KBTC-TV

KBTC-TV

Tacoma–Seattle, Washington United States
City	Tacoma, Washington
Channels	Digital: 27 (UHF) Virtual: 28
Branding	KBTC PBS
Programming
Affiliations	28.1: PBS for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Bates Technical College
History
First air date	September 25, 1961 (63 years ago) (1961-09-25)
Former call signs	KTPS (1961–1979) KTPS-TV (1979–1980) KTPS (1980–1992)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 62 (UHF, 1961–1982), 28 (UHF, 1982–2009)
Former affiliations	NET (1961–1970)
Call sign meaning	Bates Technical College
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	62469
ERP	100 kW 575 kW (CP)
HAAT	220 m (722 ft) 231 m (758 ft) (CP)
Transmitter coordinates	47°16′43.4″N 122°30′46.4″W / 47.278722°N 122.512889°W / 47.278722; -122.512889
Translator(s)	see § Translators
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.kbtc.org
Satellite station
KCKA
Centralia, Washington
Channels	Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 15
Programming
Affiliations	15.1: PBS for others, see § Subchannels
History
First air date	October 2, 1982 (42 years ago) (1982-10-02)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 15 (UHF, 1982–2009)
Call sign meaning	Centralia, Kelso and Aberdeen[2]
Technical information[3]
Facility ID	62468
ERP	187 kW 353 kW (CP)
HAAT	347 m (1,138 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	46°33′15″N 123°3′30″W / 46.55417°N 123.05833°W / 46.55417; -123.05833 (KCKA)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

KBTC-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as a member of PBS. Owned by Bates Technical College. KBTC-TV maintains studios and transmitter facilities separately in Tacoma, with studios on South 19th Street and the transmitter on North 35th Street. KBTC-TV is also broadcast on KCKA (channel 19) in Centralia, serving areas to the south and west of the Tacoma transmitter, and three other translators, one of them in central Seattle.

KBTC-TV is the secondary PBS member for the Seattle–Tacoma market. Through PBS' Program Differentiation Plan, KBTC-TV carries only 25% of the programming broadcast by the network.^[4] The market's primary PBS member, KCTS-TV (channel 9) in Seattle, carries the remaining 75%. In addition to reaching a local over-the-air audience, KBTC-TV is available on Comcast Cable in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, and in many areas of southwestern Washington.

KBTC-TV was established by Tacoma Public Schools as KTPS on UHF channel 62 in 1961. A major facility upgrade in the early 1980s moved the station down the UHF dial to channel 28 and increased its broadcast range by adding a translator station. KTPS became KBTC after Bates Technical College was split from the school system in 1991.