PBS South Carolina - History

History

The state network traces its history to 1957, when the General Assembly authorized a study in the use of television in the state's public schools. A studio opened in the state capital of Columbia in the library of Dreher High School. South Carolina ETV televised its first courses (a French course taught by Madame Lucille Turney-High and a geometry course taught by Cornelia Turnbull) on September 6, 1958 via closed circuit. The ETV Commission began operations on June 3, 1960, and by 1962 extended closed-circuit television service to all 46 of South Carolina's counties. In 1963, the Commission opened the first open-circuit educational station in South Carolina, WNTV in Greenville. A year later, WITV in Charleston signed on. Two years later, the state network's primary station, WRLK-TV in Columbia, signed on. The state network now comprises 11 stations. After years of receiving NET and PBS programs on tape-delay, it entered PBS' satellite network in 1978. In 2000, SCETV broadcast the first digital television program in the state. Since 2003, the state network has been known on-air as simply "ETV."

The Commission entered public radio in 1972, when WEPR in Clemson signed on (WEPR later moved to Greenville). Eventually, the state network expanded to eight stations and was known as the South Carolina Educational Radio Network (SCERN) until 2003, when it became known as ETV Radio. While "ETV" generally refers to television, SCETV views "ETV" as a general brand name for both radio and television. The current president and CEO is Linda O'Bryon, known for co-creating Nightly Business Report.

Read more about this topic:  PBS South Carolina

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.
    Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)

    What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    ... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps the underground aquifers flowing; it is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.
    Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)