About KIXE
KIXE-TV is a not-for-profit, community, public television corporation with the responsibility to serve the interest, convenience, and necessity of its viewing communities. Among its many educational missions, KIXE is charged to utilize new telecommunications technology to enhance the station's ability to serve the communities located in the ten-county area of superior California.
EDUCATE - ENLIGHTEN - ENTERTAIN
KIXE broadcasts only in digital VHF channel 9 at 15-thousand watts and covers a 130 mile radius that includes ten California counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity. Today, KIXE is one of the most watched TV stations in this area. Some 33% of KIXE's budget comes in the form of a federal grant. The balance is derived from program underwriting, auction, members, and other fundraising activities. The station serves more than 500,000 people with more than 74,000 television households tuning in to Channel 9 each and every week.
Hello, from the new G.M.
By Philip Smith- General Manager
Hello to all the folks that make up the North State and to lovers of decent television everywhere.
My name is Philip Smith and I’m the newly arrived General Manager for KIXE-TV.
To say that I’m excited to be here is the understatement of the year. My family and I traveled 2000 miles to live in a place where the sense of “community” is as strong as the mountains are beautiful; a good place to raise a family.
I started this journey 26 years ago when I took my first television job in Louisville, KY as a studio camera operator. I’ve always loved local TV production and worked in commercial stations in Lexington, KY, Nashville, TN, Tampa, FL and Birmingham, AL as a director and then, manager.
In 2006, one of my sons asked me a most embarrassing question. “Dad”, he asked, “how come we never watch the TV station you work for”? I realized that I wanted to be proud of the programming I helped create and deliver, and a few months later, the Smith family was on its way to Austin, TX and PBS.
Austin is a great place to live, but it has nothing on the North State cities and towns where the sense of “community” takes me back to my own hometown roots.
While television has helped make the world seem smaller, it has also eroded the interests and values that give each of our homes the unique flavor that makes them special.
It is my dream that KIXE’s programming and increased community involvement will balance the amazing things to see around the world with the comfortable, local things that make the North State special.
I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions on how KIXE-TV can improve and continue as a place that you feel proud about watching with your friends and family. Call me at KIXE or email me at psmith@kixe.org with your suggestions, comments and encouragements.
Philip
