Louisiana Public Broadcasting

PBS member network serving Louisiana

Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations serving the U. S. state of Louisiana. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television Authority, an agency created by the executive department of the Louisiana state government which holds the licenses for six of the seven PBS member stations licensed in the state. Louisiana Public Broadcasting's studio facilities and offices are located on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. The network serves most of the state outside Greater New Orleans. That market's PBS member station, WYES TV (channel 12), is the only PBS station in Louisiana that is not associated with LPB; a noncommercial independent station there, WLAE TV (channel 32), is part owned by LPB in order to provide the market with the state network's news and public affairs programming.

Louisiana became one of the first states in the Deep South with an educational television station licensed to the state when KLSE signed on from Monroe on March 1, 1957. Louisiana State University professor Lucille Woodward had urged Governor Robert Kennon to create an Educational Television Commission as part of the State Department of Education, and KLSE was intended as the first station in a statewide educational television network along the lines of Alabama Educational Television (now Alabama Public Television). However, KLSE signed off the air in 1964. For the next eleven years, the only area of the state with a clear signal from a National Educational Television or PBS station was New Orleans, which was served by WYES TV. That station had signed on one month after KLSE, but was separately owned and operated. Woodward continued to urge the Louisiana State Legislature not to drop the idea of educational television service in the state during the 1960s. Finally, in 1971, the recently created Louisiana Educational Television Authority approved the money to build and sign on the stations. On September 6, 1975, WLPB TV in Baton Rouge debuted as the state's first PBS member station outside New Orleans. Five more stations launched throughout the state, extending LPB's signal to portions of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas: KLTM TV in Monroe signed on in September 1976, followed by KLTS TV in Shreveport in August 1978, KLPB TV in Lafayette, KLTL TV in Lake Charles in May 1981 and finally, KLPA TV in Alexandria in July 1983. In 1985, Shreveport native and longtime Baton Rouge resident Beth Courtney was named president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, a capacity she remains in to this day. LPB began broadcasting in stereo in 1990. In 2001, LPB launched a cable only channel, LPB Kids & You, on cable channel 11 in Baton Rouge. The channel, a predecessor to LPB 2, aired children's programming during prime time (atypical for PBS stations, which normally air children's programs only during the daytime hours) and adult and creative programs during the daytime hours. When PBS You and PBS Kids ceased operations in 2005, the channel became LPB Plus and expanded its cable coverage to Lafayette. In 2008, the service changed its name to LPB 2. Since 2009, Louisiana Public Broadcasting has added records of digitized audiovisual recordings to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting via external links to the Louisiana Digital Media Archive.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting's flagship news program is Louisiana: The State We're In, which debuted in 1976. For nineteen years, political consultant, raconteur, and author Gus Weill hosted the acclaimed Louisiana Legends program on the state network. Among the original programs that LPB has produced includes Evangeline, which was broadcast by PBS stations throughout the United States and educational stations in Canada in 2000. A Taste of Louisiana and one of Justin Wilson's cooking series were also produced by LPB. LPB carries, as well as produces, programs distributed by PBS, American Public Television and other distributors. In April 2016, LPB announced a content partnership with TFO, a French language public broadcaster owned by the Canadian province of Ontario, under which it will supply fourteen hours per week of French language children's programming for airing on LPB2. The partnership is designed to appeal to Louisiana's strong French heritage and French immersion programs.

During coverage of major hurricanes affecting the state (as has happened with Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Gustav in 2008), LPB's Baton Rouge facilities are used by New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL TV (channel 4) as a backup studio to provide additional news coverage from the station inland, and act as the station's main set should WWL TV be unable to broadcast from its Rampart Street facilities in New Orleans. As part of this agreement, WWL's coverage airs across the entire LPB network to provide a statewide conduit for news and information from a well established news organization.

In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, LPB started "Learning@Home" in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education. The goal is to help students in grades Pre K through 12 stay at home more educated and productive.

Station City of license Channels(RF/VC) First air date Third and fourthletters ofcallsign meaning ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Public license information WLPB TV Baton Rouge 25 (UHF)27 1975 09 06 Public Broadcasting 355 kW 38586 KLTM TV Monroe 13 (VHF)13 1976 09 08 Television Monroe 17.2 kW 38589 KLTS TV Shreveport 17 (UHF)24 1978 08 09 Television Shreveport 350 kW550 kW (CP) (CP) 38591 KLPB TV Lafayette 23 (UHF)24 1981 05 13 Public Broadcasting 137.4 kW 38588 KLTL TV Lake Charles 20 (UHF)18 1981 05 05 Television Lake Charles 131.4 kW 38587 KLPA TV Alexandria 33 (UHF)25 1983 07 01 Public Alexandria 572 kW 38590

Louisiana Public Broadcasting's stations shut down their analog signals at 7:00 a. m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The stations' digital channel allocations post transition are as follows:
WLPB TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27; the station's digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 27. KLTM TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre transition UHF channel 19 to VHF channel 13. KLTS TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 24; the station's digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 24. KLPB TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 23; the station's digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 24, using virtual channel 23. KLTL TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18; the station's digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 20, using virtual channel 18. KLPA TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 26; the station's digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 26. As a result of the FCC spectrum auction, KLPA TV and KLTS were to change channels in their respective markets again; KLTS will be on channel 17, and KLPA TV is now on channel 33.