At that time, the only programs for children were features such as Kukla Fran & Ollie, Captain Video, Watch Mr. Channel 9’s First Local ProductionsĬhannel 9’s first focus in local production was to provide better children’s programming than what was currently available on the networks. Membership became and remains Channel 9’s primary source of revenue. This time, when door-to-door collections failed to provide the necessary funds, Channel 9 began to solicit $10 memberships, and financial stability was ultimately restored. The mural’s title said it all: “Education Through Television.” Channel 9 Acquires Membersįinancial trouble struck again in the late 1950s, and Channel 9 was forced to reduce staff, cancel evening programming, and go off the air during the summer. Louis artist Fred Conway was commissioned to paint a mural in the entrance. Baer and named in honor of his parents, the Julius and Freda Baer Memorial building was the first in the nation to be constructed specifically for educational television, and it would remain Channel 9’s home for the next 43 years. Only one year after its first broadcast, Channel 9 moved into its own building on the northwest edge of the Washington University campus. It has made an excellent beginning.”Ĭhannel 9 Moves into the Julius and Freda Baer Memorial Building It has demonstrated its enormous potential value as a means of improving the quality of instruction in our schools, of providing our young people with helpful entertainment, and of bringing to a significant adult audience stimulating and unfettered discussions of public affairs and the elements of liberal education. Louis Civic Progress, said: “KETC has become an important community institution. Six months after Channel 9 went on the air, Powell B. After a welcome from Martin Quigley, and the station’s board chairman, Arthur Holly Compton, Channel 9 broadcast its first program, The Second Opportunity, a play that dramatized the necessity of free thought in society. on September 20, 1954, Channel Number 9 went on the air in a black-and-white broadcast from a temporary studio in the women’s gymnasium of Washington University’s McMillan Hall. By the fall of 1954, Channel 9 was ready for its first broadcast. Schools were so eager for televised programs in classrooms that 25 school districts offered to pay Channel 9 for its services at $1 per student. Support came from the community when PTA members from more than 100 school districts went door to door to raise the $100,000 Channel 9 needed. Channel 9 received its KETC call letters from the FCC, but needed additional funds move forward. Filmmaker Charles Guggenheim was appointed general manager, but by the time of Channel 9’s first broadcast, Martin Quigley had assumed the position. Baer, president of Stix Baer and Fuller, and Ray Wittcoff, a promising young businessman. Also on the committee were the Reverend Paul C. Among the influential founding members of the commission was Arthur Holly Compton, president of Washington University and a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. The three years leading up to Channel 9’s first broadcast were challenging, but the need for educational television had been recognized, and the community was determined. The Community Makes the Concept a RealityĬommunity support was critical to Channel 9 from its inception. It was in this spirit that the founders of KETC/Channel 9 initiated educational television in St. In the years following World War II the nation began to flourish in a spirit of optimism and growth that saw a progressive effect in business, education, and culture. By 1970 it would increase by an additional 35%. Louis metropolitan area was soaring and the economy was on the rise. Louis Regional Educational Television Commission, the population of the St. Louis mayor Joseph Darst appointed a committee that would become the St. The vision, commitment, collaboration, funding, and process required to make their concept a reality inspires Channel 9’s strategy for the future. Those visionary citizens also believed that television could be supported by the community in the service of the community. Louis citizens who realized that television – a relatively new public medium – had the potential to strengthen civic life. It was a concept that required the vision of St. Louis Community as an innovative means to provide public education and dialogue on topics that affected civic life.
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