By the fall of 1954, Channel 9 was ready for its first broadcast. Schools were so eager for televised programs in classrooms that 25 school districts offered to pay Channel 9 for its services at $1 per student. Support came from the community when PTA members from more than 100 school districts went door to door to raise the $100,000 Channel 9 needed. Channel 9 received its KETC call letters from the FCC, but needed additional funds move forward. Filmmaker Charles Guggenheim was appointed general manager, but by the time of Channel 9’s first broadcast, Martin Quigley had assumed the position. Baer, president of Stix Baer and Fuller, and Ray Wittcoff, a promising young businessman.
Also on the committee were the Reverend Paul C. Among the influential founding members of the commission was Arthur Holly Compton, president of Washington University and a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. The three years leading up to Channel 9’s first broadcast were challenging, but the need for educational television had been recognized, and the community was determined. The Community Makes the Concept a RealityĬommunity support was critical to Channel 9 from its inception. It was in this spirit that the founders of KETC/Channel 9 initiated educational television in St. In the years following World War II the nation began to flourish in a spirit of optimism and growth that saw a progressive effect in business, education, and culture. By 1970 it would increase by an additional 35%. Louis metropolitan area was soaring and the economy was on the rise. Louis Regional Educational Television Commission, the population of the St.
Louis mayor Joseph Darst appointed a committee that would become the St. The vision, commitment, collaboration, funding, and process required to make their concept a reality inspires Channel 9’s strategy for the future. Those visionary citizens also believed that television could be supported by the community in the service of the community. Louis citizens who realized that television – a relatively new public medium – had the potential to strengthen civic life.
It was a concept that required the vision of St. Louis Community as an innovative means to provide public education and dialogue on topics that affected civic life.
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