Celebrating 50 Years
1980
The New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe erupts in the bloodiest prison riot in American history, and
KNME-TV’s Rick Johnson and newsman Ernie Mills of REPORT FROM SANTA FE, join the negotiation team as the first media
representatives allowed inside. The station supplies videotape of the riot and technical support to the networks
for their nightly news programs.
MYSTERY! Premieres with host Gene Shalit.
The KNME-TV premiere of ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.
Carl Sagan in COSMOS
KNME-TV produces ROLY POLY BLUES, in cooperation with the UNM Medical School, looking at the problem of obesity.
John Williams is named the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, replacing the late Arthur Fiedler.
The premiere of the KNME-TV public affairs series MACROLEN with Hal Rhodes.
The premiere of COSMOS, a 13-part series with astronomer Carl Sagan looking at the history and future of
astronomy and space exploration.
KNME-TV receives its first membership award from PBS recognizing the station’s success in fund raising and
community support.
THE SHAKESPEARE PLAYS presents “Hamlet” with Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart as Claudius.
PBS introduces CLOSED CAPTION service for the hearing impaired on several national programs. A decoding device
is required for the captions to appear on the screen.
A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WITH LUCIANO PAVAROTTI is presented for the first time as a part of the December pledge
drive.
1981
Premiere of KNME-TV’s daily public affairs series THE ILLUSTRATED DAILY with host Hal Rhodes.
Vincent Price becomes the host of MYSTERY!
NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT debuts.
1982
AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE debuts with an adaptation of John Cheever’s “The Shady Hill Kidnapping.”
LIFE ON EARTH with Richard Attenborough premieres.
GREAT PERFORMANCES presents “Brideshead Revisted” starring Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons.
KNME-TV’s award-winning documentary “Memories of Hell,” featuring New Mexico survivors of the Bataan Death March, is presented as an ILLUSTRATED DAILY special.
1983
KNME-TV celebrates its 25th anniversary with several special events, including an open house, a young people’s concert featuring the cast of MR.ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD and the Albuquerque Youth Symphony, and appearances by WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW’s Paul Duke and Mark Russell.
KNME's 25th Anniversary
READING RAINBOW premieres with host LeVar Burton.
DR. WHO makes his Albuquerque premiere.
THE MacNEIL/LEHRER REPORT expands from a half-hour and becomes THE MacNEIL/ LEHRER NEWSHOUR.
The 13-part series VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HIISTORY premieres.
In conjunction with Ft. Worth Productions, KNME-TV presents THE SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL nationally on PBS.
THE CHEMICAL PEOPLE, a national out-reach effort with host Nancy Reagan, is broadcast.
KNME-TV becomes home to the Western Satellite Uplink Center, providing satellite uplink facilities to telecommunications organizations, educational institutions and business and industry.
THE McLAUGHLIN GROUP Premieres
1984
The series SMITHSONIAN WORLD premieres. The series is hosted by former UNM Scholar in Residence David McCollough and features the Sandia Peak Tram and balloonist Ben Abruzzo.
THE McLAUGHLIN GROUP premieres.
ABOVE AND BEYOND, the award-winning documentary featuring five former Vietnam War POWs, is broadcast as a special presentation of THE ILLUSTRATED DAILY.
The acclaimed feature film “Testament” makes it television premiere as part of AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE.
1985
FRONTLINE presents the documentary “A Class Divided.” In the days following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Iowa school teacher gives an important lesson against hatred by segregating her class. Nearly 20 years later, the students remember.
Jeremy Brett makes his first appearance as Sherlock Holmes on MYSTERY!
Sen. Jeff Bingaman hosts a closed-circuit teleconference on the future of the mining industry.
KNME-TV broadcasts DRINK, DRIVE, DIE: SADD from Moriarity High School. The special is a co-production with KOB-TV.
HOW GREAT THOU ART, an expedition into the New Mexico wilderness with six “environmental” artists, is presented by KNME-TV.
Community support exceeds 50 percent of the station’s annual operating budget for the first time.
MASTERPIECE THEATRE presents “The Jewel in the Crown.”
1986
NOVA premieres.
“Anne of Green Gables” premieres on WONDERWORKS.
The KNME-TV public affairs series ON ASSIGNMENT premieres.
A.C. Nielsen and Co. reports that KNME-TV is the most-watched public television station in the nation during prime time for the July 1986 reporting period. In its history, KNME is consistently one of the most-watched public television stations in the nation.
KNME-TV hosts the “AIDS” in the Workplace” teleconference in conjunction with UNM’s Division of Continuing Education, the Robert O. Anderson Schools of Management, and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
PBS introduces Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS), a national outreach campaign in conjunction with ABC television.
In response to falling math scores, The Children’s Television Workshop launches SQUARE ONE TV, showing kids the importance of math in everyday life. TAKE FIVE, KNME TV’s program guide is honored as the best program guide in the PBS system.
1987
EYES ON THE PRIZE, a six-part history of the civil rights era, premieres.
KNME-TV presents ONE TAKE, a ten-part series featuring slice-of-life vignettes presented without editing.
KNME-TV presents the UNM Medical School special LEARNING MEDICINE: THE NEW MEXICO EXPERIENCE, looking at UNM’s innovative practice of placing students in the field to practice medicine as they learn. The curriculum is adopted by other medical schools.
KNME-TV follows an Albuquerque police officer through several “routine” calls in the documentary BLACK & WHITE.
KNME produces MONUMENTS TO FAILURE:AMERICA’S PRISON CRISIS hosted by the New York Times‘ Tom Wicker. The documentary, videotaped in seven states, is later presented nationally by PBS.
1988
Bill Moyers presents JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH.
The ten-part BRADSHAW ON: THE FAMILY debuts on KNME-TV.
PBS presents the ten-part series TELEVISON, a history and analysis of the medium.
Three new studio cameras replace 15-year old equipment.
KNME-TV produces the Emmy and Corporation for Public Broadcasting award-winning documentary BEHIND THE PICKET FENCE on domestic violence.
KNME-TV hosts local business leaders for “Child Care America” teleconference in conjunction with the special program WHO CARES FOR THE CHILDREN?
KNME-TV begins stereo service.
KNME-TV presents the Take Five Holiday Gallery and Art Sale featuring the New Mexico artists whose works have graced the covers of TAKE FIVE.
1989
KNME-TV presents A SERVING OF PUNCH, a look at the origins of the Punch and Judy puppet shows, with local puppeteer Michael McCormick.
Edward James Olmos stars as Jaime Escalante in the acclaimed AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE presentation “Stand and Deliver.”
Diana Rigg succeeds Vincent Price as the host of Mystery!
KNME-TV is chosen as one of five public television stations in a study of the effectiveness of educational outreach activities.
KNME-TV viewer Melissa Edmonds of Los Lunas wins a trip to New York to participate in SESAME STREET’s 20th anniversary celebration.
KNME-TV celebrates the art, history and culture of New Mexico with the premiere of the series COLORES!
The University of New Mexico celebrates its centennial with the magazine series SECOND CENTURY.
MIDDLE OF THE END, produced by Dr. Ben Daitz of the UNM Medical School and Barry Kirk, looks at the care of terminally ill patients.
MASTERPIECE THEATRE presents “A Tale of Two Cities.”
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Through the Decades
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1958
On May 1, KNME-TV signs on with a broadcast of UNM professor Edith Buchanan’s freshman English class. The station operates from a converted sorority house that later becomes the home of UNM’s Speech and Communications Department.
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1962
Joyce Marron, host of KNME-TV’s TV KINDERGARTEN, is awarded McCall Magazine’s Golden Mike Award for Outstanding Achievement by a woman broadcaster.
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1976
The MacNeil/Lehrer Report with co-anchors Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer is distributed nationally for the first time.
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1983
READING RAINBOW premieres with host LeVar Burton.
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1992
SURVIVING COLUMBUS, the story of the Pueblo people’s 450-year struggle for survival, is broadcast nationally on PBS on Columbus Day.
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2000
Gwen Ifill took over as moderator of Washington week, and the name was shortened to Washington week.
