Rocky Mountain PBS

Rocky Mountain PBS

statewide Colorado United States
Channels	Digital: See below
Branding	Rocky Mountain PBS
Programming
Affiliations	.1: PBS .2: PBS Kids .3: Create .4: World
Ownership
Owner	Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc.
Sister stations	KUVO
History
First air date	January 20, 1956 (1956-01-20) (for individual stations, see below)
Former channel number(s)	See below
Former affiliations	NET (1956–1970)
Call sign meaning	See below
Technical information
Facility ID	See below
ERP	See below
HAAT	See below
Transmitter coordinates	See below
Translator(s)	See below
Links
Website	www.rmpbs.org

Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquarterd in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of the PBS member stations licensed in the state, with the exception of KBDI-TV (channel 12) in Broomfield, which serves as the Denver market's secondary (or "beta") PBS station through the network's Program Differentiation Plan. The network comprises five full-power stations—flagship station KRMA-TV in Denver and satellites KTSC in Pueblo (also serving Colorado Springs), KRMJ in Grand Junction, KRMU in Durango and KRMZ in Steamboat Springs. The broadcast signals of the five full-power stations and 60 translators cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico.

The network's offices and network operations center are located at the Buell Public Media Center on Arapahoe Street in Denver's Five Points section. KRMJ and KTSC maintain their own respective studio facilities: KRMJ is based at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, while KTSC operates from the campus of Colorado State University–Pueblo. Rocky Mountain Public Media also operates a public radio station, NPR and jazz outlet KUVO (89.3 FM) in Denver, which joined the organization in a merger announced in January 2013.

History

The network's flagship station, KRMA-TV (channel 6) in Denver, first signed on the air on January 30, 1956 as an educational television station owned by the Denver Public Schools, with University of Denver instructor Jim Case serving as its program director. It is the oldest public television station in the Rocky Mountains. Its original studio facility was located in a converted body shop at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School in downtown Denver. The station was originally a member of National Educational Television (NET), before becoming a member of PBS when it launched on October 6, 1970.

Originally broadcasting only two hours of programming a day during the week, KRMA soon became a key PBS member, distributing PBS programming to many areas in the Rocky Mountain region that did not have educational stations of their own. From the 1960s onward, it began building translators across Colorado and surrounding states. It was also carried by nearly every cable television system in Colorado and eastern Wyoming. Denver Public Schools sold KRMA to the community group Channel Six, Inc. in 1987. In 1992, KRMA moved its operations into a studio facility on Bannock Street in Denver's Civic Center neighborhood, which formerly housed the operations of ABC affiliate KUSA-TV (channel 9, now an NBC affiliate); that station moved to a new facility located on Speer Boulevard before KRMA moved into the Bannock Street facility.

In response to requests from viewers on the Western Slope, KRMA applied for and was awarded a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate a station on UHF channel 18 in Grand Junction in August 1995. That station signed on the air on January 1, 1997 as KRMJ. Prior to that station's launch, KRMA had been available on cable in western Colorado for decades. It still operates a number of translators in the area. Soon afterward, KRMA dropped its longtime "Six" branding and relaunched as "Rocky Mountain PBS", while Channel Six, Inc. changed its name to the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Network.

In 1999, KTSC (channel 8) in Pueblo joined the network after it was sold by the University of Southern Colorado (now CSU-Pueblo). The station had originally operated as a separate PBS station for Pueblo, Colorado Springs and southern Colorado from its sign-on on February 3, 1971. Until KRMJ's sign-on, KRMA and KTSC had been the only full PBS members in Colorado (as mentioned above, Denver's KBDI is a "beta" PBS member).

On December 3, 2004, KRMU (channel 20) in Durango signed on to serve southwestern Colorado and a small portion of northwestern New Mexico. When KRMU received its license in 2001, it was the first television station in the United States to operate a digital signal without a companion analog channel assignment.

On February 2, 2007, Rocky Mountain PBS added its fifth full-service station and its second station in western Colorado, KMAS-TV (channel 24) in Steamboat Springs. KMAS had served as the Telemundo station for the Denver market prior to joining RMPBS, and brought its programming into Denver itself by way of two low-powered repeater stations—KMAS-LP (channel 33) and KSBS-LP (channel 10). However, its status was placed in doubt when NBC Universal purchased KDEN-TV (channel 25) and converted it into a Telemundo owned-and-operated station. NBC Universal finally decided to donate the KMAS license and transmitter to Rocky Mountain PBS. On September 4, 2007, the station's call letters were changed to KRMZ, reflecting its identity as a Rocky Mountain PBS station.

On January 16, 2013, it was announced that the non-profit investigative journalism organization I-News Network and public radio station KUVO (89.3 FM) had reached an agreement to merge with Rocky Mountain PBS. The merger is intended to broaden the reach of their content to new platforms and ensure formal collaboration between the outlets. The deal was expected to close in April 2013. With the merger, the corporate name was modified to Rocky Mountain Public Media.

In 2020, RMPBS moved out of the Bannock Street facility and into the new Buell Studios building which also house radio stations KUVO and Urban Alternative formatted The Drop.

Programming

Rocky Mountain PBS produces several local programs, such as the weekly Colorado State of Mind, Arts District and the seasonal Colorado Experience. However, the network has focused much of its production efforts on local documentaries, which often take months or years to produce. Many of these documentaries (such as La Raza de Colorado, Jewel of the Rockies, The Arkansas River: From Leadville to Lamar and Urban Rez have earned multiple Emmy Awards over the years.

Satellite stations KRMJ and KTSC occasionally break away from the KRMA feed to provide programming targeted for their respective communities, and each station airs separate local promotions and underwriting. KRMU is a full-time satellite of KRMJ, while KRMZ is a full-time satellite of KRMA. Citing costs at each station, Rocky Mountain PBS applied for and received waivers of the FCC's main studio rule, which requires that each full-service station maintain a main studio within its local service area.

Stations

Station	City of license	Channels VC / RF	First air date	Call letters' meaning	Former affiliations	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter coordinates	Public license information
KRMA-TV	Denver	6 33 (UHF)	January 30, 1956 (1956-01-30)	Knowledge for the Rocky Mountain Area	NET (1956–1970)	115 kW	331 m (1,086 ft)	14040	39°40′17.4″N 105°13′8″W	Profile LMS
KTSC1	Pueblo (Colorado Springs)	8 8 (VHF)	February 3, 1971 (1971-02-03)1	Television for Southern Colorado		22.4 kW	720 m (2,362 ft)	69170	38°44′43″N 104°51′39″W	Profile LMS
KRMJ	Grand Junction	18 18 (UHF)	January 1, 1997 (1997-01-01)	KRMA Grand Junction		17.7 kW	409 m (1,342 ft)	14042	39°3′58.4″N 108°44′45.7″W	Profile LMS
KRMU	Durango	20 20 (UHF)	December 3, 2004 (2004-12-03)	KRMA DUrango		12.6 kW	130 m (427 ft)	84224	37°15′46″N 107°53′58″W	Profile LMS
KRMZ2, 3	Steamboat Springs	24 10 (VHF)	May 1988 (1988-05)	KRMA Z	Telemundo (until 2007)	0.481 kW	175.2 m (575 ft)	20373	40°27′43.2″N 106°50′59.8″W	Profile LMS

Notes:

• 1. KTSC joined RMPBS in 1999 and also covers Colorado Springs. SC could stand for either Southern Colorado or State College. Southern Colorado State College was CSU-Pueblo's name at the time the station signed on.
• 2. KRMZ used the callsigns KSBS-TV from 1988 to 2000, and KMAS-TV from 2000 to 2007.
• 3. KRMZ (then KMAS-TV) joined RMPBS in 2007.

Subchannels

The digital signals of Rocky Mountain PBS' stations are multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	Short name	Programming
xx.1	1080i	16:9	xxxx-DT	Main RMPBS programming / PBS
xx.2	480i		Kids	PBS Kids
xx.3			Create	Create
xx.4			World	World

Analog-to-digital conversion

During 2009, in the lead-up to the analog-to-digital television transition that would ultimately occur on June 12, Rocky Mountain PBS 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:

• KRMA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 18. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 6. As part of the SAFER Act, KRMA kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.
• KTSC shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 26 to VHF channel 8 for post-transition operations.
• KRMJ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on June 12, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 17 to channel 18 for post-transition operations.
• KRMZ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 24, on February 17, 2009, the original date in 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 VHF channel 10. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 24.

KRMU signed on in December 2004 as a digital-only station, although it also had endured a temporary shutdown in early 2009 in final preparation for the transition.

Translators

In addition to its five full-service television stations, Rocky Mountain PBS operates one of the largest translator networks in the country, serving portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and Utah. KRMA feeds two translators in Boulder and Fort Collins. KTSC feeds 10 translators in rural southern Colorado, and KRMJ feeds 13 translators serving rural western Colorado. The other translators are operated by community groups that pick up one of the three Rocky Mountain PBS regional feeds, and carry the signals onward through their systems.

All 25 translators within the RMPBS system operate as digital signals, and as such carry the primary channel and two subchannels from their respective parent transmitters.

City of license	Callsign	Translating	Channel	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter coordinates	Owner
Aguilar	K35OR-D	KTSC	35	0.25 kW	154 m (505 ft)	167429	37°23′10″N 104°38′13.9″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Akron	K13XW-D	KRMA	13	0.258 kW	100 m (328 ft)	126089	40°16′52″N 103°5′57″W	Region 1 Translator Association
Aspen	K06HU-D	KRMJ	6	0.006 kW	9 m (30 ft)	56704	39°13′32.8″N 106°50′10.1″W	Pitkin County Translator Department
Basalt	K36GX-D		36	0.075 kW	155 m (509 ft)	131067	39°21′9.9″N 107°5′35.1″W
Boulder	K24HQ-D	KRMA	24	0.25 kW	−34 m (−112 ft)	167431	39°57′35.9″N 105°12′47.9″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Carbondale	K31CW-D	KRMJ	31	0.64 kW	793 m (2,602 ft)	52726	39°25′23″N 107°22′33″W	Pitkin County Translator Department
Coaldale	K33IW-D	KTSC	33	0.015 kW	−347 m (−1,138 ft)	69262	38°20′41.9″N 105°45′13″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Collbran	K11PS-D	KRMJ	11	0.005 kW	−346 m (−1,135 ft)	41289	39°14′34.9″N 107°57′55.2″W	Mesa County
Crawford	K24JO-D		24	0.22 kW	104 m (341 ft)	16533	38°42′40″N 107°36′21″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Del Norte	K35OO-D	KTSC	35	0.25 kW	11 m (36 ft)	167427	37°40′30″N 106°14′32.1″W
Eads, etc.	K19KN-D		19	0.327 kW	124 m (407 ft)	198509	38°22′57.5″N 102°58′52″W	Kiowa County
Fort Collins	KRMA-TV (DRT)	KRMA		10 kW	405.2 m (1,329 ft)	14040	40°32′46.9″N 105°11′54.9″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Gateview	K29IT-D	KTSC	29	0.15 kW	37 m (121 ft)	25631	38°17′52″N 107°15′6.7″W	Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District
Gateway	K25PC-D	KRMJ	25	0.1 kW	570 m (1,870 ft)	41276	38°43′29.9″N 108°48′33.8″W	Mesa County
Glenwood Springs	K32NO-D		32	0.25 kW	−221 m (−725 ft)	167430	39°33′42.86″N 107°19′1.94″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Grand Valley	K28HA-D		28	0.43 kW	45 m (148 ft)	23182	39°26′32.6″N 107°58′3.6″W
Haxtun	K32NU-D	KRMA	32	0.25 kW	84 m (276 ft)	55606	40°38′57″N 102°41′0″W	Region 1 Translator Association
Hesperus	K02QI-D	KRMU	2	0.0044 kW	179 m (587 ft)	130898	37°17′58″N 108°1′35.2″W	Southwest Colorado TV Translator Association
Holyoke	K15FD-D	KRMA-TV	15	0.208 kW	66.08 m (217 ft)	55604	40°30′37″N 102°21′35″W	Region 1 Translator Association
Idalia	K20HM-D	KRMA	20	0.194 kW	150 m (492 ft)	126068	39°43′50″N 102°28′58″W	Region 1 Translator Association
Ignacio	K36IH-D	KRMJ	36	0.17 kW	530 m (1,739 ft)	69173	37°11′3″N 107°29′8.1″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
La Veta	K35OM-D	KTSC	35	0.25 kW	−225 m (−738 ft)	167428	37°30′0″N 105°0′28.9″W
Lake George	K29HM-D		29	0.2 kW	700 m (2,297 ft)	142	39°3′0.9″N 105°30′52″W
Lamar	K31NI-D		31	0.205 kW	159 m (522 ft)	53689	38°2′5″N 102°26′12″W	Prowers County
Las Animas	K29JL-D		29	0.25 kW	140 m (459 ft)	4783	38°1′15″N 102°59′12″W	Bent County
Manitou Springs	K07PA-D		7	0.02 kW	−474 m (−1,555 ft)	69004	38°51′49.9″N 104°54′51.9″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Mesa	K33PB-D	KRMJ	33	0.75 kW	933 m (3,061 ft)	41291	39°5′17.9″N 108°13′32.8″W	Mesa County
Montrose	K32CW-D		32	2.5 kW	561 m (1,841 ft)	55635	38°18′50″N 108°12′11″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
	K35NS-D		35	0.1 kW	487 m (1,598 ft)	11513	38°23′11.9″N 107°40′33.2″W
New Castle	K06GW-D		6	0.005 kW	−149 m (−489 ft)	23159	39°33′55.9″N 107°31′59.1″W
Nucla	K13SN-D		13	0.02 kW	294 m (965 ft)	43667	38°15′29.9″N 108°41′17.3″W
Ouray	K09PJ-D		9		−733 m (−2,405 ft)	14129	38°0′56.9″N 107°40′1.2″W
Paonia	K35ON-D		35	0.1 kW	−46 m (−151 ft)	16524	38°52′28.3″N 107°39′42.6″W
Peetz	K26FM-D		26	0.212 kW	144 m (472 ft)	6070	40°53′30.7″N 103°13′47″W	Board of Logan County Commissioners
Pitkin	K23DX-D	KTSC	23	0.08 kW	−352 m (−1,155 ft)	67426	38°36′21″N 106°31′32.7″W	Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District
Pleasant Valley	K26GX-D	KRMA	26	0.046 kW	53 m (174 ft)	126149	40°30′34.9″N 102°6′52.6″W	Region 1 Translator Association
Powderhorn Valley	K07ZG-D	KTSC	7	0.06 kW	75 m (246 ft)	183057	38°17′52.9″N 107°7′57.1″W	Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District
Redstone	K19HG-D	KRMJ	19	0.012 kW	−131 m (−430 ft)	168523	39°14′19.9″N 107°13′3.9″W	Pitkin County Translator Department
Ridgway	K31IW-D		31	0.19 kW	45 m (148 ft)	11512	38°11′10.9″N 107°46′32.2″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Rulison	K32HL-D		32	1.1 kW	−16 m (−52 ft)	23170	39°30′42″N 107°44′59.3″W
Salida	K31IX-D	KTSC	31	1.2 kW	883 m (2,897 ft)	68949	38°26′47.9″N 106°0′40″W
San Luis	K35OQ-D		35	0.25 kW	−70 m (−230 ft)	167426	37°12′14″N 105°25′39″W
San Luis Valley	K32IK-D		32	1.1 kW	730 m (2,395 ft)	69185	36°51′25″N 106°1′14″W
Silt	K20OE-D	KRMJ	20	1 kW	788 m (2,585 ft)	23163	39°25′21.4″N 107°22′33.6″W
Snowmass Village	K26LH-D		26	0.045 kW	−155 m (−509 ft)	188102	39°13′8.4″N 106°54′35.1″W	Pitkin County Translator Department
Thomasville	K08OX-D		8	0.016 kW	−391 m (−1,283 ft)	168357	39°21′11.9″N 106°41′2.1″W
Trinidad Valdez	K15GL-D	KTSC	15	0.18 kW	250 m (820 ft)	69153	37°14′14″N 104°30′53.9″W	Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting
Waunita Hot Springs	K15ED-D			0.04 kW	34 m (112 ft)	25597	38°33′27.9″N 106°29′34.1″W	Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District
Woody Creek	K27OV-D	KRMJ	27	0.055 kW	103 m (338 ft)	73668	39°18′37.3″N 106°56′55″W	Pitkin County Translator Department

No Live TV Coverage of State of the Union Speeches

RMPBS did not provide live TV coverage for two State of the Union addresses by sitting president Joe Biden detailing threats to Democracy posed by election deniers and political violence, such as was seen on Jan. 6th. The first of these speeches took place on Sept. 1, 2022 in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, and the second on November 2, 2022, just before Midterm election day, November 8, as well as shortly after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul was attacked in his home by a denier of the 2020 presidential election.

See also

• American Archive of Public Broadcasting for some KRMA (now Rocky Mountain PBS) shows, documentaries and serials.
• KBDI-TV, a secondary PBS station in Broomfield.

External links

• www.rmpbs.org - Rocky Mountain PBS official website