History

Our public media legacy serving Southern California spans over 60 years. Today, we're a multi-platform destination for engaging, educational entertainment. And we’ve unified what began as two separate SoCal public television stations, each with its own unique history.

Community Television of Southern California's KCET-TV (Channel 28) was the first public television station in SoCal. It first broadcast from Hollywood's Historic Mutual-Don Lee Studios in 1964 and was formally dedicated in January 1965. A few years later, KOCE-TV "educational television for Orange County" (Channel 50) began broadcasting, airing as its first program, "The Electric Company," on November 20, 1972.

By then, the non-profit Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) had been created, thanks to the signing of the Public Broadcasting Act by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. The creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) — "America's fourth new network" — soon followed in 1969. KCET became a PBS member station in 1970 with the official launch of PBS. KOCE after its 1972 debut operated for much of its PBS member history as a secondary station, broadcasting from the Golden West College campus in Huntington Beach.

In 1985, KOCE’s volunteer organization, The Friends of KOCE, was formed and had over 100 members ready to support station fundraising and events. In 2004, KOCE become an independent community licensee, owned and operated by the KOCE-TV Foundation that was formed back in 1978 when it was incorporated as a non-profit.

In 2011, KCET became the largest independent public television station in the United States after ending its affiliation with PBS in October 2010. In April of that year, the station sold its 40-year Sunset Boulevard home and moved to a new state-of-the-art facility in Burbank. In 2012, it merged with San Francisco-based independent non-profit media company Link Media to form a new independent public media company with a national reach, KCETLink.

Also in 2011, KOCE became the new flagship PBS station for Southern California, re-branded as PBS SoCal, and expanded its reach into Palm Springs and Santa Barbara.

In 2018, the KCET and KOCE stations came together as one organization — and PBS SoCal and KCETLink merged under the umbrella of the donor-supported, flagship PBS organization Public Media Group of Southern California. As of February 2024, we have united our two stations under a single name: PBS SoCal.

Local Production Highlights:

1968 - Cancion de la Raza drama series debuts, KCET

1969 - ¡Ahora! Mexican American community talk/magazine program debuts, KCET

1969 – Citywatchers debuts, KCET

1969 – The Advocates public policy program debuts, KCET

1971 - Hollywood Television Theater drama series debuts, KCET

1972 – Doin’ It public affairs series on African American community debuts, KCET

1973 – Telecourses in anthropology, psychology and more debut, KOCE

1974 – The Magic of Oil Painting debuts, KOCE

1974 – Orange County Review debuts, KOCE

1976 – 28 Tonight debuts, KCET

1977 – The Cousteau Odyssey debuts, KCET

1977 – Meeting of Minds hosted by Steve Allen debuts, KCET

1980 – Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Journey debuts, KCET

1982 – American Playhouse debuts, KCET

1983 – Huell Howser’s Videolog debuts, KCET

1987 – Trying Times comedy series debuts, KCET

1990 – Visiting...with Huell Howser debuts, KCET

1991 – California's Gold debuts, KCET

1992 – Storytime children’s series debuts, KCET

1992 – Life and Times news and public affairs program debuts, KCET

1995 – Ready to Learn service launches, KOCE

1998 – A Place of Our Own/Los Niños en Su Casa debuts, KCET

2002 – American Family debuts, KCET

2002 – California Connected newsmagazine debuts, KCET

2004 – Tavis Smiley debuts, KCET

2006 – Departures digital series debuts, KCET

2008 – SoCal Connected debuts, KCET

2012 – Artbound debuts, KCET

2014 - Variety Studios: Actors on Actors debuts, PBS SoCal

2016 – Lost LA debuts, KCET

2018 – Earth Focus debuts, KCET/Link TV