H.R. No. 648
R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 WHEREAS, Houston public television station KUHT will
1-2 commemorate its 40th anniversary on May 25, 1993, and this
1-3 momentous event will mark a significant milestone in the history of
1-4 American broadcasting; and
1-5 WHEREAS, The world's first educational television station,
1-6 KUHT signed on the air at 5 p.m. on May 25, 1953, introducing the
1-7 citizens of Houston to the limitless potential of the television
1-8 medium to educate, inform, and instruct viewers and to stimulate
1-9 discussion of important local, regional, and national issues; and
1-10 WHEREAS, Under the auspices of the University of Houston,
1-11 today the station's sole licensee, KUHT quickly became a local
1-12 institution; live telecasts of college courses over its airwaves
1-13 enabled students to earn credit at night and, at the same time,
1-14 alleviated overcrowding in university classrooms; and
1-15 WHEREAS, Live programming in the early days was both
1-16 innovative and popular and included newscasts, talk magazine shows,
1-17 and live presentations of student sports, music, and drama events;
1-18 the broadcasts of local school board meetings were especially
1-19 successful, attaining more than 100,000 viewers and fostering
1-20 unprecedented participation in local educational and political
1-21 issues; and
1-22 WHEREAS, American public television's strong legacy of
1-23 documentary filmmaking can be traced to the early efforts of KUHT,
1-24 which by 1954 was winning nationwide acclaim for its films on Texas
2-1 history, traditions, and institutions; and
2-2 WHEREAS, During the 1960s, the station boosted its signal
2-3 range to become a major force in the Houston-Galveston media market
2-4 and acquired advanced broadcasting technology; moreover, the
2-5 visionary producers at KUHT pioneered many of the formats that
2-6 today dominate public and cable television airwaves, including the
2-7 medical news update, the "live town hall meeting," and the local
2-8 political forum; and
2-9 WHEREAS, This innovative station again took the lead when, in
2-10 1969, the newly created Corporation for Public Broadcasting began
2-11 to distribute both programming and funding to local public
2-12 television stations throughout the United States; the high cost of
2-13 airing these new national programs prompted KUHT to establish the
2-14 Association for Community Television, a board of Houstonians who
2-15 organized tele-auctions, membership drives, and other fund-raising
2-16 activities; and
2-17 WHEREAS, By 1978 the station was reaching nearly
2-18 300,000 households and ranked 14th in the nation among 270 public
2-19 television stations, and during the next decade it instituted a
2-20 wide range of programs and broadcast services for its expanding
2-21 viewership; KUHT produced more local cultural and public affairs
2-22 programs and documentaries than ever before, expanded its signal
2-23 range with a new 2,000-foot tower, introduced descriptive video
2-24 services for the visually impaired, and was the first Houston
2-25 station to broadcast in high fidelity stereo; and
2-26 WHEREAS, Poised to enter another 40 years of community
2-27 partnership, KUHT has embarked on a campaign to raise $12 million
3-1 for a new state-of-the-art broadcast facility; the station is
3-2 already looking forward to the needs of Southeast Texas during the
3-3 21st century and plans to introduce new educational and information
3-4 services that use fiber optics, telephone lines, cable outlets, and
3-5 high-definition technology; and
3-6 WHEREAS, A pioneer in the broadcasting field for four
3-7 decades, KUHT has fulfilled the promise of public television by
3-8 entertaining, enlightening, and informing its viewers, and its many
3-9 exceptional accomplishments are indeed worthy of special
3-10 legislative recognition; now, therefore, be it
3-11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas
3-12 Legislature hereby congratulate Houston public television station
3-13 KUHT on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and commend its
3-14 employees and volunteers for their outstanding contributions to the
3-15 community of Houston and the State of Texas; and, be it further
3-16 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
3-17 prepared for the staff of television station KUHT as an expression
3-18 of highest esteem by the Texas House of Representatives.
3-19 prepared for the staff of television station KUHT as an expression
3-20 of highest esteem by the Texas House of Representatives.
3-21 Coleman
3-22 H.R. No. 648
3-23 _______________________________
3-24 Speaker of the House
3-25 I certify that H.R. No. 648 was adopted by the House on May
3-26 7, 1993, by a non-record vote.
3-27 _______________________________
4-1 Chief Clerk of the House