A LANDMARK DATE IN THE HISTORY OF RMPBS: JUNE 29, 2000
By Laura Sampson, Founder, Station’s Archived Memories (SAM)
A BRIEF HISTORY OF KTSC (Pueblo/Colorado Springs)
- KTSC signed on the air on February 3, 1971. Before joining Rocky Mountain PBS, KTSC was owned and licensed by Colorado State University-Pueblo, previously known as Southern Colorado State College and later (1975) as the University of Southern Colorado. The license remained with the University until June 2000, when it was officially purchased by RMPBS.
- Initial fundraising for KTSC occurred in 1965 when area citizens raised more than $850,000 in contributions needed to activate the TV station. KTSC was designed to serve not only as a broadcast facility but also to provide on-campus instructional support for training students in Mass Communications with classes and hands-on television experience. Thus, KTSC plays a special role in Colorado.
- KTSC broadcast its first local program, Events, on March 1, 1971 with a format announcing things-to-do and places to go in southern Colorado. This local program was aired Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the end of the broadcast day. Several hostesses of the program included Jan Silmon, Eve Grimes, and Lynn Folwell.
- KTSC is a fully equipped broadcast, production, satellite and teleconference facility in Pueblo. The viewing area of KTSC stretches north to Monument, south to New Mexico and east to Kansas.
Enjoy the 2000 3 ½ minute video about KTSC and Rocky Mountain PBS
JUNE 29, 2000 is a significant date in the history of Rocky Mountain PBS marking the date when the license transfer of KTSC to Rocky Mountain PBS became a reality.
After years of discussion between University of Southern Colorado (owner of Pueblo’s public television station, KTSC) and Rocky Mountain PBS, a proposed transfer was initially announced on May 4, 1999. The sale was approved by the State Board of Agriculture in May 1999 and by the FCC in February 2000.
Under the agreement, RMPBS acquired the assets and licenses for KTSC. The agreement came in response to fiscal pressures on the University of Southern Colorado and the deadline for federally mandated transition of all television stations to digital format. The new arrangement helped to ensure the future of public television throughout Southern Colorado by reducing KTSC’s operating costs and requiring fewer federal dollars for public television service in Colorado.
The agreement also provided integration and coordination between the two public television stations. The Pueblo/Colorado Springs community would be represented on the Rocky Mountain PBS Governing and Advisory boards to confirm that the needs of the local communities would be met and that Southern Colorado would continue to receive the highest quality service available.