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KEET TV 13:
Celebrating 30 Years
Timeline


1962
Local public TV station becomes the dream of a small group of television pioneers.


1967
Formation of Redwood Empire Public Television.

1968
R.E.P.T.V. plans 20 hours a week of instructional television for classroom use and five additional hours of cultural programming.


1969
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting issues its first check to KEET-TV. $10,000 later, KEET is on the air!

KEET studios located in a garage in downtown Eureka.

Later, PBS favorites Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Sesame Street and Washington Week in Review make Ch. 13 their home.


1970
COLOR
television!

1971
Masterpiece Theatre and Wall Street Week debut.


1974
Station moves to Sacred Heart School.

Nova is added to programming.

Great Performances debuts.



1975
Fire-damaged studio on Humboldt Hill donated to KEET-TV.


1977
KEET broadcasts hearings on the expansion of Redwood National Park.


1978
KEET is the first local station to use satellite technology to receive programming.


1979
TEN YEARS! KEET
celebrates its first decade of broadcasting.

Current General Manager St. Clair Adams joins KEET.


1980
MYSTERY! debuts.


1983
The nation's first 60-minute newscast premiers as The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.

Reading Rainbow debuts.


1985
KEET airs its inaugural broadcast of the Rhododendron Festival Parade.


1986
KEET receives a grant for a new transmitter and families in outlying areas begin to receive Ch.13.

1987
"The Return of the King" is produced by KEET. The 30-minute documentary about salmon restoration efforts is distributed via satellite to PBS stations nationwide.


1988
Auction is in full force. General Manager St. Clair Adams is seen as his usual self: Auctioneer Extraordinaire!
Volunteers...the heartbeat of KEET!!


1989
KEET's broadcast schedule is expanded to meet viewers' needs. Ch. 13 now provides continuous programming from early morning to late night.


1990
KEET broadcasts in STEREO!!


1992
The Beloved Shari Lewis joins Ch. 13's children's lineup with "Lamb Chop's Play Along." During a career that spanned five decades, millions of children grew up with her, and then introduced their own children to
her unique sense of playfulness. Lewis died in 1998.


1993
The Barney and Friends era begins. KEET debuts the program after a flood of requests from parents.

1994
25th anniversary. Then-Assemblyman Dan Hauser presents KEET representatives with a California proclamation.

1995
KEET begins broadcasting a second audio program (SAP), allowing the station to offer video services to the blind and those with low vision. The sight impaired now can hear descriptions of what is seen on the screen for programs including Nature and Mobil Masterpiece Theatre. KEET-TV becomes one of only five PBS stations in California to reach out in this way to the blind.


1996
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) establishes digital television (DVT) as the new technological standard in the 21st century.

Cutbacks in federal funding leave KEET grappling with funding issues.


1997
Mr. McFeely from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood visits our neighborhood during a KEET ice cream social.

KEET wins the 1997 Humboldt/Del Norte Reading Council's Literacy Award.

KEET fans are paid a visit by Arthur. Sesame Street visits too.


1998
KEET-TV becomes local leader in researching DTV opportunities. Six PBS stations debut digital television.

KEET-TV makes history again by unveiling the North Coast's first-ever digital television demonstration. Reporters, board members and community leaders pack into the studio to see first-hand the technological marvel of DTV.

KEET-TV invests in new Trinity video editing system, making the station a state-of-the-art production facility.

KEET-TV expands its services to the sight impaired by using its second auction channel to broadcast readings of local newspaper articles. The blind and those with low vision now access 25-30 news articles each week through KEET-TV services.


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