. ^ "KTEH Productions". kteh.org.
  16. ^ NATAS - San Francisco/Northern California. "40th Annual Northern California Area Emmy® Awards 2010-2011" (PDF). National Academy Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  17. ^ PBS "KTEH wins the first PBS Interactive Innovation of the Year award". PBS.org. May 12, 2009.
  18. ^ KTEH. IMDb.
  19. ^ The Battle for Mono Lake. ITVS.org.
  20. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
  21. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "Get Help With KQEH TV Channel Changes". www.kqed.org. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • IMDB