National Educational Television
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Net.JPG
National Educational Television (NET) was an educational television network in the USA from 1952 until 1969. It was the predecessor of PBS.
NET was founded in 1952 by a grant from the Ford Foundation. It was originally a limited service for exchanging and distributing educational programs produced by local television stations to other stations. In 1954 it expanded its goals, becoming a network and airing 5 hours of programming a day. Initially, many of the stations were not linked by coaxial cable and much of the programming was shipped on film. The programming was noted for treating subjects in depth including hour long interviews with people of literary and historical importance. The programming was also noted for being dry and academic, with little consideration given to entertainment value in marked contrast to commercial television. Many of the shows were designed as adult education, and NET was nicknamed "The University of the Air".
In 1958 National Educational Television headquarters moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to New York City and more aggressive programming was undertaken to secure for NET the role of the USA's fourth television network (with CBS, NBC, and ABC). At this time NET also started importing programming from the BBC.
Starting in 1963, NET began to air controversial, hard-hitting documentaries that explored numerous social issues of the day such as poverty and racism. While praised by critics, many NET affiliates, especially those in conservative markets, objected to the perceived liberal slant of the programming.
Funding for NET came into question in 1966 when the Ford Foundation decided to begin withdrawing financial support. The US government intervened and created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967 to fund NET for the time being. However, the CPB's intent was to create their own public broadcasting network. This was done because many NET affiliates were alienated by the programming and if NET controlled the programming and broadcast it, a conflict of interest would result. PBS first came on the air in 1969, with NET producing several shows. However, NET's refusal to stop airing controversial documentaries (especially those that were critical of the government) led to the decision of the CPB and the Ford Foundation to shut down NET.
In 1969 the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation threatened to withdraw their funding to the NET network if it did not merge with Newark, New Jersey public broadcaster WNDT-TV Channel 13 (now WNET-TV). In late 1970 NET and WNDT-TV completed their merger and the National Educational Television Network permanently signed off the air. NET shows such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood continued to air on PBS and are still broadcast today.
See also
External links
- NET page on museum.tv (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/N/htmlN/nationaleduc/nationaleduc.htm)