KPBT-TV


KPBT-TV, virtual channel 36, branded on-air as Basin PBS, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Odessa, Texas, United States and serving the Permian Basin area. The station is owned by Permian Basin Public Telecommunications, Inc. KPBT's studios are located at the Historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Midland, and its transmitter is located near Gardendale.
On cable, KPBT is carried on channel 13 on most systems in the market.

History

The station signed on March 24, 1986 as KOCV-TV. Between 1970 and 1986, PBS programming had to be sold to the Odessa–Midland market's commercial stations on a per program basis.
The station was formerly owned by Odessa College and later by the Ector County Independent School District. Former First Lady Laura Bush was one of the station's 500 original members. The station changed its calls to KPBT-TV in 2006, following transfer to community ownership.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
36.11080iKPBT-HDMain KPBT-TV programming / PBS
36.2480iPBS Kids

Analog-to-digital conversion

KPBT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 38. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 36.