Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this 1971 news segment, KTVF reporter Larry Holmstrom introduces viewers to the brand-new KUAC-TV educational television station in Fairbanks, Alaska. With $425,000 in federal grants from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, KUAC became the first public television station in Alaska.
Holmstrom tours the new facilities, located in the University of Alaska Fairbank’s Fine Arts Building next to the KUAC-FM radio station. He highlights the installation of Ampex color studio cameras, a 151-foot antenna tower on a ridge above Farmers Loop Road, and a 5,000-watt transmitter capable of delivering 50,000 watts of effective radiated power.
Holmstrom interviews Don Upham, Television Coordinator, who describes KUAC’s initial programming plans: children’s shows at 5 p.m., adult programming in the evenings, and series programming provided by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including "Firing Line" with William Buckley, "The Great American Dream Machine," and "The French Chef" with Julia Child.
He also speaks with Dr. Charles Northrip, director of the university’s Division of Media Services, who explains how the station will serve as a hands-on training ground for students in television production, announcing, and broadcasting. Students had already staffed productions such as a taped excerpt of The Nutcracker Ballet.
This footage captures the time just before KUAC-TV’s official sign-on on December 22, 1971, offering a rare look at the beginnings of public television in Interior Alaska. The KUAC-FM radio station had been established in 1962 (Color/Sound/16mm film).
This segment is from AAF-6064 of the KTVF-TV collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
In this 1971 news segment, KTVF reporter Larry Holmstrom introduces viewers to the brand-new KUAC-TV educational television station in Fairbanks, Alaska. With $425,000 in federal grants from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, KUAC became the first public television station in Alaska.
Holmstrom tours the new facilities, located in the University of Alaska Fairbank’s Fine Arts Building next to the KUAC-FM radio station. He highlights the installation of Ampex color studio cameras, a 151-foot antenna tower on a ridge above Farmers Loop Road, and a 5,000-watt transmitter capable of delivering 50,000 watts of effective radiated power.
Holmstrom interviews Don Upham, Television Coordinator, who describes KUAC’s initial programming plans: children’s shows at 5 p.m., adult programming in the evenings, and series programming provided by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including "Firing Line" with William Buckley, "The Great American Dream Machine," and "The French Chef" with Julia Child.
He also speaks with Dr. Charles Northrip, director of the university’s Division of Media Services, who explains how the station will serve as a hands-on training ground for students in television production, announcing, and broadcasting. Students had already staffed productions such as a taped excerpt of The Nutcracker Ballet.
This footage captures the time just before KUAC-TV’s official sign-on on December 22, 1971, offering a rare look at the beginnings of public television in Interior Alaska. The KUAC-FM radio station had been established in 1962 (Color/Sound/16mm film).
This segment is from AAF-6064 of the KTVF-TV collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
