please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message this article relies largely or entirely upon a single source . relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources . april 2010 the lead section of this article may need to be rewritten . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . use the lead layout guide to ensure the section follows wikipedia s norms and to be inclusive of all essential details . april 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message montana pbs statewide montana united states channels digital see article subchannels xx .1 pbs xx .2 pbs kids xx .3 create xx .4 pbs world xx .5 tvmt simulcast affiliations pbs owner montana state university the university of montana montana university system first air date october 1 1984 1984 10 01 licensing authority fcc public license information pbs profile pbs cdbs website www.montanapbs.org montana pbs is the public broadcasting service pbs member public television state network for montana . it is a joint venture between montana state university msu and the university of montana missoula um . the network is headquartered in the visual communications building on the msu campus in bozeman montana with a separate studio on the um campus in missoula . the network comprises six stations flagship kusm tv channel 9 in bozeman ; full power satellites kufm tv channel 11 in missoula kbgs tv channel 16 in billings kuhm tv channel 10 in helena kugf tv channel 21 in great falls and kukl tv channel 46 in kalispell and a network of 60 low powered repeaters in montana . kusm and kuhm are licensed to msu kufm to um and kbgs kugf and kukl to the board of regents of the montana university system . contents 1 history 2 programming 3 stations 3.1 translators 4 digital television 4.1 digital channels 4.2 analog to digital conversion 5 satellite 6 references 7 external links history edit kusm signed on for the first time on october 1 1984 making montana the last state with an educational station within its borders 14 years after mississippi became the last state east of the mississippi river with its own pbs station . the transmitter was donated by montana broadcasting pioneer joe sample . msu didn t have enough funding at the time to support a public television station and the gallatin valley didn t have nearly enough people at the time for viewer supported public television . station engineers switched to and from the signal of kued in salt lake city for most pbs programming until 1987 . prior to 1984 montana viewers had to rely on cable for pbs programming . depending on the location cable systems in western montana piped in ksps tv in spokane or krma tv in denver while cable systems in eastern and central montana piped in prairie public television from north dakota or kued . ksps and krma still operate translators in montana . additionally some commercial stations in montana including ktvq in billings and kfbb in great falls carried sesame street and may have carried other pbs programs besides . also in 1987 kusm was added to tci s cable systems in central and eastern montana completely replacing kued in that part of the state by 1990 . um had won a construction permit for kufm tv in 1992 but had trouble getting on the air until 1996 . um and msu joined forces to form montana pbs which broadcast for the first time as a network on new year s day 1997 . montana pbs s third full powered station kbgs tv in billings signed on in late 2009 . the fourth full powered satellite kugf in great falls signed on in fall 2010 . kukl tv in kalispell followed in 2011 . the network has expanded rather slowly relying mainly on cable and satellite coverage for its viewership . this didn t pose as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance as cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in most of montana . on july 1 2015 gray television announced that it would donate the license assets of helena cw affiliate kmtf to montana state university for integration into the montana pbs system as its sixth full power station the station s cw plus programming will continute to be carried on a subchannel of nbc affiliate ktvh which gray sold to cordillera communications in correlation to the deal . 1 the station re called kuhm tv will improve reception in areas around helena unable to receive that city s local translator k49eh d. programming edit most of the local programs such as backroads of montana 11th and grant and montana ag live as well as montana historical documentaries and current event programs are created by independent producers for montana pbs . due to a strong program for journalism and radio television at um and for documentary filmmaking at msu many of the network s local programs are produced by students . some of the montana made programming is also available on line . stations edit map all coordinates using osm map all coordinates using google map up to 200 coordinates using bing export all coordinates as kml export all coordinates as georss export all coordinates as gpx map all microformatted coordinates place data as rdf station city of license channels digital vc1 first air date erp haat facility id licensee callsign meaning transmitter coordinates kusm tv bozeman 8 vhf 9 october 1 1984 17.9 kw 271 m 43567 montana state university montana state university reversed 45 40 24 n 110 52 2 w 45.67333 n 110.86722 w 45.67333 ; 110.86722 kusm tv kufm tv missoula 11 vhf 11 1996 12.3 kw 633.8 m 66611 the university of montana university of montana 46 48 9 n 113 58 21 w 46.80250 n 113.97250 w 46.80250 ; 113.97250 kufm tv kbgs tv billings 16 uhf 16 late 2009 29.8 kw 167.1 m 169030 the board of regents of the montana university system billings 45 46 9.2 n 108 27 26.3 w 45.769222 n 108.457306 w 45.769222 ; 108.457306 kbgs tv kugf tv great falls 21 uhf 21 fall 2010 23.4 kw 152.7 m 169028 the board of regents of the montana university system montana state university great falls 47 32 9.2 n 111 17 2.1 w 47.535889 n 111.283917 w 47.535889 ; 111.283917 kugf kukl tv kalispell 46 uhf 46 fall 2011 23.4 kw 830 m 169027 the board of regents of the montana university system montana state university kalispell 48 0 48.2 n 114 21 54.5 w 48.013389 n 114.365139 w 48.013389 ; 114.365139 kukl tv kuhm tv helena 29 uhf 10 august 15 1998 joined montana pbs september 1 2015 43.4 kw 697 m 68717 montana state university montana state university helena montana 46 49 29.6 n 111 42 12.6 w 46.824889 n 111.703500 w 46.824889 ; 111.703500 kuhm tv notes 1 . virtual channel psip . translators edit montana pbs operates one of the largest translator networks in montana . montana state university holds licenses for k17kb d 6.85 kw belgrade k20hb 51.2 kw billings k43du d 18.2 kw butte k49eh d 12.7 kw helena montana state university has also applied for translators on channels 16 5 watts kalispell and 51 150 kw great falls . digital television edit digital channels edit the digital signals of montana pbs stations are multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 3 4 5 6 xx .1 1080i 16 9 montana pbs main programming pbs xx .2 480i 4 3 montana k pbs kids xx .3 montana cr create xx .4 montana world pbs world xx .5 montana l tvmt simulcast analog to digital conversion edit montana pbs stations shut down their analog signals on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television station s in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital channel allocations post transition are as follows 7 kusm tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 9 ; the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 8 . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 9 . kufm tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 11 ; the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 27 to vhf channel 11 . satellite edit montana pbs is available free to air on amc 21 125 w ku band satellite television . 8 references edit gray in 4 new deals closes 3 earlier ones . tvnewscheck . newscheck media . july 1 2015 . retrieved july 2 2015 . rabbitears tv query for kusm rabbitears tv query for kufm rabbitears tv query for kbgs rabbitears tv query for kugf rabbitears tv query for kukl dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . amc21 free to air satellite feeds lyngsat external links edit montana pbs terra podcast query the fcc s tv station database for kusm query the fcc s tv station database for kufm query the fcc s tv station database for kbgs query the fcc s tv station database for kugf query the fcc s tv station database for kukl query the fcc s tv station database for k17kb d query the fcc s tv station database for k20hb query the fcc s tv station database for k43du query the fcc s tv station database for k49eh d biafn s media web database information on kusm tv biafn s media web database information on kufm tv biafn s media web database information on kbgs tv biafn s media web database information on kugf tv biafn s media web database information on kukl tv v t e university of montana schools and colleges college of arts and sciences college of education and human sciences college of forestry and conservation college of health professions and biomedical sciences college of technology school of business administration school of journalism school of law college of visual and performing arts campuses university of montana missoula university of montana helena college of technology montana tech of the university of montana university of montana western athletics montana grizzlies and lady griz football brawl of the wild little brown stein washington grizzly stadium men s basketball women s basketball dahlberg arena soccer dornblaser field marching band monte up with montana historic buildings and landmarks university hall forestry bld . schreiber gym rankin hall social science bld . fine arts bld . the oval the m trail memorial row the payne family native american center student life student organizations international program noted people mike mansfield jeannette rankin harold urey carroll o connor media camas cutbank montana kaimin montanan kbga 89.9 fm montana public radio montana pbs category portal v t e montana state university affiliates montana state university bozeman msu billings msu northern great falls college montana state university athletics basketball football bobcat stadium worthington arena football rivalry fight song media kglt kusm kuhm knmc 90.1 fm related center for biofilm engineering honors college montana state university jake jabs college of business and entrepreneurship montana state university library museum of the rockies office of the provost the graduate school at montana state university trout and salmonid collection yellowstone public radio v t e television stations in southwestern montana including bozeman and butte butte kxlf 4.1