KCETLink Vice President Talks Going Independent

KCET announced in October 2010 that it would be leaving PBS to become the largest independent public television station in the nation. KCET broadened its scope even further through international partnerships and a dedication to global news coverage. The station merged with Link TV two years later to become the national organization KCETLink.

Bohdan Zachary, KCETLink's senior vice president of broadcasting, programming & syndication, said that the station showed what it was capable of achieving as the nation's largest independent public media source in 2011 during "dramatic and unexpected world events," including the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

KCET partnered with NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting organization, and broadcast its live newscasts of the environmental disaster in March.

"We did that for days, bringing Southern California viewers an unprecedented first-hand look at what was happening halfway around the globe," Zachary said.

A viewer-supported 501c(3) organization, KCETLink's content is distributed nationally via satellite on DIRECTV (ch. 375) and DISH Network (ch. 9410), and in Southern and Central California via broadcast and cable. The programming provides a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in U.S. media. KCET continues to expand its reach today through various digital distribution platforms.