Nebraska Educational Telecommunications

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications

statewide Nebraska United States
Branding	NET
Channels	Digital: see table below
Affiliations	Television: PBS (1970–present) Radio: NPR
Owner	KUON: The University of Nebraska Others: Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission
First air date	November 1, 1954 (television) October 10, 1989 (radio)
Call letters' meaning	see table below
Former affiliations	Television: NET (1954–1970)
Transmitter power	see table below
Height	see table below
Facility ID	see table below
Transmitter coordinates	see table below
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Educational Telecommunications Profile Educational Telecommunications CDBS
Website	netnebraska.org

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) is a state network of public radio and television stations in Nebraska and is based in Lincoln. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission. The television stations are all members of PBS, while the radio stations are members of NPR.

The network is headquartered in the Terry M. Carpenter & Jack G. McBride Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center which is located at 1800 N. 33rd Street on the East campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and has a satellite studio in Omaha.

History

Television

NET Television logo

Nebraska was one of the first states in the nation to begin the groundwork for educational broadcasting. The University of Nebraska successfully applied to have channel 18 in Lincoln allocated for educational use in 1951.

In 1954, however, John Fetzer, owner of KOLN-TV, offered to donate his station's old channel location on channel 12 (it had recently moved to channel 10) to NU. This allowed UNL to use more signal at less cost. UNL quickly jumped at this proposal, and KUON-TV went on the air on November 1 from KOLN-TV's studios. It was operated in trust for NU until 1956. In 1960, the Nebraska Council for Educational Television was created by six school districts in Nebraska. By 1961, 5 VHF and 3 UHF channels were allocated for educational use in Nebraska—the largest set ever approved for educational use in a single state. In 1963, the state legislature, per a committee's recommendation, approved plans for a statewide educational television network under the control of the Nebraska Educational Television Commission. A deal was quickly reached in which Lincoln's KUON-TV would remain under NU's ownership, but serve as the new state network's flagship.

In 1965, KLNE-TV in Lexington became the first station in the new state network, followed a few months later by KYNE-TV in Omaha. The state network grew quickly; six stations signed on from 1966 to 1968 to complete the state network. It began a full seven-day schedule in 1969.

In 1974, Nebraska ETV adopted a new logo--a red stylized abstract "N" formed from two trapezoids. A year later, NBC unveiled a new logo that was identical to the Nebraska ETV logo, but for the blue coloring of the right trapezoid in the NBC logo. The commission sued NBC for trademark infringement in February 1976, a suit which generated national attention. In an out-of-court settlement, Nebraska ETV agreed to allow NBC to keep its logo. In return, NBC donated a color mobile unit and other equipment totaling over $800,000. It also paid the commission an additional $55,000 for the costs of rolling out a new logo and eliminating the old logo from all advertising. Nebraska ETV's new logo was unveiled in 1976.

A CPB study, Study of School Use of Television and Video, found Reading Rainbow (a co-production of NET and Buffalo, New York's WNED-TV until 2006) to be the most used and viewed children's television program in America during the 1990-1991 school year.

Since 1974, NET has operated a studio in Omaha, on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. It is primarily used when KYNE breaks off from the state network to broadcast programming of specific interest to the Omaha market.

Radio

The Educational Television Commission had its mission broadened to radio in 1984, but it was 1989 before it could begin the groundwork for building a statewide public radio network. For many years, there were only two NPR members in the entire state--Omaha's KIOS and Lincoln's KUCV, which had signed on in 1974. In 1989, however, UNL bought KUCV from Union College. KUCV officially relaunched from its new studios on October 10, 1989. In 2001, KUCV moved from 90.9 FM (where it had been since its sign-on) to 91.1.

In 1990, the commission opened stations in Alliance, Lexington, Columbus, Norfolk, and Hastings. North Platte, Bassett, Merriman, and Chadron followed in 1991. The entire Nebraska Public Radio Network (NPRN) was formally dedicated on October 8 in a special ceremony, broadcast live on NPRN and NETV.

The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Facilities Corporation was established to facilitate lease/purchase of the GTE SpaceNet 3 transponder.

Television stations

NET Television consists of 9 full-power stations. Combined, they reach almost all of Nebraska, as well as parts of Iowa, Kansas, and Wyoming. Eight of the stations are owned by the NETC. Flagship station KUON is owned by the University of Nebraska, but is operated by the Commission through a long-standing agreement between the Commission and NU. NET carries PBS and American Public Television national programs. Programming on NET Television educates, entertains, informs, inspires, enlightens and delights people in cities and towns all over the state.

Note:

• 1. KYNE occasionally breaks off from the NET Television state network to broadcast local programming. KYNE's programming became digital-only on February 17, 2009.^[1]

Translators

NET operates 15 translators to widen its coverage area. Nine directly repeat KUON, four repeat KXNE and one repeats KMNE.

Cable and satellite availability

NET Television is available on nearly all cable systems in Nebraska. Selected cable systems in northern Kansas carry Hastings' KHNE in addition to Smoky Hills Public Television; these counties are part of the Hastings/Kearney side of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney media market. Additionally, Omaha's KYNE is carried on most cable systems in southwestern Iowa.

On satellite, KUON, KYNE, KPNE, KXNE, and KTNE are carried on the local Lincoln, Omaha, North Platte, Sioux City, and Cheyenne, Wyoming Dish Network feeds, respectively. KTNE is the sole PBS station available to satellite viewers in the Cheyenne market. KHNE, KYNE, and KXNE are available on the Lincoln, Omaha, and Sioux City DirecTV feeds, respectively.

Radio stations

NET Radio logo

NET Radio is governed by the NET Commission and the NET Foundation for Radio Board. It consists of all NPR member stations in the state except for KIOS in Omaha; that station is operated by the Omaha Public Schools. Programming consists of classical music and NPR news and talk.

NET Radio broadcasts two HD Radio channels. The first is a simulcast of the analog signal, while the second airs increased news programming as well as jazz. Both stream live on the Internet. National radio programming carried on the radio network is distributed by NPR. NET's radio service is committed to providing programs that inform, entertain, and inspire most of the communities of Nebraska.

There are nine full-power stations in the state network:

The state network also has five low-power repeater/translator signals.

Digital television

Digital channels

The digital signals of NET'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 in 2009, NET 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:^[11]

• KUON-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 40 to VHF channel 12.
• KHNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 29, 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 28. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 29.
• KLNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, 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 3.
• KMNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 15 to VHF channel 7.
• KPNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 16 to VHF channel 9.
• KRNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 17 to VHF channel 12.
• KTNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 24 to VHF channel 13.
• KXNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 19, in November 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 16 to former UHF analog channel 19.
• KYNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 26, 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 26.

References

External links

• Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
• NET History
• NET Television
• NET Radio
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KUON
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KHNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KLNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KMNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KPNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KRNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KYNE
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KUON-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KHNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KLNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KMNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KRNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXNE-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KYNE-TV
• Listen Live