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Channel 9, North Platte

City of License: North Platte, NE

First Air Date: September 12, 1966

Operating Power: 85 kW at 1,096 feet

Original Call Letters: KPNE TV

Format: Educational

Network Affiliation: PBS

General Manager: Jack McBride

Program Director: Bill Oxley

Chief Engineer: William R. Ramsay

Issued To: Nebraska Educational Television Commission (NETC)

Through the Years

  • 1966

    September 12, 1966-  KPNE, Channel 9 North Platte signs on owned by the Nebraska Educational Television Commission (NETC), as part of a state network of public radio and television stations in Nebraska, headquartered in Lincoln.  The station duplicates programs from KUON Channel 12 in Lincoln, a PBS affiliate.

    In 1961, five VHF and three UHF channels were allocated for educational use in Nebraska.  In 1963, the state legislature approved plans for a statewide network under the control of the NETC.   The founding General Manager was Jack McBride, who operated in that capacity for the next 43 years.

     

  • 1972

    The network relocates to its present location in the Terry M. Carpenter & Jack McBride Nebraska Public Media Center, 1800 North 33rd Street in Lincoln, on the East Campus of the University of Nebraska.

    KPNE also operates translators K21O1-D Channel 9 McCook/Culbertson, K201J, Channel 20 Wauneta, and K33FO Channel 33, Max.

  • 2008

    Autumn 2008-  KPNE shuts down its analog signal.