LPB History

The date of September 6, 1975 probably doesn’t mean much to you, but here at Louisiana Public Broadcasting it marked the culmination of three years of planning and hard work. At 11:58 on that morning, WLPB-TV signed on in Baton Rouge as the flagship of what was then the newest public television state network.

For LSU Professor and Educational Television activist Lucille Woodard, the move to get educational television in the state was almost a crusade. She began pushing for educational television in Louisiana in the early 1950s and even got Governor Robert Kennon to create a short-lived Educational Television Commission during his term. After decades of frustrated efforts to bring public television to the entire state of Louisiana, the Television Authority in 1971 approved the money needed to start the state network. After almost three years of preparations led by Executive Director Max Fetty, Mrs. Woodard had the honor of flipping the switch on September 6, 1975 to let Baton Rouge viewers get their first glimpse of Mr. Rogers and the people on The Electric Company.

Unfortunately, Fetty never got a chance to see WLPB go on the air because he died a few months before the sign on. “We saw this television station as an extension of education for the state of Louisiana,” said Elise Rosenthal, one of the original LETA Board members and a former president of the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. “We worked really hard to spread this message and get people excited about it. And they were.”

LPB’s first home was in the Louisiana Department of Education building in Downtown Baton Rouge. The first studio had a giant pillar in the center which made it rather difficult to shoot wide shots. Necessity being the mother of invention, this unattractive support beam became an integral part of every LPB production. “It was an old square concrete post so we put about a three foot base around it, put posters on it, lit it, and used it as part of our first festival in 1977,” retired LPB Producer Ken Fowler said.

Through the help of KNOE-TV owner James A Noe who let LPB use his tower, KLTM-TV13 was the second station to go on the air in the state network. Shreveport (KLTS-TV24) signed on in 1978, Lafayette (KLPB-TV24) and Lake Charles (KLTL-TV18) signed on in 1981 and KLPA-TV25 in Alexandria went on the air in 1983 to complete the network. LPB has also entered into a partnership with WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans which gives us a presence in the Crescent City.

It wasn’t long before LPB started producing its own public affairs shows to inform the people of Louisiana and help bring the unique history and flavor of Louisiana to the rest of the country. Louisiana: The State We’re In was started in 1976 with current Executive Director/CEO Beth Courtney as host, producer and interviewer. The only statewide magazine in Louisiana has garnered almost every journalism and public affairs award during its 27-year history. Charlie Whinham and Robin Ekings continue to bring you the news you need to know and interesting features about the people and places which make our state such a fun and unique place to live.

Documentaries about Louisiana and its unique politicians have always been a major part of LPB’s locally produced programming. LPB combined with rising filmmaker Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball) to produce Huey Long. Other award-winning documentaries produced or co-produced by LPB have included Uncle Earl and Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics.

The state’s rich musical history was chronicled in the blues documentary Rainin’ in My Heart and The Last Hayride told about the historic Louisiana Hayride which launched the careers of Elvis Presley and Hank Williams among many others.

Author Ernest Gaines (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) was the subject of Ernest Gaines: Louisiana Stories. Recent award-winning documentaries produced by LPB include Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard, the story of jazz photographer Herman Leonard; The Forest Where We Live, an urban forestry program narrated by Sam Waterston of Law and Order; and Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening, a biography of 19th century Louisiana writer Kate Chopin narrated by Kelly McGillis.

LPB’s biggest project to date debuted in September 2003. That’s when the six-part series Louisiana: A History premiered in the year of the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Check out www.louisianahistory.org for more information.

We certainly haven’t been resting on our laurels. Local productions have included the LPB co-production American Utopia, the tale of the longest running socialist colony in U.S. history, D-Day Plus 50: The Louisiana Story about Louisiana veterans who fought at D-Day, Against the Tide: The Story of the Cajun People in Louisiana which follows the story of the Cajun people over the last four centuries and our continuing nostalgia series Lost Louisiana.

Our first nationally syndicated show was Justin Wilson’s Louisiana Cooking. We currently produce A Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse, and Ms. Lucy's Classic Cajun Culture and Cooking. LPB soon began distinguishing itself with other local productions including Louisiana Legends, which spotlights well-known people from and connected with the Bayou State.

LPB’s ability to do local productions was enhanced when it moved from its cramped Education Department quarters to the LPB Telecommunications Center on Perkins Road in 1986. “It’s truly amazing to see how far we’ve come — from two rooms and a basement studio to this state-of-the-art telecommunications center,” Mrs. Rosenthal said.

Education has always been the focal point of LPB’s mission. LPB has produced a long list of award-winning educational programs including The Power of Algebra, Savalot’s Energy Secrets, ABCs of Spanish, Dr. Dad’s Ph3, LegalEASE, and Enviro-Tacklebox™ in addition to numerous other in-service programs and college credit courses for educators.

It seems like it was just yesterday that Louisiana Public Broadcasting made its debut, but thanks to the generous support of Friends like you it has been a wonderful adventure that continues to grow into an amazing future.