KPBS
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KPBS is a public broadcasting organization based in San Diego, California. It serves the San Diego County market with broadcast and high-definition digital television and radio broadcast services. It is one of the West Coast flagship stations for the Public Broadcasting Service and is also a National Public Radio (NPR) member station. The KPBS-FM radio broadcast license is owned by the Board of Trustees of the California State University system, while the KPBS-TV/DT broadcast and digital television licenses are owned by San Diego State University (SDSU). Both the television and radio broadcast services are operated locally at the "KPBS Copley Telecommunications Center," an integrated facility on the SDSU campus.
Both the television (KPBS-TV) and radio (KPBS-FM) broadcasts started as KEBS, the EBS standing for Educational Broadcasting Service. The call letters were changed to KPBS in 1970, one year after the creation of PBS, to reflect a broader vision for both the station and the network on the West Coast.
KPBS-TV is not part of the famed "big three" group of Los Angeles network flagship stations (KCBS-TV, KNBC, KABC); its call letters merely express the nature of the station's programming and affiliation.
Like Watertown, New York's WPBS-TV (PBS has no special affiliation with either), KPBS-TV is a border station -- in this case, serving viewers in both the US and Mexico.
Broadcasts
KPBS is an NTSC television signal on UHF Channel 15 that began broadcasting in 1967 as KEBS Television. It is carried on Channel 11 on local cable systems. In addition, KPBS operates HDTV Channel DT30, the world's first digital television station. The station is also available on pay satellite in the U.S. KPBS Television produces shows such as Full Focus, a news-analysis program about current events.
KPBS-FM is an FM radio signal broadcast at 89.5 MHz which began in 1960 as KEBS. Two additional transmitting locations exist; these are Borrego Springs, California (a "booster" transmitter, using the same frequency and callsign) and Calexico, California (on 97.7 MHz as KQVO). KPBS-FM is also provided as an audio stream on the Internet. KPBS-FM carries content from NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, BBC World Service, and KQED, in addition to local content. KPBS Radio produces shows such as These Days and A Way With Words; the latter is also carried in the Madison, Wisconsin, market. The Lounge, an original program hosted by Dirk Sutro about culture and the arts, was cancelled in November 2004. The main FM signal in San Diego is digital hi fi FM from IBOC. KPBS is also broadcast on a low power translator (on 89.1 MHz as K206AC) to cover parts of La Jolla that do not get good reception from the main 89.5 MHz transmitter.
Donations
In 2003, KPBS received a donation of $5 million with the passing of Joan Kroc, a San Diego philanthropist and third wife of McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc. An avid KPBS fan, Kroc donated more than $8 million to the station and $200 million to NPR.