.svg){kind=logo} NET logo from April 1960 to November 1964 and again from June 1967 to October 1970 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Ford Foundation (1954–1970) Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1967–1970) |
| History | |
| Founded | November 21, 1952; 73 years ago (1952-11-21) inWashington, D.C., U.S. |
| Launched | May 16, 1954 (1954-05-16) (as a network) |
| Closed | October 4, 1970 (1970-10-04) (16 years, 4 months and 18 days) |
| Replaced by | Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) |
| Former names | Educational Television and Radio Center National Educational Television and Radio Center |
National Educational Television (NET) was an Americaneducationalbroadcasttelevision network owned by theFord Foundation and later co-owned by theCorporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954, to October 4, 1970, and was succeeded by thePublic Broadcasting Service (PBS), which hasmemberships with manytelevision stations that were formerly part of NET.
TheCouncil on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) provided funds for cataloging the NET collection, and as part of an on-going preservation effort with theLibrary of Congress, over 10,000 digitized television programs from the non-commercial TV stations and producers spanning 20 years from 1952 to 1972 have been contributed to theAmerican Archive of Public Broadcasting.[1]
| External videos | |
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_-_NARA_cropped.jpg) | |
 Prospects of Mankind with Eleanor Roosevelt; What Status For Women?, 59:07, 1962.Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of thePresidential Commission on the Status of Women, interviews PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, Secretary of LaborArthur Goldberg and others,Open Vault from WGBH[2] |
The network was founded as theEducational Television and Radio Center (ETRC) in November 1952 by a grant from theFord Foundation'sFund for Adult Education (FAE). It was originally a limited service for exchanging and distributingeducational television programs produced by local television stations to other stations; it did not produce any material by itself.[3]
In the spring of 1954, ETRC moved its operations toAnn Arbor, Michigan, and on May 16 of that year, it began operating as a "network". It put together a weekly five-hour package oftelevision programs, distributing them primarily onkinescope film to the affiliated stations by mail.[4] By 1956, ETRC had 22 affiliated stations, expected to grow to 26 by March 1957.[5] The programming was noted for treating subjects in depth, including hour-long interviews with people of literary and historical importance. The programming was also noted for being dry and academic, with little consideration given to entertainment value, a marked contrast tocommercial television. Many of the shows were designed as adult education, and ETRC was nicknamed the "University of the Air"[6] (or, less kindly, "The Bicycle Network", both for its low budget and for the way NET supposedly sent programs to its affiliates, by distributing its program films and videotapes via non-electronic means such as by mail, termed in the television industry as "bicycling").
The center's headquarters moved from Ann Arbor toNew York City in 1958, and the organization became known as theNational Educational Television and Radio Center (NETRC).[3] The center became more aggressive at this time, aiming to ascend to the role of the U.S.'fourth television network. Among its efforts, the network began importing programs from theBBC into the United States, starting withAn Age of Kings in 1961.[7] It increased its programming output to ten hours a week.[3] Most NETRC network programs were produced by the affiliate stations because the NETRC had no production staff or facilities of its own. NETRC also contracted programs from independent producers and acquired foreign material from countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Yugoslavia, the USSR, France, Italy, and West Germany.[8]
Starting from 1962, the federal government took over the FAE's grants-in-aid program through the Education Television Facilities Act.[9]
In November 1963 NETRC changed its name toNational Educational Television, and spun off its radio assets. Under the centerpiece programNET Journal, which began airing in the fall of 1966, NET began to air controversial, hard-hittingdocumentaries that explored numerous social issues of the day such aspoverty andracism. While praised by critics, some affiliates, especially those in politically and culturallyconservative markets, objected to the perceivedliberal slant of the programming.[10] Another NET produced program begun in 1967,Public Broadcast Laboratory, produced similar complaints.
In 1966, NET's position as a combined network and production center came into question when PresidentLyndon Johnson arranged for theCarnegie Foundation to conduct a study on the future of educational television. The Carnegie Commission released its report in 1967, recommending educational television be transformed into "public television". The new organization would be controlled by the nonprofitCorporation for Public Broadcasting (a corporation established by thefederal government) and receive funding from the government and other sources. Under this plan, funds were to be distributed to individual stations and independent production centers – which is what NET would have been reduced to. The Ford Foundation, interestedEducational Television Stations, and President Johnson supported the recommendations of the Carnegie Commission in the Public Broadcasting Act, which was signed into law on November 7, 1967.[11]
![The color NET logo was incorporated into a model building at the beginning and end of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood episodes on February 10, 1969. The NET "building" was later remodeled as a brick building with windows, but kept the lopsided roof that was part of the NET logo.[citation needed]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNational_Educational_Television_logo_(1969-1970).jpg){kind=logo}
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) began as an entity in November 1969, with NET continuing to produce several programs and to be the name of the network. NET's production ofNET Journal andPublic Broadcast Laboratory continued to be liabilities amid accusations of partisanship funded by the government. Eventually, Ford and the CPB decided to shut NET down, to be replaced by PBS as the network distributing programming to stations, but, unlike NET, it was not directly involved in production matters, which had been perceived as the main source of the controversies surrounding NET. Instead, local stations and outside suppliers would provide programming for the system, a model that endures to this day with PBS. In early 1970, both Ford and the CPB threatened to cut NET's funding unless NET merged its operations with New York City-area affiliateWNDT. NET agreed to do so.
WNDT's call sign was changed toWNET on October 1, 1970, as the station and NET's merger was completed.[12] On October 5, PBS began network broadcasting. NET ceased to operate as a network from that point, although some NET-branded programming, such asNET Journal andNET Playhouse remained part of the PBS schedule (now produced by WNET) until the brand was retired 2 years later. Some of the programs that began their runs on NET, such asWashington Week andSesame Street, continue to air on PBS today.
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