Our History
For nearly 60 years, KSPS PBS has served communities across the Inland Northwest and Western Canada with trusted, educational, and inspiring public media.
From our home in Spokane, KSPS PBS reaches an expansive and diverse region that includes major metropolitan areas like Spokane, Calgary, and Edmonton, as well as rural and remote communities across eastern Washington, northern Idaho, western Montana, and Alberta. Our broadcast and digital services connect with approximately two million households across this unique cross-border region.
What makes KSPS PBS truly distinctive is how it is supported. More than 25,000 members, donors who voluntarily choose to give to sustain something they can access for free, form the foundation of our work. Their generosity reflects a deep belief in the value of public media and its role in strengthening our communities.
In 2025, a historic congressional rescission eliminated federal funding for public broadcasting. In response, KSPS PBS has become 100% community supported, an extraordinary milestone that underscores both the challenges we face and the resilience of the audiences we serve.
Today, KSPS PBS delivers four broadcast channels, educational resources for families and classrooms, and locally produced content that reflects and serves our region. Our work continues to be grounded in a simple but powerful idea: that access to trusted information, lifelong learning, and meaningful storytelling should be available to everyone.
As we look to the future, we remain committed to evolving with our communities while staying true to the mission that has guided us for nearly six decades.
1965 | Spokane Public Schools is awarded a facilities grant for the planning and construction of an educational television station, KSHD-TV. Temporary working quarters are located in the basement of Adams Elementary School. |
1966 | KHQ-TV donates land for the transmitter tower, and KREM-TV contributes television equipment. The FCC approves new call letters for the station, KSPS-TV, reflecting its connection with the Spokane Public School District (SPS). Groundbreaking takes place. |
1967 | KSPS-TV, licensed to Spokane Public School District #81, signs on April 24 and begins offering educational programming for eight hours a day. The Public Broadcasting Act establishes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), creating a national framework to support public media. |
1969 | The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is established, and KSPS-TV becomes a charter member. This enables the station to offer new programming beyond school hours. KSPS-TV’s building is completed, and Walt Schaar is appointed General Manager. |
1972 | A Spokane Public Schools levy fails, and severe budget cuts affect the station’s operations. Ethel Grossman, Ron Miller, and Lois Rubens form the Friends of Seven, a nonprofit volunteer organization responsible for raising funds to offset the district’s budget crisis. Two hundred “Friends” join in the first year. |
1974 | PBS and KSPS carry the Watergate hearings “live” from Capitol Hill. The nation watches the proceedings and audiences rush to defend and support their local Public Television stations in the wake of President Richard Nixon’s threat to dismantle the PBS system. |
1975 | The Friends of Seven holds the first in a series of “Action Auctions” and begins airing on-air pledge drives. The organization grows to 4,000 members and raises funds to purchase $629,000 worth of new equipment. These efforts enable KSPS to become one of the first full-color public television stations in the Pacific Northwest. KSPS also receives satellite equipment from PBS, becoming the first station in the Inland Northwest to receive satellite network feeds. |
1976 | PBS stations, including KSPS, initiate closed captioning service for the hearing impaired, setting a new standard for the broadcast industry under Federal Communications Commission authority. |
1977 | Patty Starkey is hired as the station’s new Executive Director of the Friends of Seven. |
1978 | PBS is awarded an Emmy for “Outstanding Engineering Development” for pioneering the development of Closed Captioning technology. |
1980 | Claude Kistler is appointed General Manager of KSPS-TV. |
1981 | KSPS commits to a full-time Public Television schedule. The new schedule requires the purchase of additional programs. The Friends of Seven, now 15,000 strong, raise the necessary funds for new programming. |
1986 | KSPS-TV begins broadcasting stereo television audio. KSPS launches Northwest Profiles. |
1992 | KSPS starts delivering high-quality signals into Alberta and other parts of Canada. |
1993 | KSPS becomes the first station in the Inland Northwest to offer Descriptive Video Service (DVS) for the visually impaired. The station also begins designing a new telecommunications facility, and Channel 40 in Missoula, Montana, is activated. |
1995 | Channel 44 in Coeur d’Alene and Channel 24 in Sandpoint, Idaho are activated. |
1996 | Construction of a new KSPS facility is completed, and staff move into the building. KSPS installs a new transmitter and emergency generator and begins broadcasting 24 hours a day. |
2001 | Friends of Seven begin contributing to raise nearly $5 million to convert KSPS to digital. The transition will take place over several years in several phases. |
2004 | KSPS begins broadcasting a digital High Definition signal along with the analog signal. |
2006 | Ice and wind bring down the main transmission tower and antennas. Cable and satellite viewers retain service, but over-the-air viewers lose access for nearly a month while engineers rebuild. Insurance covers most costs, and Friends of Seven contribute to the remainder. |
2007 | KSPS celebrates its 40th anniversary and begins broadcasting two new digital channels, KSPS World and KSPS Create, available free over the air and on Comcast Cable in Spokane. |
2009 | KSPS turns off its analog signal and broadcasts exclusively in digital. Staff assist hundreds of viewers in transitioning to digital converter boxes and antennas. |
2010 | Friends of Seven changes its name to Friends of KSPS. |
2011 | Gary Stokes is hired as Executive Director of Friends of KSPS. |
2013 | KSPS hosts its first annual FitKids Day a morning of active play for young children. Spokane Public Schools transfers the station’s broadcasting license to Friends of KSPS. Gary Stokes is named President and General Manager of Friends of KSPS. |
2016 | KSPS launches its fourth channel, PBS KIDS 24/7, and introduces KSPS Passport as a member benefit. |
2017 | KSPS celebrates its 50th anniversary with a visit from PBS President Paula Kerger. |
2018 | KSPS conducts a community audit that leads to a long-range strategic plan establishing four mission pillars: Education, Workforce Development, Civic Health, and Arts and Culture. KSPS establishes the Career Explore Northwest program. |
2019 | KSPS rebrands as KSPS PBS and establishes a new growth and impact plan built on four pillars: education, arts and culture, civic health, and workforce development. |
2020 | KSPS PBS leads the local educational response to the global COVID-19 pandemic by making at-home learning resources available to families. In response to the shutdown of live arts performances, KSPS PBS launches its weekly studio concert series, Inland Sessions. |
2021 | KSPS PBS installs a NextGen broadcast transmitter on Krell Hill and launches livestreaming. |
2022 | KSPS PBS launches Civics Bowl, a civics knowledge tournament for high school students. |
2023 | KSPS PBS launches the first Inland Sessions Live concert with four bands at Brick West. |
2024 | KSPS hosts its first annual Future Day to ignite young children's curiosity about the world of work. |
2025 | President Donald Trump issues an executive order to cease federal funding for PBS and NPR, and Congress passes a rescissions act eliminating previously approved funding, eliminating $1.2 million from KSPS PBS’s annual budget. KSPS PBS establishes a new strategic plan centered on creating, curating, convening, and sustaining. Gary Stokes and Dawn Bayman retire, and Shawn Claypool is named Chief Administrative Officer. |
2026 | Skyler Reep is named President and General Manager of KSPS PBS. The executive order to cease federal funding for public media is ruled unconstitutional. |