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| Channels | |
| Branding | KEDT |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | South Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc. |
| KEDT-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | October 16, 1972 (53 years ago) (1972-10-16) |
Former channel numbers | Analog: 16 (UHF, 1972–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Corpus Christi Educational Television |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 58408 |
| ERP | 50kW |
| HAAT | 270 m (886 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°39′21″N97°33′56″W / 27.65583°N 97.56556°W /27.65583; -97.56556 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KEDT (channel 16) is aPBS membertelevision station inCorpus Christi, Texas, United States. It is owned by South Texas Public Broadcasting alongsideNPR memberKEDT-FM (90.3). The two outlets share studios on South Staples Street in Corpus Christi; the TV station's transmitter is located nearPetronila, Texas.
KEDT was created by businessmanCharles Butt to bring public television to south Texas.[2] Butt, part of the family that founded theH-E-B supermarket chain, joined with Don Weber, another businessman, and the two approached the Corpus Christi business community with a proposal to start a local PBS television station. Others became interested, and soon formed a Board of Directors.[3]
The station's original equipment were donations fromKVVV-TV ofGalveston, an independent station that had ceased operations in 1969. The original transmitter location was on a site donated by a local rancher. The original broadcast facilities were in an abandoned school building in town, and the original programming was provided bySan Antonio PBS stationKLRN via telephone cables.[4] KEDT signed on the air on October 16, 1972. The station moved into its current facilities the following year.
KEDT was well received in the community; the station received additional funding from philanthropy.[citation needed] In 1980, South Texas Public Broadcasting System, the station's owner, applied for a low-power repeater station forVictoria that would have expanded KEDT's reach in South Texas.[5] In addition, KEDT began to produce its own programming, supplementing PBS fare.
However, the Corpus Christi economy was heavily dependent on one industry that is subject to its fortunes and misfortunes. As the energy industry began to disappear in the mid- to late 1980s, so would the funding KEDT received in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[citation needed] Corporate and personal donations to the station all but vanished, and the locally produced programming did not generate enough revenue to meet the station's needs.[citation needed] Plans for the Victoria repeater were scrapped in late 1984.[6] By the end of the 1980s, KEDT was deeply in debt.[citation needed]
The station began to recover in the 1990s through debt restructuring, aggressive cost-cutting, and revenue enhancement.[citation needed] KEDT outsourced many of its non-essential functions and began changing its programming. One such change was the addition of distance learning in conjunction with local educational establishments.[citation needed]
The advent of the new century brought new opportunities and challenges to KEDT. Digital television (DTV) has brought new financial burdens to the station, but also allowed for modernization. As of 2003, the station was still using some of its original equipment and transmitter from 1972, so DTV presented an opportunity to modernize. In addition, DTV has allowed the station to air even more programming.[citation needed]
On January 16, 2008, a U.S. NavyMH 53 Sea Dragonhelicopter crashed into KEDT's tower, killing three sailors, damaging the top 75 feet of the 1000-foot tower, including the beacon light and the antenna, and knocking the station off the air. KEDT resumed broadcasting the next day from auxiliary facilities at reduced power.[7]
KEDT carries programming similar to other PBS member stations.
KEDT produced several original programs for broadcast nationally on PBS. Of note isLone Star, an eight-part series on the history of Texas, produced in honor of the Texas Sesquicentennial in 1986. It was hosted byLarry Hagman and continues to be requested by Texas schools for use in supplementing their Texas history courses. Another notable production wasJohn Henry Faulk: The Man Who Beat the Blacklist, hosted byBill Moyers andStuds Terkel. The documentary detailed the effects ofMcCarthyism onJohn Henry Faulk, a Texas radio broadcaster, and on the nation as a whole.Justice for My People: The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Story focused onDr. Hector P. Garcia, a Mexican-born medical doctor from Corpus Christi, who was cherished by many thousands with whom he had contact. Other local programs includedLiz Carpenter and the Good Old Boys andUSS Lexington: Always Ready!, the latter a documentary about theWorld War IIaircraft carrier that compiled the longest service record in the history of theUnited States Navy.
The second most watched show on KEDT (the most-watched beingAntiques Roadshow) is the locally producedquiz bowl programChallenge!, where teams from local high schools compete in an academic quiz show hosted by Eric Boyd. 24 high schools begin in the competition in a single elimination tournament until there is only one team remaining. There is also a one-hourAll Star Challenge! game, in which twelve top players from twelve different teams are selected to compete.Challenge! is funded by a number of local businesses and universities, and the top four teams and all competitors in the All-Star game receive scholarship money fromDel Mar College andTexas A&M University–Corpus Christi.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KEDT-HD | PBS |
| 16.2 | 480i | 4:3 | KEDT-CR | Create |
KEDT-DT was granted an original construction permit on August 20, 2001, to transmit onUHF channel 23. As with many other DTV facilities, KEDT-DT has not been able to build the facilities as quickly as planned, and the station has had to request several extensions of the construction permit. On April 30, 2003, the station was granted Special Temporary Authority (STA) to broadcast at reduced power to conserve financial resources. The STA has been extended several times, and the station has requested to make its temporary operations permanent, as its DTV signal coverage matches its analog signal coverage, and compares favorably with the DTV signal coverage of a local commercial television station that has already maximized its DTV signal.[9]
KEDT shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 16, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, usingvirtual channel 16.[10]
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Texas | ||
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