media tv 8 channels digital 8 vhf virtual 8 psip subchannels 8.1 pbs 8.2 create 8.3 v me 8.4 houston taping for the blind audio only 8.5 88.7 kuhf hd2 audio only 8.6 88.7 kuhf audio only affiliations pbs owner university of houston university of houston system first air date may 25 1953 call letters meaning university of houston television sister station s kuhf former channel number s analog 8 vhf 1953 2009 digital 9 vhf 2001 2009 former affiliations net 1953 1970 transmitter power 34.3 kw height 578.6 m facility id 69269 transmitter coordinates 29 34 28 n 95 29 37 w 29.57444 n 95.49361 w 29.57444 ; 95.49361 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website houstonpublicmedia.org kuht virtual channel and vhf digital channel 8 is a pbs member television station located in houston texas united states . the first public television station in the united states it is owned by and licensed to the university of houston system . along with npr radio station kuhf it forms houston public media . kuht maintains studio and office facilities are located in the melcher center for public broadcasting on the campus of the university of houston and its transmitter is located in unincorporated northeastern fort bend county near missouri city . as the beaumont port arthur and victoria markets do not have pbs member stations of their own kuht serves as a default station as it is available on cable and satellite providers in both markets . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 pbs era 2 film library 3 digital television 3.1 digital channels 3.2 analog to digital conversion 4 original productions 5 references 6 external links history edit early history edit kuht building in the 1960s . an early station identification . the station was established by dr. john c. schwarzwalder a professor in the radio television department at the university of houston 1 and first signed on the air on may 25 1953 as the first public television station in the united states and one of the earliest member stations of national educational television 2 which eventually merged into pbs . 3 kuht originally operated from the ezekiel w. cullen building on the university of houston campus . its dedication ceremonies were broadcast on june 8 of that year . the station s initial cost was an investment of us 350 000 and had an annual operating budget of about us 110 000 . 4 originally licensed to both the university of houston uh and the houston independent school district uh became its sole licensee in 1959 . the station also offered the university s first televised college credit classes . running 13 to 15 hours weekly these telecasts accounted for 38 percent of the program schedule . most courses aired at night so that students who worked during the day could watch them . by the mid 1960s with about one third of the station s programming devoted to educational programming more than 100 000 semester hours had been taught on kuht . 5 in 1964 kuht moved into new studio facilities located on cullen boulevard which were previously occupied in order by the dumont television network affiliate knuz tv channel 39 now operated by kiah . when knuz tv went dark abc affiliate ktrk tv channel 13 used the facility from ktrk s inception until it moved to bissonnet street . kuht purchased a new transmitter that not only enabled the station to broadcast beyond harris county into its surrounding areas but also to begin broadcasting in color . five years later in 1969 the association for community television was formed to fund kuht . pbs era edit the leroy and lucile melcher center for public broadcasting where kuht is housed . station identification with logo as houston public television used from 1993 until the early 2000s . in 1970 the public broadcasting service pbs the successor network to national educational television began service combining televised educational lectures with popular programs such as sesame street nova and masterpiece theatre that remain pbs staples to this day . the station is also noted in houston for many technical firsts at the local level . in 1981 kuht became houston s first television station to provide closed captioning and 10 years later in 1991 it became the first station in houston to offer descriptive video service audio and other services for the visually impaired as well as bilingual viewers via a secondary audio program feed . in 1982 with assistance from ktrk and independent station kriv channel 26 kuht began operating a new transmitter located near missouri city making it one of several television and radio stations that now broadcast from that location . kuht was known on air as houston public television for many years before adopting the houstonpbs moniker in the early 21st century . from 1993 into the early 2000s kuht s logo also did not include the number 8 but used a logo similar to the ones used by detroit s wtvs and seattle s kcts tv . these stations are members of lark international a public television production company which owns the sunburst on square logo ; however they are not related to each other . kuht s current logo is based on the sunburst portion of that logo . on august 21 2000 kuht moved to its current studios in the leroy and lucile melcher center for public broadcasting on the campus of the university of houston where kuht shares broadcast facilities with public radio station kuhf both owned by and licensed to the university of houston system where the complex is located . the previous facility is now in use by the university s texas learning and computation center . on march 3 2014 kuht along with houston public radio kuhf and classical 91.7 kuha owned by the university at the time now ksbj owned kxng were all rebranded into houston public media . the network dropped the houstonpbs name to assume the new name . film library edit kuht has almost 600 reels of film in its archives some more than 50 years old along with 5 000 videocasettes some dating back more than 30 years . however the archive material is in various states of deterioration with some film already suffering from vinegar syndrome . in september 2010 the texas state library and archives commission granted the university of houston 25 000 for film preservation ; however the funding is only enough to transfer 25 films to digital format with films related to texas taking top priority . 6 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 7 8.1 1080i 16 9 kuht hd main kuht programming pbs 8.2 480i 4 3 kuht sd create 8.3 kuht sd v me spanish 8.4 none n a sis houston taping for the blind radio reading service ; audio only 8.5 none n a classic kuhf hd2 simulcast classical music ; audio only 8.6 none n a 88.7 fm kuhf simulcast npr news ; audio only analog to digital conversion edit kuht s digital signal originally began broadcasting on vhf channel 9 on may 12 2001 . the station discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 8 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 8 the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition vhf channel 9 to former vhf analog channel 8 for post transition operations . 9 10 in 2009 kuht filed with the fcc for construction permits to build low powered digital transmitters in beaumont k24kq channel 24 11 and victoria k29ji d channel 29 12 in order to provide over the air pbs service to both cities . those two consturction permits have expired and kuht has no plans to attempt the build outs at this time 2015 . original productions edit kuht has produced the following original national productions for pbs cucina sicilia 2003 2004 west 175 productions innerviews with ernie manouse mary lou s flip flop shop space station 1999 the story of jesse h. jones 2000 weeknight edition references edit john c. schwarzwalder papers historical note . kuht tv the university of houston s second great vision . houston pbs history cautious progress . time . 1954 07 19 . retrieved 2009 02 22 . houstonpbs history . houstonpbs . retrieved 16 november 2007 . houston chronicle kuht s endangered legacy january 3 2011 . rabbitears tv query for kuht list of digital full power stations ellison david february 6 2009 . consumer watch stations have more dtv work to do . houston chronicle . cdbs print fcc data new channel 24 in beaumont fcc data k29ji d new channel 29 in victoria external links edit houston portal university of houston portal television in the united states portal houston public media query the fcc s tv station database for kuht query the fcc s tv station database for k29ji d victoria translator query the fcc s tv station database for k24kq d beaumont translator biafn s media web database information on kuht tv university of houston buildings collection at the university of houston digital library v t e university of houston academics colleges & schools architecture arts business education engineering hotel and restaurant management law center liberal arts and social sciences natural sciences and mathematics nursing optometry pharmacy social work technology programs hobby school of public affairs honors college moores school of music school of art school of theatre & dance valenti school of communication people renu khator presidents athletics sports baseball football houston tulsa football rivalry men s basketball women s basketball men s golf softball houston rice rivalry facilities athletics alumni center hofheinz pavilion tdecu stadium schroeder park cougar softball stadium carl lewis international complex broadcasting kuht tv 8 kuhf news 88.7 campus a a blaffer art museum cullen boulevard cullen performance hall ezekiel w. cullen building roy g. cullen building energy research park hilton university of houston m.d. anderson library melcher center for public broadcasting moody towers moores opera house police department physics department texas center for superconductivity university oaks cynthia woods mitchell center for the arts student life the cougar the houstonian student video network student government association housing notable cougars traditions cougar fight song cougar paw frontiersmen frontier fiesta shasta spirit of houston v t e television stations in houston the woodlands sugar land english kprc tv 2.1 nbc 2.2 this tv 2.3 heroes & icons kuht 8.1 pbs 8.2 create 8.4 tftb 8.5 kuhf hd2 classical 8.6 kuhf kuvm ld 10.4 revenue frontier 10.5 wizebuys khou 11.1 cbs 11.2 bounce 11.3 justice ktrk tv 13.1 abc 13.2 lw 13.3 laff kvvv ld 15.5 afrocentric network television 15.7 nta ktxh 20.1 mntv 20.2 movies 20.3 decades 20.4 buzzr kvqt ld 21.6 uhn kriv 26.1 fox kuvm cd 34.3 rev n 34.4 retro tv kiah 39.1 cw 39.2 antenna tv 39.3 comet khlm ld 43.2 mbc 43.5 urban houston network 43.8 utn kxln dt 45.3 escape kbpx ld 46.1 zuus country ktmd 47.3 cozi tv kpxb tv 49.1 ion 49.2 qubo 49.3 ion life 49.4 ion shop kyaz 51.6 qvc ktbu 55.6 cctv news kube tv 57.1 ind 57.2 works 57.4 metv kfth dt 67.2 gettv 67.3 grit ethnic spanish kuht 8.3 v me kuvm ld 10.1 silent kvqt ld 21.3 soy latino tv 21.4 2vsion 21.5 punch tvs 21.7 cadena central sur kugb cd 28.6 latv kuvm cd 34.1 mundomax khlm ld 43.1 multi 43.3 tdh 43.6 altavisi n 43.7 milenio kxln dt 45.1 uni 45.2 unim s ktmd 47.1 tmd 47.2 telexitos kyaz 51.1 aza ktbu 55.1 mega 55.3 nacion tv kube tv 57.2 la mera kzjl 61.1 estrella kfth dt 67.1 unim s asian kyaz 51.2 vietface tv vietnamese 51.3 saigon network television vietnamese 51.4 ntd chinese 51.5 mbc d korean 51.7 vietv vietnamese ktbu 55.2 van tv vietnamese