Nebraska Public Media

Nebraska Public Media (NPM), formerly Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), is a state network of public radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC). The television stations are all members of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), while the radio stations are members of National Public Radio (NPR). The network is headquartered in the Terry M. Carpenter & Jack G. McBride Nebraska Public Media Center on North 33rd Street on the East Campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, and has a satellite studio inside Suite 200 of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) Building on the campus of the University of Nebraska Omaha on Dodge Street in Omaha. History Television Nebraska was one of the first states in the nation to begin the groundwork for educational broadcasting. The University of Nebraska successfully applied to have channel 18 in Lincoln allocated for educational use in 1951. Meanwhile, broadcasting pioneer John Fetzer purchased Lincoln's two commercial TV stations, KOLN-TV (channel 12) in August 1953 and KFOR-TV (channel 10) in February 1954. In order to avoid running afoul of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership regulations and to create a commercial broadcast monopoly for himself in the Lincoln market, Fetzer moved KOLN from its sign-on channel 12 to KFOR's channel 10 and offered to donate the channel 12 license to UNL. Since this would allow UNL to use more signal at less cost, the school quickly jumped at this proposal. KUON-TV went on the air on November 1, 1954, from KOLN-TV's studios, where the stations had to take turns using studio space; when KOLN was live, KUON had to broadcast a film, and vice versa. The station joined the nascent National Educational Television network (which had begun operations in May) upon its sign-on. It was operated in trust for UNL until 1956, when the FCC granted the channel 12 license to the school's Board of Regents. In 1957, KUON moved to its own studios in the Temple Building on the UNL campus. In 1960, the Nebraska Council for Educational Television was created by six school districts in Nebraska. By 1961, five VHF and three UHF channels were allocated for educational use in Nebraska—the largest set ever approved for educational use in a single state. In 1963, the state legislature, per a committee's recommendation, approved plans for a statewide NETC-controlled educational television network on the model of Alabama Educational Television. A deal was quickly reached in which Lincoln's KUON-TV would remain under UNL's ownership, but serve as the new network's flagship. In 1965, KLNE-TV in Lexington became the first station in the new state network, followed a month later (October 1965) by KYNE-TV in Omaha. The network grew quickly; six stations signed on from 1966 to 1968. It began a full seven-day schedule in 1969. The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center opened in 1972; it is named for Carpenter, a state senator who introduced legislation in 1969 to fund the center, and McBride, NET's founding general manager for 43 years. (The KLNE-TV and KLNE-FM transmission tower (40.3848101°N 99.4588698°W﻿ / 40.3848101; -99.4588698) is on the site of the World War II prisoner-of-war camp, Camp Atlanta, near Holdrege, Nebraska.) National Educational Television would be absorbed into the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in October 1970, and the stations joined the new network. On June 8, 1975, the network's statewide affiliates would formally adopt the "Nebraska ETV Network" name alongside a new unifying logo—a red stylized abstract "N" formed from two trapezoids, designed by art director William E. "Bill" Korbus. In October of the same year, NBC unveiled a new identity designed by Lippincott & Margulies set to launch at the start of 1976; its centerpiece being a new "N" mark identical to that of Nebraska ETV save for its red-and-blue coloring. Local press began to cover the commission's response to the similarity within the week of NBC adopting the symbol, with the commission moving to sue the network for trademark infringement in February 1976, garnering national press attention. In an out-of-court settlement, NBC donated a color mobile unit and other equipment totaling over $800,000 to Nebraska ETV, alongside an additional $55,000 for the costs of designing and implementing a new logo in exchange for the continued use of the stylized "N" for itself. Nebraska ETV discontinued its use of the logo in the midst of the dispute, using a plain-text placeholder from April 1, 1976, until its replacement was unveiled on May 25. The new logo, a geometric lowercase "n", was designed by Michael "Mike" Buettner, an employee of the network's art department under the direction of Bill Korbus. Due to mixed reception to the symbol outside of this controversy, NBC would update their N in 1979 by adding a modernized peacock symbol to the center, phasing it out entirely by 1986 for the present-day six-feathered peacock. Since 1974, NET has operated a studio in Omaha, on the campus of the University of Nebraska Omaha. It is primarily used when KYNE breaks off from the network to broadcast programming of specific interest to the Omaha market. A CPB study, Study of School Use of Television and Video, found Reading Rainbow (a co-production of NET and Buffalo, New York's WNED-TV until 2006) to be the most used and viewed children's television program in America during the 1990–1991 school year. In January 2005, Nebraska ETV and Nebraska Public Radio were united under a single name, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. In May 2021, NET changed its name to Nebraska Public Media to more accurately represent the organization's entire impact. Radio The Educational Television Commission had its mission broadened to radio in 1986, but it was 1989 before it could begin the groundwork for building a statewide public radio network. For many years, there were only two NPR members in the entire state—Omaha's KIOS and Lincoln's KUCV, which had signed on in 1974. In 1989, however, UNL bought KUCV from Union College. KUCV officially relaunched from its new studios on October 10, 1989. In 2001, KUCV moved from 90.9 FM (where it had been since 1980) to 91.1. In 1990, the commission opened stations in Alliance, Lexington, Columbus, Norfolk, and Hastings. North Platte, Bassett, Merriman, and Chadron followed in 1991. The entire Nebraska Public Radio Network (NPRN) was formally dedicated on October 8 in a special ceremony, broadcast live on NPRN and NETV. The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Facilities Corporation was established to facilitate lease/purchase of the GTE SpaceNet 3 transponder. On February 2, 2026, as part of NRG Media selling their Omaha stations to Usher Media Group, Nebraska Public Media announced that it would acquire KOOO from NRG for $1.2 million. Upon the completion of the sale on May 13, 2026, KOOO flipped to a hybrid news/talk and adult album alternative format. Television stations Nebraska Public Media consists of nine full-power TV stations that make up the network; all stations have callsigns beginning with the letter K, as licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and ending in NE (the postal abbreviation for Nebraska) except "UON" (University of Nebraska) for the Lincoln station. Combined, they reach almost all of Nebraska, as well as parts of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Eight of the stations are owned by the NETC. Flagship station KUON is owned by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, but is operated by the Commission through a long-standing agreement between the Commission and NU. Translators Nebraska Public Media operates 15 translators to widen its coverage area. Four repeat KUON, four repeat KXNE, three repeat KTNE, three repeat KPNE, and one repeats KMNE. Cable and satellite availability Nebraska Public Media is available on nearly all cable systems in Nebraska. Selected cable systems in northern Kansas (specifically Jewell, Phillips, Republic and Smith counties) carry Hastings' KHNE in addition to Smoky Hills PBS; these counties are part of the Hastings/Kearney side of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney media market. Additionally, Omaha's KYNE is carried on most cable systems in southwestern Iowa. On satellite, KUON, KYNE, KPNE, KXNE, and KTNE are carried on the local Lincoln, Omaha, North Platte, Sioux City, and Cheyenne, Wyoming Dish Network feeds, respectively. KTNE is the sole PBS station available to satellite viewers in the Cheyenne market, due to FCC regulations that prohibit Wyoming PBS to be seen in that market, since KWYP-TV in Laramie is located in the Denver television market. KHNE, KYNE, and KXNE are available on the Lincoln, Omaha, and Sioux City DirecTV feeds, respectively. Technical information Subchannels The signals of Nebraska Public Media's television stations are multiplexed: Analog-to-digital conversion During 2009, in the lead-up to the analog-to-digital television transition that would ultimately occur in 2009, Nebraska Public Media 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: KUON-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, in Autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 40 to VHF channel 12. KHNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 29, on February 17, 2009, the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 28, using virtual channel 29. KLNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26, using virtual channel 3. KMNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, in autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 15 to VHF channel 7. KPNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, in autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 16 to VHF channel 9. KRNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, in autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 17 to VHF channel 12. KTNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, in autumn 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 24 to VHF channel 13. KXNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 19, in November 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 16 to former UHF analog channel 19. KYNE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 26, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17, using virtual channel 26. Radio stations Nebraska Public Media's radio stations are governed by the NET Commission and the NET Foundation for Radio Board. It consists of all NPR member stations in the state except for KIOS and KVNO in Omaha; those stations are operated by Omaha Public Schools and the University of Nebraska Omaha respectively. The stations' combined footprint covers most of the state outside the Omaha metropolitan area, as well as parts of Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas. KOOO offers a hybrid NPR news/talk and adult album alternative format; programming on the other 13 stations consists of classical music and NPR news and talk. Nebraska Public Media Radio can also be heard on the FNX television channel. There are 14 full-power stations in the state network: The state network also has four low-power repeater/translator signals. K209FS went off the air in July 2023 due to the dismantling of its broadcast tower. NPM is seeking a new location for the translator but ultimately will replace it with a higher-power station, KUNE-FM. Later, NPM would sell the K209FS translator to My Bridge Radio and relocate the frequency to 88.1 to allow for sign on of 89.9 KHUY Schuyler, which will also be the parent station of the new translator broadcast. Programming Although Nebraska Public Media provides PBS programming, it also produces original programs, such as: Nebraska Stories Backyard Farmer Big Red Wrap Up Nebraska Legislation Consider This... Speaking of Nebraska Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball What If...Nebraska High School Bowling NSAA High School Championships: a series of high school girls' and boys' championships events on most Saturdays including: Track and Field (3rd Friday and Saturday of May) Basketball (Girls 1st Saturday of March, and Boys 2nd Saturday of March) Football (Monday & Tuesday before Thanksgiving) Soccer (Girls 3rd Monday of May, and Boys 3rd Tuesday of May) Softball (3rd Monday of October) Speech (March or April) Swimming & Diving (Last Saturday of February or some 1st Saturday of March) Volleyball (2nd Saturday of November) Wrestling (Girls 3rd or 4th Wednesday of February and Boys 3rd or 4th Saturday of February). News operation The Nebraska Public Media News team was led by News Director Dennis Kellogg until 2022. The news department produces regular "Signature Stories" for air on Nebraska Public Media's radio stations. References External links Official website