National Educational Television

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The color NET logo was incorporated into a model building at the beginning and end of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1969 to 1970.

The NET color logo as seen at the end of the first episode of Sesame Street, as well as other shows such as Washington Week, from 1969 to 1970.

National Educational Television was an educational television network in the USA from 1952 until 1970 when it was replaced on October 5, 1970 by PBS.

The network was founded as the Educational Television and Radio Center (ETRC) in November of 1952 by a grant from the Ford Foundation's Fund for Adult Education. It was originally a limited service for exchanging and distributing educational programs produced by local television stations to other stations. It did not produce any material by itself.

In early 1954 ETRC moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and on May 16 of that year it began its operation as a "network". It put together a daily five hour package of programming, releasing it primarily on kinescope film to the affiliated stations by mail. The programming was noted for treating subjects in depth, including hour long interviews with people of literary and historical importance. The programming was also noted for being dry and academic, with little consideration given to entertainment value in marked contrast to commercial television. Many of the shows were designed as adult education, and ETRC was nicknamed The University of the Air.

The center's headquarters moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to New York City in 1958 and the organization became known as the National Educational Television and Radio Center (NETRC).

The center became more aggressive at this time, aiming to have the role of the USA's fourth television network. This included the beginning of imported programming from the BBC into the United States. It increased its output to ten hours a week.

The organisation changed tack again in November 1963. It renamed itself National Educational Television, and spun off its radio assets. NET began to air controversial, hard-hitting documentaries that explored numerous social issues of the day such as poverty and racism. While praised by critics, many affiliates, especially those in conservative markets, objected to the perceived liberal slant of the programming.

In 1966, NET's funding came into question when the Ford Foundation decided to begin withdrawing financial support, because of NET's constant need for additional funding for broadcasting programs.

In the meantime, the affiliated stations (WGBH, WETA, WNDT, WTTW, WQED, KCET, etc.) were determined to try to keep that from happening by looking for ways to help the network.

The U.S. government intervened and created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967 to fund the network for the time being. However, the CPB's intent was to create its own public broadcasting network. This was done because many NET affiliates were alienated by the programming. These affiliates felt that if they controlled the programming and broadcast it, a conflict of interest would result.

PBS first signed on in 1969, with NET producing several shows. However, NET's refusal to stop airing the critically acclaimed but also hard-hitting and controversial documentaries led to the decision of both the CPB and the Ford Foundation to shut NET down.

In late 1969, both threatened to withdraw their funding grants unless NET merged with Newark, New Jersey public broadcaster WNDT-TV.

On Monday October 5, 1970, the very same day that PBS officially began broadcasting, NET and WNDT-TV officially completed their merger. NET ceased to operate from that point. WNDT's call sign was changed to the present WNET-TV shortly thereafter. Shows that began on NET such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood continue to air on PBS today.

The NET acronym has since been revived twice; first in the 1990s, as National Empowerment Television and in 2005, when Nebraska ETV and Nebraska Public Radio were united under a single name called Nebraska Educational Telecommunications.