History
KUSM signed on for the first time on October 1, 1984, making Montana the last state to have its own PBS station, 14 years after Mississippi became the last state east of the Mississippi River with a PBS station within its borders. The transmitter was donated by Montana broadcasting pioneer Joe Sample. MSU didn't have enough funding at the time to support a public television station, and the Gallatin Valley didn't have nearly enough people at the time for viewer-supported public television. Station engineers switched to and from the signal of KUED in Salt Lake City for most PBS programming until 1987. Prior to 1984, Montana received PBS programming from KSPS-TV in Spokane; Prairie Public Television in North Dakota; KRMA-TV in Denver; and KUED. KSPS and Rocky Mountain PBS (formerly KRMA) still operate translators in Montana. Additionally, some commercial stations in Montana, including KTVQ in Billings and KFBB in Great Falls, carried Sesame Street and may have carried other PBS programs besides.
Also in 1987, KUSM was added to TCI's cable systems in central and eastern Montana, completely replacing KUED in that part of the state by 1990.
UM had won a construction permit for KUFM-TV in 1992, but had trouble getting on the air until 1996. UM and MSU joined forces to form Montana PBS, which broadcast for the first time as a network on New Year's Day 1997.
Montana PBS's third full-powered station, KBGS-TV in Billings, signed on in late-2009. The fourth full-powered satellite, KUGF, digital channel 21, signed on in fall 2010.
The network has expanded rather slowly, relying mainly on cable coverage for its viewership. This didn't pose as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance, as cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in most of Montana.
Read more about this topic: Montana PBS
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