Television
KCSM-TV first signed on the air on October 12, 1964; the station was founded by Dr. Jacob H. Wiens, chair of the electronics department at the College of San Mateo.[2] It was originally a member station of National Educational Television until 1970, when that service was succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). During its early years, broadcasting on UHF channel 14, it operated on campus from black and white studios with 13,800 watts of power from a transmitter at the college, comparable to today's low-power stations. In 1979, KCSM reached a deal with Spanish International Network station KDTV to begin operating from its full-power color facilities and moved to channel 60 atop San Bruno Mountain's Radio Peak on March 5, 1979; KDTV in turn moved to channel 14.
KCSM ceased regular programming on its channel 60 analog signal on May 15, 2004, due to a costly rent increase for full-power transmitter space.[3] The station ran a billboard for the next several days advising viewers that they would only operate its digital signal from then on, though it continued to be available through cable. KCSM shut down its analog signal nine days later, on May 24. On May 3, 2005, KCSM received special temporary authority from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restore its analog signal at low power, operating on the campus of the College of San Mateo.[4] It briefly simulcast the Jazz TV (60.3) feed for two hours every evening, with the rest of the broadcast day being a simulcast of KCSM radio, but later offered only the simulcast (with relevant video "bulletin board" screens).
In March 2006, the FCC levied a $15,000 fine against KCSM for content in the documentary, The Blues: Godfathers and Sons, which the station had aired in March 2004.[5] The series documented the birth and worldwide influence of the blues as a musical genre. One installment contained interviews with artists and others who expressed their feelings of oppression by the music industry, including the use of variations of the words "fuck" and "shit". The FCC determined the content to be "indecent". According to the FCC, "The gratuitous and repeated use of this language in a program that San Mateo aired at a time when children were expected to be in the audience is shocking."[6] Within days of the decision, law firms from across the country offered their services pro bono to fight the ruling. Because of the upswell of support, KCSM requested an extension of time to file its appeal.
KCSM dropped its membership with PBS in 2009,[7] and became an independent public television station. KCSM-TV retained an affiliation with MHz Worldview for programming feeds on its second digital subchannel.
Sale
On December 7, 2011, the San Mateo County Community College District announced plans to sell KCSM-TV, due to budgetary constraints as well as an operating deficit of $1 million. KCSM radio would continue operations as usual.[8] All bids in response to the initial request for proposals to purchase the television station were rejected on October 24, 2012,[9][10][11] and the district subsequently issued a second request for proposals. On May 15, 2013, the district approved an agreement with LocusPoint Networks, who would provide a $900,000 annual subsidy for up to four years and then split the proceeds of an auction of its spectrum allocation.[12] The KCSM-TV spectrum was expected to be sold for upwards of $10 million to wireless communication companies.
On July 15, 2013, KCSM dropped most of the programming syndicated by public television distributors (with the exception of those airing as part of a discrete afternoon block), moving the MHz Worldview feed to its main channel.
As KPJK
On September 7, 2017, Sonoma County public television station KRCB (channel 22) announced that it would acquire KCSM-TV for $12 million.[13] The Rural California Broadcasting Corporation applied to change the station's call letters to KPJK;[14] the call letters were chosen to honor John Kramer, a professor at Sonoma State University who founded KRCB with his wife, Nancy Dobbs, in 1984.[15] On October 24, LocusPoint Networks filed a lawsuit to block the sale to KRCB, claiming that the sale was not valid and violated its contract with KCSM-TV.[16]
On July 31, 2018, KRCB took control of KCSM-TV and the call letters were changed to KPJK.[15][17]
