– 2018 Organization Inductee–
Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation
Smoky Hills Public Television (SHPTV) is a regional network of PBS member television stations serving 71 counties the central and western portions of state of Kansas. It is operated by the Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation, which holds the licenses for all the PBS member stations licensed in the network. The network’s offices and network operations center are located in Bunker Hill, Kansas.
The Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation was incorporated in March 1978 as a 501(c)(3) organization to extend television to un-served areas of Kansas, broadcasting educational television and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) programming. The original proposal was to build the station on the campus of Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, next to a campus media center. But the 1978 Kansas Legislature adopted a provision that none of the state funds appropriated for the media center could be used for the construction or remodeling of faculties for or the acquisition of equipment for public television. This was interpreted by some officials as a mandate to keep the public television station and media center entirely separate. Then there was disagreement as to where the station’s antenna tower and transmitter could be located. Finally the Hays site was abandoned altogether and other locations for the studio were considered.
The corporation worked out of Victoria, Kansas, for a time before mounting financial problems forced the corporation to look for the cheapest studio site they could find. A now-130 year old two-story native limestone building that once housed a grocery store in Bunker Hill was purchased for $2,000. A tower and transmitter were constructed seven miles southwest of Bunker Hill. After four years of hardships and perseverance, the organizers of the Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation on October 11, 1982, dedicated its new station, KOOD, Channel 9. Several hundred people braved the cool temperatures and stiff north winds to attend the ceremony at Bunker Hill.
“There was neither fanfare nor celebration when a group of dedicated workers gathered in the basement of a former grocery store to watch a six-year dream take shape. Huddled over more than $1 million worth of equipment, the four employees of the Smoky Hills Public Television Corp. watched with restraint as the television monitor confirmed that KOOD was on the air. Only seconds before, when the digital clock on another monitor flashed 3:28, chief engineer Lloyd Mintzmeyer had seated himself before the control console and matter-of-factly said, ‘Let’s see if we can get the thing rolling.’ Working in unison with technician Tom Siemers, Mintzmeyer had flipped the switches responsible for sending KOOD’s airwaves to a potential viewing audience of 122,000 in North-Central Kansas.” – Salina Journal, November 12, 1982.
Flagship station KOOD was the first station in the network to sign on the air on November 11, 1982. The station operated at first on a $600,000 annual budget, with an estimated $150,000 being funded through local membership fees and underwriting fees. This success was followed by the debut of full-power satellites KSWK in Lakin on March 15, 1989 and KDCK in Dodge City on March 3, 1998. KWKS in Colby was the last satellite to sign on, debuting as a digital-only station, in June 2007. Most viewers watch SHPTV’s programming through cable, which is all but essential for an acceptable signal in most of this vast area due to its hilly terrain. In 2005 satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network began carrying the network in the Wichita market, boosting its potential viewership to over 1.5 million people in 194 communities across 71 counties in Kansas and Nebraska.
Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation is governed by a Board of Directors who represents the coverage area. The corporation employs a general manager to manage the day-to-day operations of the station. The general manager is a non-voting member of the corporation and sits in an ex-officio capacity on all standing and ad hoc committees. The corporation is advised by a community-based Advisory Board that meets every other month to review programming policy and major decisions of the board of directors. The corporation employs fourteen other staff members who carry out the station’s operations.
Smoky Hills Public Television’s mission is to nourish curiosity, enrich people’s lives, and make Kansas a better place to live and work. It broadcasts a mix of programs for all ages purchased from PBS and its affiliates and programs produced by the station. They broadcast children’s educational TV programs during 50% of their broadcast hours, reflecting their importance to its mission. News and public affairs, other educational programs, and cultural programs comprise equal shares of the remaining programs they purchase. They also broadcast programs that they produce and share with other PBS affiliates. The station’s educational outreach programs have provided literacy training to thousands of teachers and parents throughout central and Western Kansas, and distributed tens of thousands of books, often the first book a disadvantaged Kansas child will own.
Locally produced programs broadcast by Smoky Hills Public Television include the medical advice program Doctors On Call, the agricultural program Real Ag, the public affairs program The Kansas Legislature, the high school sports highlight program Scoreboard Show and the music program Down Home Country: Live in Branson. The network also holds broadcast rights to the Miss Southwest Kansas Pageant as well as several Kansas high school athletic championship events sanctioned by the Kansas State High School Activities Association (including the Eight-Man Division 1 and 2 Football Championship games, Class 3-2-1A state wrestling tournament and the Class 1A girls’ and boys’ basketball tournament championship games). Smoky Hills Public Television also broadcasts the Signature Auction, an annual fundraiser held each March; as well as Kansas Candidates, an ongoing series held during the election season.
In 2017 SHPTV was named the Non-Metro Television Station of the Year for the second year in a row by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. The station also accumulated 10 awards in individual categories for its original programs, sports coverage and promotional campaigns like Family Fun Day and Kids Club and for its website. In July 2018 the corporation received the Northwest Kansas Regional Award in the category of Non-Profit from the Kansas Department of Commerce for its service to the state.
For 40 years Smoky Hill Public Television Corporation has enriched the lives of Kansans on a daily basis. They are a worthy selection to the First Class of the Russell County Kansas Hall of Fame.
SOURCES:
Ellis County Star, March 12, 1981.
Iola Register, August 25, 1978
Salina Journal, May 27, 1979; October 19, 1981; October 11, 1982; November 11, 1982; March 29, 1988.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Hills_Public_Television
careasy.org/nonprofit/Smoky-Hills-Public-Television
danehansenfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-4-29-Smoky-Hills-Public-Television-Corp..pdf
www.ksal.com/first-ever-woman-ceo-at-smoky-hills-public-tv/
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www.hdnews.net/news/20170909/gabel-returns-to-roots-in-public-television-as-shptv-general-manager
www.hayspost.com/2018/07/18/smoky-hills-public-television-receives-department-of-commerce-award/
Les on Field Camera.
Lloyd in control room.
Tony on camera, 1982.
Opening Day festivities, 1982.
