It is possible that the program guide was lost in the mail, or that your membership has expired. For assistance, please email us or call us at 316-838-3090.

You can become a member of KPTS with a donation of $40, which includes receiving the program guide for a year. To make a donation, click here or feel free to call us at 316-838-3090.

Click here to be taken to Shop PBS. KPTS members receive a 15% discount. The promotional code must be obtained from our membership office. If you do not find the program you are looking for, email us or call us at 316-838-3090.

Please email us with your question or call us at 316-838-3090.

Since we do not pre-order any of our thank you gifts, we ask that you allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of your gifts. We will ship them to you as soon as we receive them.

To help keep the cost of our expenses down and use your contribution most wisely, a certain percentage of your pledge has to be fulfilled before we can send you your gift. The percentage is determined by the Membership Department and based on best practices by the station. Please email us or call Jennifer Brown at 316-838-3090 ext. 219 if you have any questions.

The installment plan is set up for a 12 month payment period. This means that the total amount pledged will be broken into 12 payments. For example, if a pledge is for $120 the member will pay $10 a month for 12 months. The installment plan is not to exceed 12 months and early payoffs are encouraged.

For installment plans paid by credit card, KPTS will deduct payment from the card beginning of each month. Each time the card is charged a receipt is sent to the cardholder. Members who wish to pay by check will be billed each month. Invoices will be sent as long as there is a balance for the pledge. There is no fee for early pay off. If a pledge is fulfilled before the 12 month period, no more invoices will be sent.

While we appreciate every contribution, the Membership Department will determine if a previous donation can be used toward a new pledge and thank you gift. Please email us or call Jennifer Brown at 316-838-3090 ext. 219 as consideration is based on an individual basis.

Yes, please supply us with the name and address of the recipient and we will send them the thank you gift requested. Membership will send all other items to the contributor.

Yes, you can make a pledge for any of the pledge specials you saw on KPTS, past or present. Click here to find your show and make a donation.

When you make a pledge to KPTS, our Membership Department will bill you within one week from the date the pledge is made. The invoice is sent along with a return envelope for your convenience. You will continue to be billed each month until the pledge is fulfilled.

Electronic Funds Transfer, also known as EFT, is an automatic withdrawal from you personal checking account. This is available through installment plans or can be set up anytime to fulfill a pledge. If an EFT is requested, KPTS will send you the enrollment materials. It is the contributors responsiblity to return the completed materials to begin the process.

Yes, a portion of your gift is tax deductible. That amount is determined by the value of your thank you gift. KPTS will send the tax deductible amount with your thank you gift. A tax receipt will also be sent detailing any and all tax deductible amounts for the previous year.

KPTS’s studios are in Wichita, KS, but Channel 8 transmits from a location just east of Hutchinson, KS. KPTS covers 13 counties in South Central Kansas and parts of 15 additional counties by way of cable systems and over the air reception.  Click on the map to the right to view the broadcast area.

KPTS may be further away from your home than the other channels. Most other channels are located northwest of Wichita a few miles. While KPTS radiates the maximum licensed power of 302,000 watts of energy. Our transmitter is located east of Hutchinson. Our antenna height is lower than the other stations which means that the energy does not reach as far either. There could also be a problem with your reception system that may require the services of a technician to check.

If you are having reception difficulties there are a few things you can do to help. To begin with, most viewers will not get the best reception from indoor “rabbit ear” antennas on your TV. An outdoor antenna mounted in the attic or possibly in the garage sometimes works well but often it will only perform well when it is mounted above the roof a few feet. The higher the antenna, the better the reception is likely to be. The antenna should be aimed generally toward Hutchinson, KS. Older installations that utilize a flat “twin lead” antenna wire will not perform as well as a round “coaxial” cable. Having the antenna split out to several antenna jacks in the house will also weaken the reception, whether a television is connected to the jacks or not. If multiple locations are desired, consider adding an amplified splitting device that will prevent this. Make sure that you have good connections to both your television and your antenna. A preamplifier installed at the antenna may also help your reception, however, if the other channels have clear reception, you could make reception on those channels worse by adding a preamplifier.
There are time when the atmospheric conditions permit radio signals to travel further than they normally do. When this happens, interference that is not normally experienced can occur. When another Channel 8 is “brought into” our viewing area, a condition called Co-Channel exists, this often exhibits itself in fine horizontal lines across the picture and a whistling sound. Sometimes the other picture can also be seen along with KPTS. It can be severe enough to make KPTS unwatchable for periods of time. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to avoid these conditions. They will pass.

KPTS transmits in stereo with the Second Audio Program (SAP) channel when applicable. The SAP channel is often programmed with Description Video Services (DVS) audio, which is the program audio plus a description of what the picture scene is for those who are visually impaired. On occasion, this channel will instead be used for a second language, such as Spanish. If you don’t hear the program audio that you think is correct for the program, it could be that your stereo, TV or VCR is set to receive this SAP channel. Only stereo equipment can receive SAP. SAP can only be received when we broadcast that service, the rest of the time your TV will function like any other television and receive the regular program audio channels that we transmit. This SAP feature can be turned on or off on your equipment. For newer equipment, it will be found in the setup menus. For older stereo equipment, it may have a switch that can be turned on or off.

Generally programming is in English on the main program channels. The most likely reason you hear another language is that you are listening to the SAP channel discussed above. Sometimes this channel is used to provide another language for our viewer’s choice.

KPTS began broadcasting time information in June of 2002 to automatically reset VCR clocks to the correct time. If you question whether it is correctly working, you may email us or at 316-838-3090.

KPTS participates in data transmission within the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the television picture. This is a part of the picture that you do not see on your screen but is used by the television to properly make the pictures. Some of this information is closed caption information for the hearing impaired, and some is data for commercial information networks. We also participate in other methods of data delivery. One example is the Microsoft Actimates figures. During broadcasts of the Barney program, for example, data is sent that can be received by an optional TV Pack in your home and lets the Barney doll move and talk interactively with the program.