KIXE-TV
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KIXE-TV, channel 9, is the digital-only PBS member station in the Sacramento Valley of California. The station broadcasts to ten California counties, including: Shasta County, Modoc County, and Colusa County. The IX in KIXE is for the Roman numeral 9.
History
KIXE went on the air in black and white in 1964. In 1967 the station moved from Chico, California to Redding, California. In 1971, the station started broadcasting in color.
Their initial Redding location was on Industrial Street, but when it was running out of room and needed to be expanded, they moved to a bigger facility on North Market Street, aka State Route 273, north of downtown. The facility also was the host building for television broadcasting courses at Shasta College. Many local media personalities have appeared on KIXE over the years like Cal Hunter, Mike Mangas, Ray Roberts, Ken Murray and others to urge viewers to support public television. It is currently ran by Director Of Content, Rob Keenan.
Digital Television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 9.1 | PBS HD/main KIXE schedule |
| 9.2 | Create |
Chico fill-in Transmitter now on the air
Viewers in the Chico, Paradise, Oroville, Magalia, Orland and surrounding areas who have had trouble receiving KIXE’s digital signal from Redding should notice a substantial improvement now that a new fill-in transmitter on Cohasset Ridge went online Monday September 21st. The 4,000-watt transmitter is located 200 feet up on a transmission tower and is rebroadcast KIXE’s regular programming lineup as well as the popular CREATE channel. The transmitter is broadcast on Channel 18 (a UHF signal) but viewers’ TV sets should “see” it as Channel 9-1 (KIXE’s traditional lineup) and 9-2 (CREATE). Chico and surrounding area viewers will need to rescan their digital TV sets or their digital converter boxes to receive the new,closer signal.
Analog-to-digital conversion
On August 18, 2008, KIXE terminated analog transmitter and four days later turned on its full-power digital transmitter using the old analog antenna. Translators finally converted on September 1.
Early Switch
KIXE is only broadcasting in a digital transmission format on VHF channel 9 effective August 22, 2008, according to KIXE's official website. This is mainly due to the transmission location, being covered with snow on the official DTV switchover mandate of February 2009 (which is six months after KIXE will be fully digital). KIXE becomes the second all-digital PBS station in California, after KCSM-TV in San Mateo (which serves the San Francisco Bay Area).
Cable Systems
KIXE in SD is on cable channel 9 on all the cable systems listed below.
| Cable Provider | Area | 9.1 (HD) | 9.2 (Create) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comcast | Butte & Glenn Counties | 9 (SD) & 909 (HD) | 199 (coming soon) |
| Charter (soon to be Comcast) | Shasta & Tehama Counties | 9 (SD) & 789 (HD) | 289 |
| New Day Broadband | Palo Cedro/Weaverville/Quincy | 9 (SD) | Coming Soon |
| Northland | Mt. Shasta & Yreka | 9 (SD) & 402 (HD) | Coming Soon |
| Windjammer | Burney | 9 (SD) & 709 (HD) | Coming Soon |
| CalNeva Broadband | Chester & Lake Almanor | 9 (SD) | Coming Soon |
As with all other public television stations, Dish Network and DirecTV do not offer KIXE in HD.
New Day Broadband is currently in the process of upgrading the cable systems to a hybrid coaxial/fiber-optic network in Palo Cedro, Weaverville, and Quincy to accommodate digital cable, HDTV, DVR service, high-speed internet, and telephone service; so in the meantime, the cable systems remain analog only and KIXE (in Palo Cedro and Weaverville) is only offered in analog standard definition; as for Quincy, KIXE will replace KVIE on the recently acquired Quincy system. CalNeva Broadband in Lake Almanor offers digital cable, but does not currently offer high definition of any sort but will offer it in the near future.
Like many other HD channels on Charter Cable in Redding, KIXE-DT can be picked up on basic cable by connecting the cable directly into an HDTV with a built-in QAM tuner, channel 105.1; Create is on 105.5. It can also be picked up the same way on Comcast Cable in Chico, corresponding directly to the over the air number.
Rebroadcasters
KIXE is rebroadcast on eleven[1] digital translator stations:
- Plumas County, California (Sacramento market)
- K63DP Channel 63 Chester (NOT digital nor in FCC database and no longer on-air)
- Shasta County, California
- K14HX-D Channel 14 Lakehead/Shasta Lake Area (58 watts)
- K28DB-D Channel 28 Fall River Mills/Burney Basin (66 watts)
- K06ET Channel 6 Big Bend (NOT digital nor in FCC database and no longer on-air)
- Trinity County, California (K02EE and K05CR are licensed to Trinity County Office of Education)
- K02EE-D Channel 2 Weaverville (15 watts)
- K05CR-D Channel 5 Hayfork (7 watts)
- K28CY-D Channel 28 Lewiston (14 watts)
- K39DG-D Channel 39 Trinity Center (59 watts)(TEMPORARILY OFF-THE-AIR)
All of the cities served by the translators except Canby and Big Bend have once had a cable headend nearby; many of the smaller cable companies in smaller towns have gone out of business. The towns with cable companies today all carry KIXE on cable channel 9 and are also virtually mapped to channel 9 using PSIP. KIXE uses digital translators for all the cable systems because the station does not collect fees from the cable systems, but instead from its members.
Local programs
- "Northstate Profile" - a weekly public affairs program
- "Jobs" - a continuing series on employment
- "Seeking Solutions" - a public affairs program on drug abuse
- "Love Thy Neighbor" - a public affairs special about tolerance
- "Why a Will is Not Enough" - a public affairs special regarding estate planning
NATURE: Caught In The Act
NATURE: Caught In The Act is an online film festival hosted by KIXE, in which viewers from their 10-county viewing area were able go out and film footage of wildlife and scenery in Northern California and upload them to the dedicated website using Youtube. 8 of the 10 submissions were shown on KIXE on October 18 at 7:30 P.M., right before Nature. The program was part of Film Vista and was hosted by assistant producer Matthew Shoutte.
The program featured a variety of locations around Nothern California including Lassen National Park, Lava Beds National Monument, and Modoc National Wildlife Refuge. Another festival will be held in Spring 2010.[2]
Featured Videos
- Stealhead Salmon (Brian Swierczynski)
- Badger Pups At Play (Lon and Kat Yarbrough)
- Caves Of Lava Beds (Brian Swierczynski)
- Lizard Lunch (Tristan Howard)
- Lassen Wildlife & Activity (Brian Swierczynski)
- Postcards From Modoc (Lon and Kat Yarbrough)
- Lassen Fantastic Lava Beds (Brian Swierczynski)
- Duckling Dawn (Tristan Howard)