KLCS

KLCS, channel 58, is a noncommercial educational television station located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The station is licensed to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and is one of eight television stations in the U.S. that is operated by a local school system. KLCS's studios are located in downtown Los Angeles, adjacent to Downtown Magnets High School, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.

KLCS is one of three Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the Los Angeles television market; the others are KVCR-DT (channel 24) in San Bernardino and KOCE-TV (channel 50) in Huntington Beach (which, in 2011 replaced KCET as the primary PBS station in Los Angeles). KLCS is the fifth most-watched public television station in the country.

History

Pre-KLCS years (1957–1973)

In October 1957, the Los Angeles Unified School District began producing televised instructional programs to be viewed in school by students. By the 1966-67 school year, it was producing over 700 television programs per year for broadcast on various local stations in the Los Angeles area and leasing airtime to broadcast 40 hours of instructional programming Monday through Friday each week. Over the years, the district earned the support of teachers and administrators who were impressed with the effectiveness of the programs on the learning experience in the classroom.