A listing for bowling on a PBS station in Wisconsin in the TV schedules forum got me thinking. What PBS stations have aired programming you wouldn't expect on an educational station. (Define that as you will). I'll start with a doozy: In 1976 Tacoma's then-PBS station KCPQ aired pro wrestling!
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Unusual programming on PBS/educational stations
- Thread starter installLSC
- Start date
PBS | Ombudsman | PBS, Yes and No
This Web site, provided by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), is home to more than 350 television show companion sites in addition to Web-original sites. PBS Online hosts interactive content for everyone — including kids, parents, educators, and the general audience.
www.pbs.org
According to this PBS Ombudsman article KBDI-TV Denver the PBS affiliate is accused of airing a controversial 9/11 movie in 2009 That was not produced for PBS Primetime but for pledge programming.
Last edited:
I believe they also aired WNDU-TV News from South Bend and the Hoosier Lottery show.
Lots of PBS affiliates air college football or basketball games, case in point WCTE-22 in Cookeville, Tennessee airs Tennessee Tech home football and basketball games.
But do they originate their own broadcasts, or are they part of a commercial network, like WYIN was to WTTV?
It's produced in house by the COM students at Tech with veteran play-by-play and color commentators. Fun fact: WCTE-22's main studios last I heard were still located underneath Tucker Stadium (the football stadium), I saw the front door to the stadium when I was on campus for a tour back when I was a senior in high school. The tour was for those interested in possibly wanting to go to Tech.
I swear that some PBS station was airing CNN Headline News (with commercials yanked out) in the early '90s, but I can't remember which station. It wasn't one in our state or OPB/Idaho PTV. I swore I saw it in a Newspapers.com or TV Guide listing. Might have been one of the Indiana or downstate IL stations?
Of course, lots of PBS stations aired captioned ABC News in the late '70s, often the last show before sign-off.
In the early '90s, WKOP/WSJK in east TN aired reruns of White Shadow, a CBS series from the late '70s about an impoverished HS basketball team.
Of course, lots of PBS stations aired captioned ABC News in the late '70s, often the last show before sign-off.
In the early '90s, WKOP/WSJK in east TN aired reruns of White Shadow, a CBS series from the late '70s about an impoverished HS basketball team.
no they moved
after an extensive relocation effort, the studios are now located on East Broad Street in downtown Cookeville, adjacent to the Putnam county courthouse
There are at least 2 cases of the main PBS network airing reruns of Big 3 network drama: "The Paper Chase" (CBS drama about law students) and "l'll Fly Away" (civil rights themed drama aired in the early 90s on NBC).
WLJT PBS 11 in Lexington/Jackson, TN carried West TN area college and high school football and basketball, Also in past years the TN PBS stations would carry the state high school football championships.
In the 90's WKNO PBS 10 in Memphis had a show called TV to Remember with public domain shows from the 50's and 60's like You Bet Your Life. Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, etc. that are now on cheap DVDs and streaming. They also carried The Twilight Zone in the late 90's until Syfy got exclusive rights for a period. They also had a year or two in the early 2000's when they were carrying classic shows like Matlock, Mission Impossible, and TZ again, but it didn't last long. I think either station management changed and dropped them, or major donors who were TV snobs put pressure on them to drop it.
In the 90's WKNO PBS 10 in Memphis had a show called TV to Remember with public domain shows from the 50's and 60's like You Bet Your Life. Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, etc. that are now on cheap DVDs and streaming. They also carried The Twilight Zone in the late 90's until Syfy got exclusive rights for a period. They also had a year or two in the early 2000's when they were carrying classic shows like Matlock, Mission Impossible, and TZ again, but it didn't last long. I think either station management changed and dropped them, or major donors who were TV snobs put pressure on them to drop it.
In the case of I’ll Fly Away there were either new episodes or a new TV movie produced for PBS in addition to airing repeats of the NBC episodes
During the 1980s, what was then NJN aired Doctor Who on Saturday nights. Throughout that time, I watched episodes of the first seven Doctors. Two other PBS stations in the New York metropolitan area also aired Doctor Who.
Today, the classic Doctor Who episodes can be found on BritBox.
WKNO in Memphis also carried Doctor Who, but I always thought that was through other distributors who supplied PBS stations along with Britcoms and shows like Red Green. And then there were also other groups of PBS stations that distribute shows like Lawrence Welk and the Gaither Gospel shows.
The Teletunes Nostalgia Blog
teletunesnostalgia.blogspot.com
Station History - PBS12
Originally known as KBDI Channel 12, PBS12 is a unique civic resource and one of the country’s first alternative public television services.
www.pbs12.org
Here's one KBDI Denver had aired programming that is unusual by today's standards like The Twilight Zone, The Honeymooners, The Wonderful World of Disney, and Music Videos before MTV existed in 1981.
Prairie Public Television (the PBS network for North Dakota) had 6 full power stations covering the state in 1987-1988 when I worked there in Master Control. We aired the BBC night time soap EastEnders at 10:00 pm weeknights (other PBS stations, such as KBTC/KCKA also aired it) and we also aired Dark Shadows while I worked there. Dark Shadows was on between 10:30 and midnight although I don't remember the exact half hour it aired. It may have been at 11:30 after a couple of British comedies like Yes, Minister and To The Manor Born, that sort of thing.
We did live pledge breaks until midnight during pledge week. One night, after we had hit the color episodes of Dark Shadows there was an episode where only a black and white episode survived. The PD for the break crew approved my suggestion that we air the pledge break in black and white (easy to do with the frame sync on the output of the production switcher) to tie in with that night's Dark Shadows episode. The viewers liked it and I seem to remember that break did well. I think I have a copy somewhere on 3/4"!
I also seem to remember that KFME (a stand alone station at the time) aired KXJB-TV (channel 4, CBS) programming for a short while back in 1968 after a Marine helicopter hit the KXJB tower although I can't find any reference to this on the internet. KXJB had another tower collapse in 1997 and KGFE in Grand Forks relayed some of their programming after that collapse.
Val
We did live pledge breaks until midnight during pledge week. One night, after we had hit the color episodes of Dark Shadows there was an episode where only a black and white episode survived. The PD for the break crew approved my suggestion that we air the pledge break in black and white (easy to do with the frame sync on the output of the production switcher) to tie in with that night's Dark Shadows episode. The viewers liked it and I seem to remember that break did well. I think I have a copy somewhere on 3/4"!
I also seem to remember that KFME (a stand alone station at the time) aired KXJB-TV (channel 4, CBS) programming for a short while back in 1968 after a Marine helicopter hit the KXJB tower although I can't find any reference to this on the internet. KXJB had another tower collapse in 1997 and KGFE in Grand Forks relayed some of their programming after that collapse.
Val
Several PBS stations ran Doctor Who, Blake's Seven and The Prisoner in the 80s. There were also at least three PBS affiliates that ran the original Outer Limits. I remember that KTEH Channel 54 in San Jose (now KQEH) used to have a Sunday night sci-fi lineup of those four series, plus The Invaders. As their Wikipedia entry discusses, KTEH used to run many anime series as well.
I think it was around 1981 when PBS ran "The Paper Chase," and to take up some of the time originally occupied with commercials, PBS added a mini-feature consisting of an interview with someone in the legal field; one segment had an interview with the original "Paper Chase" author, John J. Osborn Jr. A year or two later, Showtime revived the show with new episodes.
- Status