Inside OPB
From our President
The Digital Switch: Making the Right Choice for You
It's hard to believe, but the switch to digital television in February 2009 is only a few months away… and OPB wants to ensure you have the right information to make the choice that best fits your needs, your location and your budget.
Read on for a look at three basic options for how you can go digital today. For more information and resources, including downloadable fact sheets and a video on your DTV options, visit our DTV NOW Web site.
Choosing Free Over-the-Air TV
In the world of digital TV, the highest quality picture and the most OPB program options are available for free over the air with an indoor or outdoor antenna.
If you're within range of one of OPB's full-power transmitters in Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, Bend or La Grande, and if you get a good TV signal using an antenna now, you'll most likely get the highest quality picture over-the-air with an antenna. Find out more
If you watch OPB on one of our many translators that span the state, this improved digital quality will soon reach you, too. Over the next year or so, digital OPB will expand to the Oregon coast, the Gorge and eastern Oregon as we upgrade our translator network. Find out more
All it takes to prepare is a small, inexpensive digital converter box for your conventional analog TV. The one-time cost is just $10-$30 per box with a coupon provided by the federal government. How to get a converter box
If you elect to upgrade to a new TV, it will already have a digital tuner installed and you will not need a converter box. With a digital converter box or a new TV, you'll enjoy a sharper picture and all of the additional OPB channels – all free, with no monthly subscription fees.
Choosing Cable TV
There are many cable systems throughout Oregon, each with different capabilities. No matter where you live, if you have a conventional analog TV set and you subscribe to a basic level of cable service, you will continue to receive OPB's main digital channel with your monthly fee. To receive OPB's additional digital channels, your cable company may charge you additional fees. For the majority of cable subscribers, if you elect to upgrade to a new HDTV, you'll be able to receive OPB's HD channel and OPB's additional digital channels with your basic monthly fee. Be sure to check with your cable provider to confirm the options available to you.
Choosing Satellite TV
If you subscribe to DirecTV, you will continue to receive one OPB digital channel with your monthly fee. You will not be able to receive any of the additional OPB digital channels available by antenna or cable. If you subscribe to Dish Network, you will be charged an extra fee to receive OPB and other local TV channels.
We're Here to Help
If you have questions about how best to receive digital OPB, we can help. Call us weekdays at 800.241.8123, contact us through our online form or find out more online at our DTV NOW Web site.
Steven M. Bass
President and CEO
Our Mission
Oregon Public Broadcasting: giving voice to the community, connecting Oregon and its neighbors, illuminating a wider world.
OPB Management
- Steve Bass
- President & CEO —
- Jeff Douglas
- Senior VP & Station Manager —
- Dan Metziga
- Senior VP, Development —
- Lynne Clendenin
- VP, Radio Programming —
- Dave Davis
- VP, National TV Production —
- Tom Doggett
- VP, TV Programming —
- Jan Heskiss
- Chief Financial Officer —
- Morgan Holm
- VP, News and Public Affairs —
- Don McKay
- VP, Engineering —
- Lynne Pollard
- VP, Interactive Services —
- Debbie Rotich
- VP, HR and Administration —
- Tara Taylor
- VP, Marketing & Planning —
OPB Board of Directors
- Chair
- Sherwin Davidson
- Vice Chair
- Andrew Franklin
- Secretary/Treasurer
- Jim Huston
- Board Members
- Mary Bryant
- Julie Strasser Dixon
- Leda Garside
- Avel Gordly
- Geoff Guilfoy
- Tinker Hatfield
- Dian Hilliard
- Jodie Hueske
- Jeff Iwasaki
- Sydney Joyner
- Henry Lorenzen
- Sheryl Manning
- Keith Mobley
- Mitchell Moore
- Ron Saxton
- Peter Schenck
- Elizabeth Schwartz
- Howard Shapiro
- Jenny Ulum
- Tony Van Vliet
- Al Vermeulen
- Ex-Officio
- Steven M. Bass
- CAB Chair
- Tom Hampson
- OPB Board Liaison
- Brenda Barton —
Board of Directors Meeting Schedule
All meetings are open to the public and held at OPB unless otherwise noted. The schedule below is subject to change. Please to confirm meeting times and dates or to get more information.
- March 2008
- March 4, Tuesday: Board meeting, 1:30-3:30pm (Appy Room)
- June 2008
- June 3, Tuesday: Board meeting, 1:30-3:30pm (Appy Room)
- September 2008
- September 9, Tuesday: Board Retreat, TBD
- December 2008
- December 2, Tuesday: Board meeting, 1:30-3:30pm (Appy Room)
- March 2009
- March 3, Tuesday: 12:15pm
- June 2009
- June 2, Tuesday: 12:15pm
- September 2009
- September 8-9: Board Retreat, TBD
- December 2009
- December 8, Tuesday: 12:15pm
Milestones in OPB History
- 1922
- KFDJ-AM radio is created as part of a physics experiment at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University, in Corvallis.
- 1930s
- KFDJ becomes KOAC, with studios in Covell Hall at Oregon State University. Studios at Covell are still used.
- 1957
- OPB’s first television station, KOAC-TV, goes on the air.
- Early 1960s
- Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. transfers ownership of its FM frequency to OPB and KOAP-FM (now KOPB) begins broadcasting.
- 1979
- The Oregon Commission on Public Broadcasting is established. In 1981 OPB leaves the Department of Higher Education and becomes an independent state agency.
- 1988
- OPB moves into its new facility on SW Macadam Avenue after its successful building campaign.
- 1989
- Oregon Considered, OPB's own Pacific Northwest news magazine, is first broadcast.
- Early 1990s
- Membership exceeds 100,000.
- 1990
- Oregon Field Guide begins production.
- 1993
- OPB becomes a private, nonprofit corporation with ongoing financial support from the State of Oregon.
- 1997
- OPB Radio's program format is refined to include more news and information.
- OPB installs Oregon’s first digital transmitter, taking a critical first step in the digital television transition.
- 2000
- Oregon Art Beat begins production.
- OPB loses all state funding.
- 2002
- OPB's World of Learning Digital Campaign raises $22 million.
- 2003
- History Detectives season 1 premieres for PBS.
- 2005
- OPB brings StoryCorps -- a national project inspiring Americans to record one another's stories in sound -- to Portland. Local residents visit the mobile StoryBooth to share their stories for broadcast on OPB Radio and preservation at the Library of Congress.
- 2006
- Oregon Experience, OPB's local television series exploring key people, places and events in our state's history, premieres.
- OPB, FRONTLINE and the Oregonian join forces to examine the methamphetamine epidemic through television specials (FRONTLINE: The Meth Epidemic, Meth: The Oregon Front), radio programs and online resources.
- 2007
- OPB TV celebrates its 50th anniversary.
- OPBnews.org -- an expanded news and information Web site -- launches.
- OPB invites community members from around the Northwest to help cover the news by signing up for the Public Insight Network.
- 2008
- opbmusic.org, an online music service encouraging conversation and connection between OPB and our community of local music fans, launches.
- Think Out Loud, OPB's local online and daily radio broadcast, premieres.
- KOPB-AM (1600) Eugene begins providing OPB Radio's news and information service.
- OPB and its community partners begin a statewide, multiplatform campaign to increase awareness about the impact of invasive species, featuring The Silent Invasion: An Oregon Field Guide Special, an invasive species online hotline and numerous outreach opportunities.
- Time Team USA, a new archaeology program for PBS, begins production.
More information about OPB
- PDF downloads
- OPB Member Report (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KEPB-October 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOAB-October 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOAC-October 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOPB-October 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KTVR-October 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KEPB-July, 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOAB-July, 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOAC-July, 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KOPB-July, 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Quarterly Activity Station Report-KTVR-July, 2008 (PDF)
- DTV Consumer Education Quarterly Activity Report (PDF)
- Annual EEO Report, 2008 (PDF)
- Form 990 — FY08
- Independent Auditor's Report and Financial Statements — FY08
- Emergency Alert System
- OPB has been designated the “State Primary” for the Emergency Alert System, initiating messages informing other broadcasters, viewers and listeners of a wide variety of emergencies including tsunamis, floods and Amber Alerts.
- Oregon Public Broadcasting:
- 7140 SW Macadam Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97219-3099 - Business Hours:
8am-5pm Mon-Fri - 503.244.9900
- Map & Directions
- Thanks to our sponsors:
