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Wyoming PBS
Wyoming PBS is the statewide public broadcaster for the U.S. state of Wyoming. A member of PBS, it is owned and operated by Central Wyoming College and originates from its campus in Riverton. Three high-power transmitters—KCWC-DT (channel 4) in Lander, KWYP-DT (channel 8) in Laramie, and KPTW (channel 6) in Casper—and 40 low-power translator stations broadcast the signal across the state.
Wyoming was the second-to-last state to receive a public television station. While efforts to bring educational television to Wyoming dated to the 1950s, state legislators on multiple occasions refused to fund proposed statewide educational stations or networks. Central Wyoming College, which already had a radio and television instruction program, moved forward with building its own station. It received a construction permit for KCWC-TV in December 1981 and began broadcasting on May 27, 1983.
Over the succeeding decades, KCWC-TV's signal slowly expanded by way of low-power translators in the rest of Wyoming, in conjunction with the state's cable providers. More ambitious expansion plans were curtailed by budget cuts. In the 2000s, it added higher-power transmitters to serve Casper and Laramie. Wyoming PBS has limited availability on direct broadcast satellite. This is due to the channel's reliance on translators and how most counties are assigned to out-of-state media markets such as Denver and Salt Lake City.
Wyoming PBS is funded by viewer contributions as well as state and college support. It produces local programming pertaining to Wyoming public affairs, culture, and nature.
Only one actual educational reserved channel was allotted to Wyoming, channel 8 at Laramie—home to the University of Wyoming. As early as 1951, the university was interested in filing to use the channel, but it had to wait until Wyoming's biennial legislature convened in 1953 to obtain permission. However, Wyoming legislators refused permission; the costs of establishing the proposed full-power TV station in Laramie were higher than those for launching the commercial station KFBC-TV in Cheyenne. That station's principal owner, Tracy McCraken, was one of the university's trustees. In 1961, Casper's school board applied for the use of channel 6—an unused commercial channel. Later that year, governor Jack Gage expressed interest in activating a station on the Laramie channel at a time when commercial interests in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, sought to have the channel moved there for their use. Senator Gale McGee protested the possible substitution of channel 11 at Laramie because station spacing restrictions prevented that channel from serving Cheyenne as well.
By 1965, commercial station KTWO-TV in Casper was airing the only educational programs on Wyoming television, and the Community Television cable system imported KRMA-TV from Denver. In late 1964, the Casper school board filed another application for channel 6. Soon, the locus of activity shifted to a committee formed by governor Clifford Hansen, which authorized a study and applied for channels 6 in Casper and 8 in Laramie in December 1965. Hansen's successor, Stan Hathaway, signed a law in February 1967 establishing an educational television commission, but legislators that year rejected a funding proposal. The head of the commission gave a 1971 target date for initiating broadcasts, contingent on approval of the governor and the 1969 Wyoming Legislature. However, legislators did not fund the system at that time, partly because the Wyoming portion of federal matching funds under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 was too large. Ten years later, in 1979, another gubernatorial commission requested that the Wyoming Legislature appropriate funds to start a public broadcasting station for Wyoming, which would be based in Casper and rebroadcast to the rest of the state. Neither the 1979 nor 1981 Legislatures took steps to establish public television in the state. In the meantime, KRMA and KUED from Salt Lake City were available in different parts of Wyoming.
Central Wyoming College (CWC) was formed at Riverton in 1968, and its initial curriculum included radio and television instruction, one of two such programs in the state. Students broadcast local community programming seen on cable in Riverton. In November 1980, CWC held a conference on "Telecommunications for Wyoming". Jerry Garber, who headed the college's broadcasting program, convinced the college to apply for television channel 4 in Lander as part of a seven-transmitter system and statewide microwave transmission network. When the 1981 Legislature refused to fund a public TV station, CWC went ahead with its plans. At the same time, KCWY-TV (channel 14), a new commercial station in Casper, applied for channel 4 in Lander as a satellite station. Even when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) informed the college that channel 5 could be added there, CWC refused the offer because it feared a channel change would affect its planning for federal grant money. Likewise, KCWY feared that switching its application to channel 5 could lead to competition for the newly vacated channel.
The FCC granted the Central Wyoming College application in December 1981, shortly after the college received a federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration—the largest grant for a new TV station startup—with a planned launch date of January 1983. To secure the grant, CWC president Richard St. Pierre appropriated $325,000 in funds to provide the local match; this decision ultimately caused CWC faculty to vote no confidence in St. Pierre and led to his resignation. In spite of an earlier denial, the college received permission from the United States Forest Service to locate the transmitter on Limestone Mountain. KTWO-TV donated the tower for the Lander transmitter. KCWC-TV aired its first test pattern on May 10, 1983, and began regular broadcasting on May 27. This made Wyoming the 49th state with a public television station (only Montana still lacked one).
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Wyoming PBS
Wyoming PBS is the statewide public broadcaster for the U.S. state of Wyoming. A member of PBS, it is owned and operated by Central Wyoming College and originates from its campus in Riverton. Three high-power transmitters—KCWC-DT (channel 4) in Lander, KWYP-DT (channel 8) in Laramie, and KPTW (channel 6) in Casper—and 40 low-power translator stations broadcast the signal across the state.
Wyoming was the second-to-last state to receive a public television station. While efforts to bring educational television to Wyoming dated to the 1950s, state legislators on multiple occasions refused to fund proposed statewide educational stations or networks. Central Wyoming College, which already had a radio and television instruction program, moved forward with building its own station. It received a construction permit for KCWC-TV in December 1981 and began broadcasting on May 27, 1983.
Over the succeeding decades, KCWC-TV's signal slowly expanded by way of low-power translators in the rest of Wyoming, in conjunction with the state's cable providers. More ambitious expansion plans were curtailed by budget cuts. In the 2000s, it added higher-power transmitters to serve Casper and Laramie. Wyoming PBS has limited availability on direct broadcast satellite. This is due to the channel's reliance on translators and how most counties are assigned to out-of-state media markets such as Denver and Salt Lake City.
Wyoming PBS is funded by viewer contributions as well as state and college support. It produces local programming pertaining to Wyoming public affairs, culture, and nature.
Only one actual educational reserved channel was allotted to Wyoming, channel 8 at Laramie—home to the University of Wyoming. As early as 1951, the university was interested in filing to use the channel, but it had to wait until Wyoming's biennial legislature convened in 1953 to obtain permission. However, Wyoming legislators refused permission; the costs of establishing the proposed full-power TV station in Laramie were higher than those for launching the commercial station KFBC-TV in Cheyenne. That station's principal owner, Tracy McCraken, was one of the university's trustees. In 1961, Casper's school board applied for the use of channel 6—an unused commercial channel. Later that year, governor Jack Gage expressed interest in activating a station on the Laramie channel at a time when commercial interests in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, sought to have the channel moved there for their use. Senator Gale McGee protested the possible substitution of channel 11 at Laramie because station spacing restrictions prevented that channel from serving Cheyenne as well.
By 1965, commercial station KTWO-TV in Casper was airing the only educational programs on Wyoming television, and the Community Television cable system imported KRMA-TV from Denver. In late 1964, the Casper school board filed another application for channel 6. Soon, the locus of activity shifted to a committee formed by governor Clifford Hansen, which authorized a study and applied for channels 6 in Casper and 8 in Laramie in December 1965. Hansen's successor, Stan Hathaway, signed a law in February 1967 establishing an educational television commission, but legislators that year rejected a funding proposal. The head of the commission gave a 1971 target date for initiating broadcasts, contingent on approval of the governor and the 1969 Wyoming Legislature. However, legislators did not fund the system at that time, partly because the Wyoming portion of federal matching funds under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 was too large. Ten years later, in 1979, another gubernatorial commission requested that the Wyoming Legislature appropriate funds to start a public broadcasting station for Wyoming, which would be based in Casper and rebroadcast to the rest of the state. Neither the 1979 nor 1981 Legislatures took steps to establish public television in the state. In the meantime, KRMA and KUED from Salt Lake City were available in different parts of Wyoming.
Central Wyoming College (CWC) was formed at Riverton in 1968, and its initial curriculum included radio and television instruction, one of two such programs in the state. Students broadcast local community programming seen on cable in Riverton. In November 1980, CWC held a conference on "Telecommunications for Wyoming". Jerry Garber, who headed the college's broadcasting program, convinced the college to apply for television channel 4 in Lander as part of a seven-transmitter system and statewide microwave transmission network. When the 1981 Legislature refused to fund a public TV station, CWC went ahead with its plans. At the same time, KCWY-TV (channel 14), a new commercial station in Casper, applied for channel 4 in Lander as a satellite station. Even when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) informed the college that channel 5 could be added there, CWC refused the offer because it feared a channel change would affect its planning for federal grant money. Likewise, KCWY feared that switching its application to channel 5 could lead to competition for the newly vacated channel.
The FCC granted the Central Wyoming College application in December 1981, shortly after the college received a federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration—the largest grant for a new TV station startup—with a planned launch date of January 1983. To secure the grant, CWC president Richard St. Pierre appropriated $325,000 in funds to provide the local match; this decision ultimately caused CWC faculty to vote no confidence in St. Pierre and led to his resignation. In spite of an earlier denial, the college received permission from the United States Forest Service to locate the transmitter on Limestone Mountain. KTWO-TV donated the tower for the Lander transmitter. KCWC-TV aired its first test pattern on May 10, 1983, and began regular broadcasting on May 27. This made Wyoming the 49th state with a public television station (only Montana still lacked one).