National Educational Television
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National Educational Television (NET for short) was an educational television network in the USA from 1952 until 1970 and was the predecessor of the Public Broadcasting Service.
The network 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."
The network's headquarters moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to New York City in 1958 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 they also began importing programming from the BBC. Starting in 1963, NET began to air controversial (for that time) hard-hitting documentaries that explored numerous social issues of the day such as poverty and racism. While praised by critics, many affiliates, especially those in conservative markets, objected to the perceived liberal slant of the programming.
In 1966, NET's funding came into question when the Ford Foundation decided to begin withdrawing financial support. The U.S. government intervened and created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967 to fund the network for the time being; however, the CPB's intent was to create its own public broadcasting network. This was done because many NET affiliates were alienated by the programming and if they controlled the programming and broadcast it, a conflict of interest would result. PBS first signed on in 1969, with NET producing several shows. However, their refusal to stop airing controversial documentaries (especially those that were critical of the government) led to the decision of both the CPB and the Ford Foundation to shut NET down. In 1969 both CPB and the Ford Foundation threatened to withdraw their funding if it did not merge with Newark, New Jersey public broadcaster WNDT-TV Channel 13 (now WNET-TV). In October, 1970 NET and WNDT-TV completed their merger and the network ceased operations. Shows that began on NET such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood continue to air on PBS today.
The NET acronym has since been revived twice – first in the 1990s, as National Empowerment Television, a political talk network that has since gone silent; and in 2005, when Nebraska ETV and Nebraska Public Radio was united under a single name: Nebraska Educational Telecommunications.
Indiana was the only state which never had a NET affiliate.
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