before it could begin the groundwork for building a statewide public radio network. For many years, there were only two NPR members in the entire state—Omaha's KIOS and Lincoln's KUCV, which had signed on in 1974. In 1989, however, UNL bought KUCV from Union College. KUCV officially relaunched from its new studios on October 10, 1989. In 2001, KUCV moved from 90.9 FM (where it had been since its sign-on) to 91.1. In 1990, the commission opened stations in Alliance, Lexington, Columbus, Norfolk, and Hastings. North Platte, Bassett, Merriman, and Chadron followed in 1991. The entire Nebraska Public Radio Network (NPRN) was formally dedicated on October 8 in a special ceremony, broadcast live on NPRN and NETV. The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Facilities Corporation was established to facilitate lease/purchase of the GTE SpaceNet 3 transponder. Television stations Nebraska Public Media consists of nine full-power TV stations that make up the network; all stations have callsigns beginning with the letter K, as licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and ending in NE (the postal abbreviation for Nebraska) except "UON" (University of Nebraska) for the Lincoln station. Combined, they reach almost all of Nebraska, as well as parts of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Eight of the stations are owned by the NETC. Flagship station KUON is owned by the University of Nebraska, but is operated by the Commission through a long-standing agreement between the Commission and NU. Note: 1. KYNE occasionally breaks off from the Nebraska Public Media state network to broadcast local programming. KYNE's programming became digital-only on February 17, 2009. 2. KUON-TV launched on February 18, 1953 as KOLN-TV, changed its callsign to KUON on August 5, 1954 and added the -TV suffix to its callsign on November 1, 1954. Translators Nebraska Public Media operates 15 translators to widen its coverage area. Nine directly repeat KUON, four repeat KXNE and one repeats KMNE. Cable and satellite availability Nebraska Public Media is available on nearly all cable systems in Nebraska. Selected cable systems in northern Kansas carry Hastings' KHNE in addition to Smoky Hills PBS; these counties are part of the Hastings/Kearney side of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney media market. Additionally, Omaha's KYNE is carried on most cable systems in southwestern Iowa. On satellite, KUON, KYNE, KPNE, KXNE, and KTNE are carried on the local Lincoln, Omaha, North Platte, Sioux City, and Cheyenne, Wyoming Dish Network feeds, respectively. KTNE