KVPT

KVPT

Fresno–Bakersfield, California United States
City	Fresno, California
Channels	Digital: 32 (UHF) Virtual: 18
Branding	Valley PBS
Programming
Affiliations	18.1: PBS for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Valley Public Television, Inc.
History
First air date	April 10, 1977 (47 years ago) (1977-04-10)
Former call signs	KMTF (1977–1990)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 18 (UHF, 1977–2009) Digital: 40 (UHF, 2004–2018)
Call sign meaning	Valley Public Television
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	69733
ERP	250 kW
HAAT	699.2 m (2,294 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°44′45″N 119°16′55″W / 36.74583°N 119.28194°W / 36.74583; -119.28194
Translator(s)	K18HD-D Bakersfield
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	valleypbs.org

KVPT (channel 18) is a PBS member television station in Fresno, California, United States, owned by Valley Public Television, Inc. Its studios are located on Van Ness Avenue and Calaveras Street in downtown Fresno, and its transmitter is located on Bear Mountain, near Meadow Lakes, California. It is also broadcast in Bakersfield on translator K18HD-D.

The drive to build a public television station in Fresno had lasted nearly 25 years before channel 18 signed on as KMTF in April 1977. After several false starts, an application led by the Fresno County school board and overseen by the school systems of Kings, Madera, Tulare, and Fresno counties—the station's original namesake—put the station on the air, overcoming delays relating to fundraising and an objection by a Mexican American group. In 1987, ownership of the station was spun off by the school board into a community non-profit organization, today known as Valley Public Television. KMTF changed its call sign to KVPT in 1990; that year, it also moved into its present studios, donated by commercial station KSEE. In 1992, it began broadcasting into Bakersfield. The station had one general manager for its first 26 years of operation, but in the 2010s and early 2020s, KVPT has experienced increased management turnover.