KQEH

KQEH

San Jose/San Francisco/ Oakland, California United States
City	San Jose, California
Branding	KQED Plus
Slogan	Brilliantly British
Channels	Digital: 50 (UHF) Virtual: 54 (PSIP)
Subchannels	(see article)
Affiliations	PBS
Owner	Northern California Public Broadcasting
First air date	October 19, 1964 (1964-10-19)
Call letters' meaning	portmanteau of KQED and former KTEH call sign
Sister station(s)	KQED, KQET, KQED-FM
Former callsigns	KTEH (1964–2011)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 54 (UHF, 1964–2009)
Former affiliations	NET (1964–1970)
Transmitter power	310 kW
Height	661.8 meters (2,171 ft)
Facility ID	35663
Transmitter coordinates	37°29′17″N 121°51′59″W / 37.48806°N 121.86639°W / 37.48806; -121.86639Coordinates: 37°29′17″N 121°51′59″W / 37.48806°N 121.86639°W / 37.48806; -121.86639
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.kqed.org/tv

KQEH, virtual channel 54 (UHF digital channel 50), is a PBS member station serving the San Francisco Bay Area that is licensed to San Jose, California, United States. The station is owned by KQED, Inc., alongside sister station KQED (channel 9) in San Francisco, its satellite KQET (channel 25) in Watsonville and NPR member radio station KQED-FM (88.5). The three stations share studios and offices located on Mariposa Street in San Francisco's Mission District, The KQEH transmitter is located on Monument Peak (Milpitas, California).

History

KTEH's last logo before merging with KQED, used from 1993 through March 2008.

The station first signed on the air on October 19, 1964, as KTEH. In the late 1990s, KTEH bought KCAH in Watsonville, which was founded in 1989 to serve as the PBS station for the Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz market. Before being acquired by KQED, KTEH maintained a Technical Volunteer program, which allowed volunteers to learn how to operate cameras, audio, shading, directing and other production and technical responsibilities, while minimizing its costs. These volunteers made up the technical crews for all of their pledge drives and auction programming, as well as other occasional live broadcasts.

In 2006, KQED and the KTEH Foundation agreed to merge to form Northern California Public Broadcasting, a name that was changed back to KQED, Inc. in 2011.^[1] As a result of the merger, KCAH changed its call letters to KQET on August 12, 2007. Subsequently on October 1, 2007, KQET, which became a satellite of KTEH following its acquisition of the station, switched programming sources from KTEH to KQED. KQEH's programming is carried on the second digital subchannel of KQET.

Last logo as KTEH, used from March 2008 to 2011.

In December 2010, the Board of Directors of Northern California Public Broadcasting changed the organization's name to KQED Inc. The station changed its call letters to KQEH and rebranded as "KQED Plus" on July 1, 2011, after research found that most viewers were unaware that KTEH was related to KQED; other aspects of the station's operation, including programming and staff, were not affected by this change.^[2]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

KQEH (as KTEH) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.^[4] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, using PSIP to display KQEH's virtual channel as 54 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

Programming

The station's daytime hours on weekdays are dominated by children's programming, including Dinosaur Train, Sesame Street and Wild Kratts. Weeknights begin with news programming – the Nightly Business Report and BBC World News – followed by mostly United Kingdom-originating dramas and comedies (such as EastEnders and Are You Being Served?). Weeknight prime-time contains mainly documentaries (like American Experience and Nature) and drama (such as Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery!). During the weekend, KQEH's morning schedule features children's programming, middays and afternoons contain a mix of instructional (home and cooking), entertainment, travel and cultural shows, and evenings present mostly British scripted shows. The current slogan for British programming on KQEH reflects this.

Programming history

Starting in April 1981, KTEH started showing the British science-fantasy show Doctor Who, which ran on the station until January 2003. On April 10, 2007, Doctor Who returned to the station with the airing of the programme's 2005 revival. KTEH has also aired another British sci-fi show, Red Dwarf. In 1998, KTEH aired the entire eighth series of Red Dwarf in one night. In doing so, many episodes were shown on KTEH before their broadcast on British television.^[5][6]

KTEH was also the first to air Neon Genesis Evangelion (subtitled) in America, as well as dubbed) Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and Tenchi Universe TV series. These shows were later shown on Cartoon Network's toonami programming block. Other anime that have aired on KTEH include, but were not limited to, Bubblegum Crisis, Key the Metal Idol,^[7] subtitled versions of Dirty Pair Flash, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Urusei Yatsura, Sakura Wars and Corrector Yui, and dubbed versions of Serial Experiments Lain, City Hunter, Please Save My Earth,^[8][9] Ranma ½,^[10] Sailor Moon, Full Metal Panic!, Magic Knight Rayearth, Martian Successor Nadesico, Betterman, Robotech, Mobile Suit Gundam, Cardcaptor Sakura, Astro Boy, Gatchaman, and Samurai Pizza Cats.

Local productions

KTEH has produced many television programs over the years, some of which have been nationally broadcast. Its current production schedule includes:^[11]

• This is Us – an Emmy Award-winning^[12] show featuring profiles of remarkable people and places in Northern California.
• Saving the Bay – the Emmy Award-winning documentary about San Francisco Bay went on to a national release in 2011.
• video i – an award-winning showcase of documentaries, dramas and experimental films
• KTEH Cooks with Garlic – local viewers preparing their favorite garlic recipes. Winner of the first PBS Interactive Innovation of the Year Award^[13]
• Moneytrack – an ongoing series on investment management

KTEH was the production company for several other productions:^[14]

• The War: Nisei Soldiers (2007)
• The War: Soldados (2007)
• Dave Tatsuno: Movies and Memories (2006)
• Cosmopolitan (2003)
• Return to the Valley (2003)
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad with Robert Kiyosaki (2001)
• Adventures with Kanga Roddy
• The First Seven Years (1998)
• Cadillac Desert (1997)
• The Battle for Mono Lake (1997)^[15]
• The Men Who Sailed the Liberty Ships (1994)
• The Day After Trinity (1981)
• Tomorrow/Today (1981)
• Kaleidoscope (1979)
• Fluorocarbons: The Unfinished Agenda (1977)
• The Aerosol Factor (1975)

Station presentation

Station slogans

• Public Television for the South Bay (1970s–1980s)
• Discover the Difference (1980s)
• Brilliantly British (2007–present; used only during U.K.-produced shows)^[16]
• Public Media for San Jose and the Bay Area (2008–present)

See also

• Cosmopolitan

References

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KQEH
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KQEH-TV
• IMDB