Trending: WinterPledge COVID-19 | Sign In PROGRAMS LIVE TV SCHEDULES TOPICS EDUCATION DONATE DONATE MENU KET HISTORY 1962 The General Assembly establishes the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television; O. Leonard Press becomes KET’s first executive director. 1968 KET signs on the air September 23, broadcasting weekdays during school hours on the second largest land-based network in the world via a statewide, 15-transmitter network. Kentucky Is My Land is KET’s first instructional production. 1969 Weekday broadcasts expand to evenings. Sesame Street premieres. 1970 Julia Child’s The French Chef premieres on PBS, pioneering how-to programming for television. 1971 Friends of KET, a statewide network of volunteers, is incorporated. Masterpiece Theatre premieres. 1973 PBS provides unprecedented coverage of the Watergate hearings. 1974 Comment on Kentucky premieres with host Al Smith. 1975 The GED® on TV series begins national broadcast. Television broadcast expands to seven days a week. 1976 Universe & I is KET’s first nationally distributed instructional TV series. The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, now PBS NewsHour, premieres. 1978 College on TV telecourses launch. Coverage of the Kentucky General Assembly begins. 1980 This Old House and The Victory Garden premiere. 1981 KET Fund for Excellence is established. 1982 Enterprise division is created to market educational programs nationally. 1983 The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross premieres. 1984 Nightly open-captioned news service begins. 1985 Second-generation GED® series and study-at-home initiative launched. Kentucky Afield, the nation’s longest-running outdoors program, debuts on KET. KET Kids Club established. 1988 Summer Celebration event is established at Donamire Farm. 1989 Interactive Distance Learning service begins. Live broadcasts of professional development seminars for Kentucky educators begin. 1990 Ken Burns’ The Civil War sets PBS audience records. John Sherman Cooper: Gentleman from Kentucky premieres at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. 1991 Virginia Gaines Fox named Executive Director and CEO. Star Channels Distance Learning system receives national Innovations Award from the Ford Foundation. 1992 O. Leonard Press Telecommunications Center is dedicated. 1993 GED®—Get It! airs nationwide as the centerpiece of a national outreach project. 1994 Kentucky Tonight premieres. 1995 Kentucky Life premieres. KET.org launches. The Commonwealth Fund for KET is established with John R. Hall as chairman. W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Endowment for the Arts is established. 1996 Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story and Signature “George C. Wolfe” premiere nationally on PBS. LiteracyLink, a video and online project featuring GED® and workforce basic skills content, is developed. 1997 WKPC, Channel 15 in Louisville, merges with the statewide network and KET2 launches. 1998 Street Skills, a teen-oriented safe driving series, is nominated for a national Emmy Award. Antiques Roadshow welcomes 7,000 treasure hunters at Louisville’s Convention Center. Signature “Barbara Kingsolver” airs nationally on PBS. O. Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs programming is established. 1999 Kentucky’s first digital television transmitter is activated, KET’s WKPC-DT in Louisville. KET produces public television’s first drama in high definition: American Shorts “The Ryan Interview,” starring Ashley Judd. Workplace Essential Skills is unveiled at the National Press Club. KET.org video-streaming initiative is piloted. 2001 More than 10,000 Kentuckians read Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees as part of a statewide literacy campaign. 2002 The statewide digital transmission system is activated. Television broadcast service expands to 24 hours a day. GED® Connection, KET’s third-generation test preparation series, premieres nationally on PBS. Jubilee premieres nationally. Executive Director and CEO Virginia Gaines Fox retires and receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 2003 Malcolm Wall named Executive Director and CEO. 2004 Legislative coverage expands to live broadcast and online video-streaming. Kentucky’s Last Great Places: A Kentucky Life Special becomes the most successful local pledge program on KET. Louisville Outreach office opens. 2005 KET EncycloMedia, the predecessor to PBS LearningMedia, launches and provides online multimedia resources to Kentucky’s public schools. KET’s “Be Well Kentucky” health initiative launches. Connections with Renee Shaw premieres. 2006 One to One with Bill Goodman premieres. Louisville Life premieres. 2007 Antiques Roadshow returns to Louisville. Endowment for Kentucky Productions is established. The Everlasting Stream airs nationally on PBS. 2008 Kentucky Channel launches. Kentucky Muse premieres. 2009 O. Leonard Press Telecommunications Center transitions to a high-definition production and broadcast facility. Ceasing analog transmissions, KET broadcasts three digital channels, 24/7 on 16 transmitters statewide. 2010 Education Matters debuts. Friends of KET receive the National Friends of Public Broadcasting’s Grassroots Advocacy Award. Kentucky Green Banks initiative helps implement energy efficiency measures in the network center. Shae Hopkins named Executive Director and CEO. Everyday Science for Preschoolers launches. 2011 Downton Abbey premieres. Kentucky on iTunes U launches, with KET as a lead partner. Louisville Production Center on Main Street opens, with a high-definition studio. KET’s Education Division receives the Enterprise and Innovation Award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Thoroughbred airs nationally on PBS. KET receives the Association of Public Television Stations National Advocacy Award. 2012 Kentucky Collectibles premieres. 2013 A live uplink between the International Space Station and middle school students is broadcast. PBS LearningMedia debuts, with KET, WGBH, and WNET as primary content producers. The Everyday Learning Collaborative for early childhood education is established. Morehead State University begins offering KET Distance Learning courses for dual credit. 2014 KET Legislative Coverage App launches. KET Fast Forward launches nationally as the most-advanced multiplatform learning system for GED® test preparation. PBS/KET online video apps launch on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV. Dropping Back In premieres nationally. 2015 Kentucky Health debuts from KET’s Louisville studio. Kentucky Society Daughters of the American Revolution recognizes KET with its State Media Award. Legislative Production Center in Frankfort adds a studio and is upgraded to high definition. 2016 The John R. Hall Endowment for Education is established. More than 65,000 K-12 professional development certificates were awarded to educators and other school personnel. The Hilltoppers premiered at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Forgotten Fame: The Marion Miley Story premiered. Kentucky Veterans of the Vietnam War: In Their Own Words premiered at events honoring veterans in Lexington, Owensboro, and Louisville. 2017 KET PBS KIDS channel launches on-air, on mobile, and online. Journey to Recovery premieres as part of the Inside Opioid Addiction initiative. KET receives the Dr. Samuel Robinson Award from the Kentucky Board of Education for leadership, commitment and service to equity and opportunity in education for all Kentucky children. 2018 KET receives national Mental Health America Media Award for its Inside Opioid Addiction initiative. Antiques Roadshow visits Louisville for a third time, with production taking place at the historic Churchill Downs. KET launches STEM Works, a repository of science, technology, engineering and math-focused learning resources ranging from early childhood through career pathways. As KET celebrates the 50th anniversary of first broadcast, the Kentucky Historical Society recognizes the significance of KET to the state’s history with the dedication of a historical marker at the Network Center. 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