KIXE-TV


KIXE-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 9, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Redding, California, United States, and also serving Chico. The station is owned by the Northern California Educational Television Association. KIXE's studios are located along North Market Street on the north side of Redding and its transmitter is located atop Shasta Bally.

History

KIXE went on the air in black and white in 1964. In 1967, the station moved from Chico to Redding. It began broadcasting in color in 1971.
The station was originally located on Industrial Street in Redding. It soon expanded to a bigger facility on North Market Street, north of downtown. The new building had space for television broadcasting courses at Shasta College. Many local media personalities have appeared on KIXE over the years like Cal Hunter, Mike Mangas, Ray Roberts, and Ken Murray.

Timeline

1952 - First educational television station, KUHT, goes on air
1954 - KIXE incorporation papers signed
1964 - KIXE signs on air with black and white programs only
1967 - Channel 9 moved from Chico to Redding
1969 - Public Broadcasting Service begins in US
1971 - KIXE begins broadcasting network, color programs
1974 - KIXE begins to originate color programs
1981 - KIXE broadcasts programs with closed captions
1987 - KIXE moves from Industrial Way to North Market Street
1995 - KIXE installs new transmitter
1996 - KIXE broadcasts programs in stereo
1997 - KIXE broadcasts programs with Descriptive Video
2003 - KIXE installs a new digital transmitter and broadcasts programs in digital, simulcasting alongside analog
2008 - KIXE terminates analog broadcast and transmits in digital only, on VHF channel 9
2014 - KIXE celebrates their 50th Anniversary

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
9.1720pKIXE-DTMain KIXE-TV programming / PBS
9.2480iCREATECreate
9.3480iWORLDWorld
First Nations Experience

Chico fill-in translator

Viewers in Chico, Paradise, Oroville, Magalia, Orland, and surrounding areas who had originally had trouble receiving KIXE's digital signal from Redding began to notice a substantial improvement with a new fill-in transmitter on Cohasset Ridge that went online on September 21. The 4,000-watt transmitter is located 200 feet up on a transmission tower and rebroadcasts KIXE's regular programming lineup as well as the CREATE channel. The transmitter is broadcast on Channel 18, but appears on TV sets as Channel 9-1, 9-2 and 9-3.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KIXE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, on August 18, 2008. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to VHF channel 9 for post-transition operations. Translators finally converted on September 1.

Early switch

KIXE is currently broadcasting in a digital format on VHF channel 9. The exclusive digital broadcast began August 22, 2008, well before the then planned transition date in 2009. The early switch was mainly due to the transmission location being covered with snow on the original switchover mandate of February 2009. KIXE became the second all-digital PBS station in California, after KCSM-TV in San Mateo.

Translators

KIXE is rebroadcast on 11 digital translator stations:
The cities served by translators had cable headends nearby.

Local programs

Current shows:
Past shows:
NATURE: Caught In The Act is an online film festival hosted by KIXE, in which viewers filmed footage of wildlife and scenery in Northern California and uploaded it to the dedicated website using YouTube. Eight of the 10 submissions were shown on KIXE on October 18 at 7:30 p.m., right before Nature. The program was part of Film Vista and was hosted by assistant producer Matthew Shoutte. The program featured a variety of locations around Northern California including Lassen National Park, Lava Beds National Monument, and Modoc National Wildlife Refuge.