Arizona PBS (KAET) is the PBS member station in Phoenix, a member-supported community service of Arizona State University whose signal and translators reach about 80 percent of Arizona homes with news, public affairs, education, arts and children's programming.
Arizona PBS is the PBS member television station for Phoenix and much of Arizona, broadcasting as KAET on channel 8. It signed on from the Arizona State University campus on January 30, 1961 (the call letters stand for Arizona Educational Television) and is a member-supported community service of ASU, licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents. The station works from the building it shares with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus and is an affiliate of ASU Media Enterprise.
Its signal, relayed by 13 translator stations across central, northern and southwestern Arizona, reaches about 80 percent of the state's homes. Arizona PBS runs four broadcast channels (the main PBS service, Arizona PBS Life, PBS World and Arizona PBS KIDS) along with livestreams and the PBS app. Local productions include the daily public affairs program Arizona Horizon, on the air since 1981, the Hispanic community-focused Horizonte, AZ Votes election coverage and debates, Check, Please! Arizona and documentaries about the state's people, places and history. Its Education and Community Impact team, with members based around the state, connects families and educators with early learning resources, events and workshops.
Central Sound at Arizona PBS is the station's Emmy-winning audio and media production unit. It records classical, choral, jazz and other acoustic performances on location, including in Dolby Atmos and other immersive formats, and produces concert video, podcasts, post-production and mastering for public radio, public television, streaming services and commercial release. Arizona PBS also offers production services to outside clients.
Arizona PBS hires for news and public affairs, content production, audio engineering, education and community outreach, fundraising and membership, programming and operations. Staff are ASU employees eligible for the university's benefits, including a tuition waiver for employees and dependents, and the station posts every staff opening on ASU's jobs site. As part of the Cronkite School's teaching hospital model, it also employs students in broadcast television roles.
