Michelle Layton (left) delivers the live, local news on KVHC-TV, the hill country’s low-power television station. Fredericksburg residents can receive the station on UHF over Channel 15. Photo by Phil Houseal

Details:
KVHC-TV is broadcast on cable systems in Ingram and Kerrville. Fredericksburg residents can receive the signal on UHF Channel 15. Information at www.kvhc.com.

webmaster: phil@fullhouseproductions.net

Live & Local

by Phil Houseal
9/23/2009

Did you know we in the hill country have our own local TV station?

With all the brouhaha recently over the switch from analog to digital broadcasting, folks forgot about the UHF band, which is still functioning, and still the home of KVHC-TV Channel 15.

This low-power station is a pearl on the necklace of low-power stations serving communities coast to coast.

Mary Silver helped establish KVHC in 1995. Every day she hears from people who depend on the station for local news.

“One of the biggest surprises is the number of people in the area who have neither satellite nor cable,” she said. “We are the only television they get. They depend on us, especially for weather and news info. I hear something from people every day on the coverage we have and what it means to them.”

Kirk Kellar, Sales Manager, notes there are many low power television stations around the country. Most serve small communities and rural areas, but some stations mix it up with network outlets in urban areas. KVHC has been able to procure one of the “major players” in the network field. Since September, Channel 15 has begun broadcasting RTV (Retro TV). Once again we can enjoy the classic sitcoms of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s such as Leave It To Beaver, McHale’s Navy, The A Team, and Kojak.

“I think it has some of best shows ever made, in many cases preferable to what’s on TV today,” Silver said. “We are getting lot of feedback from viewers that these are some of their favorite shows ever.”

But the real value of local TV is the original programming. KVHC programs an ambitious daily lineup of live shows. Every day they offer an hour of live community information and local news at noon, which is rebroadcast at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The weekend brings Sun Up Saturday at 8 a.m., followed by Organic Matters - a gardening show - at 9 a.m. On Sunday morning KVHC broadcasts local church services. New locally produced shows include Showcase on the Move, featuring real estate issues; Wannabe Chef, a cooking show sponsored by Albertson’s; and The Showcase, which Keller describes as a cross between HGTV and Dirty Jobs - he has baked bread, plastered a wall, and run a backhoe.

The station’s newest locally-produced show is Sunrise 15, a daily morning show from 7 to 8 a.m. helping families start their day with news and information.

The coverage is mostly over Kerrville, but it laps into the surrounding area, including Medina, Bandera, and the fringes of Fredericksburg. Reception at a particular home depends on weather and terrain. (You can learn details of receiving a UHF channel at their web site www.kvhc.com)

As the world heads toward more web-based distribution of media, there is still a place for old-fashioned local television. Keller points out that never will you find out about local floods, fires, and football by watching the San Antonio or Austin news markets.

“Even many of the radio stations are automated, with limited local personnel,” he said. “We have someone here all the time, so we can break into regular programming to notify people of street closings, flash floods, and other breaking stories.”

He noted that KVHC was the only broadcaster reporting on the recent straight-line winds that tore through the area, and the station received credit for helping locate a missing child by issuing a local Amber Alert.

“In any situation that is developing where the public needs a visual, TV is the only way to go,” Silver said. “We are the place people turn to, knowing we will be there to give them that information so they will know what is going on.”