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PBS in the 1960s

S

skippercollector

What aired on PBS stations in the 1960s? Because, if I remember correctly, series like Masterpiece Theatre and Sesame Street and other children's programming didn't start until the 1970s.
 
Sesame Street stated in 1969 and Mister Rogers started earlier. I don't know when Masterpiece Theater started. PBS or National Educational Television aired school programs during the day ( shows that aired for the schools ) and at night lots of educational shows like "How to speak Spanish" or "Slim Goodbody" or public affairs such as "Virginia Today" or "Your Colorado Pastor". PBS/NET aired a lot of documentary films.
 
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First of all - it was called NET - "National Educational Television." The name change to PBS was in 1970. I grew up in Los Angeles - where NET was on KCET channel 28. Our mid-50s era TV didn't have a UHF tuner, so we couldn't watch until about 1966 when our suburb got cable. They put KCET on Channel 6. To my 14 year old eyes and ears, watching NET was like watching paint dry. Speaking of which, one of the first shows I saw was Bob Ross. There was something about him that was fascinating, so I kind of enjoyed it for a few minutes, but that was all my teenage mind could take.
 
PBS was founded in 1970. Before PBS, there was National Educational Television (NET).

PBS came about as a result of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which set up the funding structure for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NPR was founded in 1971.
 
skippercollector said:
What aired on PBS stations in the 1960s? Because, if I remember correctly, series like Masterpiece Theatre and Sesame Street and other children's programming didn't start until the 1970s.
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KQED Newsroom It was a local news show on Public Television. KQED was credited for spreading "Newsroom" to other then NET later PBS affiliates. SOmehow KQED Newsroom provided the framework that later because PBS Newshour.
http://blogs.kqed.org/pressroom/public-television/kqed-newsroom/
 
RadioPatrol said:
SOmehow KQED Newsroom provided the framework that later because PBS Newshour.
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Not sure about that. The PBS Newshour began as a result of PBS live coverage of the Watergate hearings in 1973. Robert MacNeil hosted, and was joined by Jim Lehrer. The partnership worked, and a few years later they hosted the MacNeil-Lehrer Report. That expanded into an hour and it became the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. Later, the two original hosts retired and it became the PBS Newshour. It's always been based in Washington using the facilities of WETA.
 
TheBigA said:
Not sure about that. The PBS Newshour began as a result of PBS live coverage of the Watergate hearings in 1973. Robert MacNeil hosted, and was joined by Jim Lehrer. The partnership worked, and a few years later they hosted the MacNeil-Lehrer Report. That expanded into an hour and it became the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. Later, the two original hosts retired and it became the PBS Newshour. It's always been based in Washington using the facilities of WETA.
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http://keranews.org/post/welcome-kera-newsroom

Here is what KQED meant by Newsroom becoming PBS Newshour. KQED cited Jim Lehrer's time at KERA when they aired a Texas version called "KERA Newsroom" where Jim Lehrer was the local anchor at that NET/PBS affiliate before going to WETA-TV and becoming the national host of PBS Newshour. Yes PBS Newshour has been a production of WETA-TV and WNET-TV the owners of PBS Newshour since its inception. Note WNET is the owner of PBS Newshour Weekend.
 
RadioPatrol said:
http://keranews.org/post/welcome-kera-newsroom

Here is what KQED meant by Newsroom becoming PBS Newshour. KQED cited Jim Lehrer's time at KERA when they aired a Texas version called "KERA Newsroom" where Jim Lehrer was the local anchor at that NET/PBS affiliate before going to WETA-TV and becoming the national host of PBS Newshour. Yes PBS Newshour has been a production of WETA-TV and WNET-TV the owners of PBS Newshour since its inception. Note WNET is the owner of PBS Newshour Weekend.
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I moved to San Francisco in the waning years of Newsroom on KQED, and wasn't a regular viewer. But as I remember it, the format was not much like PBS News Hour, but was more chatty. Not so many filmed reports, though there were a few. But mostly it was "analysis" by the anchors and reporters in the newsroom. When Newsroom folded due to budget cuts, many of the reporters ended up on Bay Area commercial stations, including Belva Davis (anchor), Rollin Post (political reporter), and Carolyn Craven.

Recently, KQED has revived the 'Newsroom" title, though it's a weekly show hosted by Thuy Vu - a former reporter and anchor for KPIX (CBS).
 
LKellerIII said:
I moved to San Francisco in the waning years of Newsroom on KQED, and wasn't a regular viewer. But as I remember it, the format was not much like PBS News Hour, but was more chatty. Not so many filmed reports, though there were a few. But mostly it was "analysis" by the anchors and reporters in the newsroom. When Newsroom folded due to budget cuts, many of the reporters ended up on Bay Area commercial stations, including Belva Davis (anchor), Rollin Post (political reporter), and Carolyn Craven.

Recently, KQED has revived the 'Newsroom" title, though it's a weekly show hosted by Thuy Vu - a former reporter and anchor for KPIX (CBS).
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But KQED has been running the "Newsroom format" too when it was then called "This Week in Northern California" prior to 2013 I think in reality KQED simply did the localized version of Washington Week on PBS.


However KPBS the San Diego PBS affiliate has a direct localized edition of PBS Newshour called "Evening Edition" and its localized version of Washington week is "KPBS Roundtable."
 
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gr8oldies said:
I did not see NET or early PBS where I lived in Indiana and Ohio, but did see the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction, with in-school programming, all recorded and transmitted via DC-9 planes doing lazy 8s based at Purdue airport in West Lafayette, Indiana.
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That's mainly what educational TV (as they called it then) was like before PBS. Lots of instructional TV from colleges & universities, as part of their extension divisions.
 
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