KSPS-TV is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television station headquartered in Spokane, Washington. We reach more than 2.3-million households in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, Alberta, and beyond. Viewers hail from Calgary, Edmonton, Coeur d’Alene, Kalispell, Wenatchee, Moscow, and hundreds of cities and towns across one of the largest Nielsen Designated Market Areas in the nation. We broadcast our main signal from our site at Krell Hill, a.k.a. "Tower Mountain." Our headquarters, offices, and over 4,400 square-feet of studio space are on the Joel E. Ferris High School grounds in the South Gate neighborhood on Spokane's south hill.
KSPS can be seen in high-definition on channel 107 on Comcast in the Spokane area, and channel 707 in the Coeur d'Alene and Palouse areas. You can also find us on channel 7 on Dish Network and DirecTV in both standard and high-definition. In the Edmonton area we are broadcast on Channel 22 on Shaw Cable, and Channel 140 on Telus Optik TV. In Calgary we’re on Channel 14 on Shaw Cable, and Channel 140 on Telus Optik TV. Viewers across Canada also watch KSPS on channel 202 on Shaw Cable and channel 374 in Shaw Direct National Satellite Service
KSPS is licensed to Friends of KSPS, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the state of Washington. Our mission is to provide on-air, online, and multimedia programs that entertain, engage, and educate to enrich all the communities we serve.
History
In 1967, the station first signed on the air from the basement of Adams Elementary of Spokane Public Schools (SPS). After a series of school levy failures in the early 1970s forced the station to secure alternate funding, Friends of Seven (later known as Friends of KSPS) was founded in 1972 to provide lasting financial support to KSPS.
In 2012, the board of Spokane Public Schools voted unanimously to spin off KSPS to the Friends of KSPS. Our transition from an educational license to a community license was completed in 2013. School board employees working for KSPS soon became employees of the non-profit organization.
Programming
KSPS is the region’s source of top quality PBS programs, including Masterpiece, Victoria, Great Performances, NOVA, Nature, Frontline, Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow, Arthur, Sherlock, Mercy Street, POV, Curious George, American Experience, Wild Kratts, and PBS NewsHour. Thousands of KSPS viewers remember past favorites like Downton Abbey, The Magic School Bus, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
KSPS also airs high-quality local productions like Health Matters, Northwest Profiles, and KSPS Documentaries. We were the first station to carry Mary Ann Wilson's Sit and Be Fit program, and KSPS serves as the primary production studio and distributor of the series since its 1987 debut.
Funding
About 70% of KSPS’s funding comes from donations, contributions, and bequests by individuals, foundations, and companies. 18% is provided by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and 6% comes from an NIC grant.
A class-leading 80% of our total expenses are spent directly on the programs and services we deliver. That's part of what makes KSPS Spokane’s number-one-ranked non-profit organization in financial health, accountability, and transparency, according to the independent rating site, Charity Navigator.
The majority of the station's donations from televised pledge drives come from Calgary and Edmonton. Each of the two Canadian cities have populations which are more than double the entire population of our US coverage area, and most of the station's members live in those two cities. Not only does KSPS take its large Canadian audience into account in its programming, but a significant portion of its donations are in Canadian dollars.