South Dakota Public Broadcasting Explained

Callsign:South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Branding:SDPB
Digital:See below
Country:United States
Location:statewide South Dakota
Callsign Meaning:See below
Owner:South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications
Licensee:South Dakota Board of Directors for Educational Telecommunications
Former Affiliations:NET (1961–1970)

South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) is a network of non-commercial educational television and radio stations serving the U.S. state of South Dakota. The stations are operated by the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunication, an agency of the state government which holds the licenses for all of the PBS and NPR member stations licensed in South Dakota except KRSD in Sioux Falls, which is owned and run by Minnesota Public Radio, and KAUR in Sioux Falls, which is owned by Augustana University and operated by MPR. SDPB has studios and offices in Rapid City and Sioux Falls with headquarters being located in the Al Neuharth Media Center on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

History

Educational broadcasting in South Dakota began in 1919 with experimental broadcasts at USD's College of Engineering. USD was granted a full license in 1922, and went on the air that May 29 as WEAJ. It became KUSD in 1925. By 1952, the station settled at 690 AM at 1,000 watts, operating only during daylight hours to protect CBF in Montreal. In 1967, it acquired an FM sister station, KUSD-FM at 89.7. Also in 1967, South Dakota State University in Brookings signed on KESD-FM. The three stations merged in 1982 as South Dakota Public Radio.

On July 5, 1961, KUSD-TV signed on the air as the state's first educational television station. Seven more stations signed on from 1967 to 1975, extending its reach to parts of Minnesota and Iowa.

South Dakota Public Radio merged with South Dakota Public Television, which operated the television network, and ownership of the licenses was transferred from the individual universities to the State Board of Directors for Educational Telecommunications (ET Board), in 1985 to form South Dakota Public Broadcasting. As a part of state government SDPB operates within the Bureau of Information and Telecommunication. Between 1985 and 1991, five other stations joined the radio network. One of them was KCSD, which signed on in 1985 as part of a partnership between Sioux Falls College (now the University of Sioux Falls) and the ET Board in to improve the network's reception in South Dakota's largest city. Until 2013, KCSD's license was held by the University of Sioux Falls and operated by the state network under a management agreement.[1] The network bought KCSD outright in 2013.

In 1992, a Chevrolet Suburban was taken on a joyride through the Vermillion Golf Course, where KUSD (AM)'s towers were located. The Suburban crashed into one of the AM station's towers and knocked it down.[2] While a judge ordered the suspect to pay $48,000,[3] the insurance settlement was not large enough to restore full operations, and KUSD (AM) went off the air for good in 1994.

KUSD-TV's signal had long been spotty in parts of Sioux Falls, even though the channel 2 analog signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions. Some parts of the area didn't get a clear signal from KUSD-TV until cable gained more penetration in the 1980s. To solve this problem, KCSD-TV signed on in 1995, significantly improving coverage in the state's largest city.[4]

As of February 2017, SDPR now broadcasts the main network over the fifth digital subchannel of the SDPB Television stations, and classical music (which airs on the radio stations' second HD channel) on the television stations' sixth digital subchannel.

Radio stations

South Dakota Public Radio airs a mix of news and talk from NPR, Public Radio Exchange (PRX), American Public Media (APM), the BBC World Service and other sources. Stations in the lineup include:

Call signdata-sort-type="number" FrequencyCity of licensedata-sort-type="number" Facility IDdata-sort-type="number" ERP
(W)
data-sort-type="number" Height
(m (ft))
88.3 FM 50,000 190m (620feet)
KPSD-FM 97.1 FM 100,000 465m (1,526feet)
KQSD-FM 91.9 FM 100,000 270m (890feet)
KZSD-FM 102.5 FM 100,000 230m (760feet)
KDSD-FM 90.9 FM 70,000 323.1m (1,060feet)
KBHE-FM 89.3 FM 9,800 125m (410feet)
KTSD-FM 91.1 FM 100,000 451m (1,480feet)
90.9 FM 6,000 80m (260feet)
KYSD 91.9 FM 6,000 -28.6m (-93.8feet)
89.7 FM 32,000 202m (663feet)
KJSD 90.3 FM 10,500 175.2m (574.8feet)

Notes:

South Dakota Public Radio also rebroadcasts on the following translator stations:

Call signdata-sort-type="number" Frequency
(MHz)
City of licensedata-sort-type="number" Facility ID
K219CM 91.7
K201AP 88.1
K214BN 90.7
K201AQ 88.1
K217CE 91.3
K204GC 88.7
K215AI 90.9
K242CH 96.3
K203BN 88.5

In March 2007, South Dakota Public Radio started broadcasting on HD Radio.

Television stations

Television stations included in the state network are:

Station First air date Transmitter coordinates Public license information
Vermillion (Yankton)Digital


34 (UHF)
Virtual:
2

University of South Dakota236 kW2040NaN06107243.0504°N -96.784°W
Rapid CityDigital:
26 (UHF)
Virtual:
9
Black Hills76.3 kW191.70NaN06106844.0518°N -103.2441°W
Brookings (Watertown)Digital:
8 (VHF)
Virtual:
8
15 kW2290NaN06106744.3378°N -97.2284°W
PierreDigital:
10 (VHF)
Virtual:
10
54.7 kW487.70NaN06106643.9684°N -99.5948°W
AberdeenDigital:
17 (UHF)
Virtual:
16
19 kW3490NaN06106445.4983°N -97.6747°W
Eagle Butte (North Eagle ButteFaith)Digital:
13 (VHF)
Virtual:
13
27 kW5160NaN06107145.0538°N -102.2635°W
Lowry (SelbyJavaMobridge)Digital:
11 (VHF)
Virtual:
11
37 kW312.70NaN06106345.277°N -99.9864°W
MartinDigital:
8 (VHF)
Virtual:
8
44.7 kW2660NaN06106243.4333°N -101.5553°W
Sioux FallsDigital:
24 (UHF)
Virtual:
23
29 kW750NaN06072843.5748°N -96.6554°W
Notes:

Translators

The television programming from SDPB is also rebroadcast on the following low-power translator stations:

City of licenseCallsignTranslatingChannelERPHAATFacility IDTransmitter coordinates
KPSD 13 19 0.007 kW 30NaN0 59462 44.6566°N -103.8474°W
EdgemontKBHE 9 15 0.03 kW 1550NaN0 187639 43.3691°N -103.7358°W
Pine RidgeKZSD 8 10 0.03 kW -330NaN0 168678 43.0161°N -102.5724°W
PringleKBHE 9 36 4.346 kW 3850NaN0 187640 43.7453°N -103.4811°W
SpearfishKPSD 13 4 0.028 kW 1290NaN0 59455 44.4925°N -103.8353°W
Wagner KUSD 2 8 0.03 kW 1320NaN0 187638 43.1892°N -98.0714°W

Digital television

Subchannels

The signals of SDPB's TV stations are multiplexed:

Channel! scope = "col"
Res.AspectShort nameProgramming
x.1 SDPB 1
x.2 SDPB 2 World
x.3 SDPB 3 Create
x.4 SDPB-4 PBS Kids
x.5 Audio only SDPB-5 SDPB Radio audio
x.6 SDPB-6 SDPB Classical HD2 network audio

Analog-to-digital conversion

During 2009, in the lead-up to the analog-to-digital television transition that would ultimately occur on June 12, SDPB shut down the analog transmitters of its stations on a staggered basis. Listed below are the dates each analog transmitter ceased operations as well as their post-transition channel allocations:[6]

Programming

Although SDPB provides PBS programming, it also produces original programs such as:

SDPB has also produced educational programs, such as:

SDPB has also syndicated educational programs, such as:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dakota Pathways Frequently Asked Questions . November 19, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080828034646/http://www.dakotapathways.com/10/faq2.htm . August 28, 2008 . live .
  2. News: Accident collapses KUSD radio tower. July 5, 2020. Argus-Leader. 2B. December 22, 1992.
  3. News: Student to pay for toppling tower. July 5, 2020. Argus-Leader. 2B. May 19, 1993.
  4. News: Transmitter to help public TV reception. July 5, 2020. June 12, 1995. Argus-Leader. 1D.
  5. Web site: FCC History Cards for KPSD-TV.
  6. Web site: DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds . March 24, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf . August 29, 2013 . dead .
  7. Web site: No Cover No Minimum. South Dakota Public Broadcasting. May 7, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150501182652/http://www.sdpb.org/ncnm-archive/. May 1, 2015. live.
  8. Web site: Once Upon a Time intro - YouTube . . March 8, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160415021219/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zDTvw1xfp0 . April 15, 2016 . live .