Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, was a non-commercial American

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

network providing what it described as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It was carried nationally on

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

(ch. 375) until January 2023 and on

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

(ch. 9410) until November 1, 2023. Link TV was launched as a daily, 24-hour non-commercial network on December 15, 1999. It received no money from the satellite providers, but relies instead on contributions from viewers and foundations. Link TV broadcast a mix of documentaries, global and national news, music of diverse cultures, and programs promoting citizen action. The network also aired

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

news from

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

and

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

, as well as various

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

and world

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s. Select Link TV programs were streamed on the Internet, via the channel'
website
The network also produced '' Mosaic: World News from the Middle East'', a program of translated news reports from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

History

Direct satellite broadcasters were mandated to set aside 4% of its channel space for noncommercial educational and informational programming. ITVS, Internews Network and Internews Interactive joined in forming Link Media Inc. to program a channel, WorldLink TV, for this mandate. WorldLink TV was one of the nine channels select to meet the mandate for

. The channel was founded by filmmaker Kim Spencer, who had similar experiences since the 1980s, when he made satellite broadcasts between the United States and the Soviet Union. By early 2002, Link TV was being carried out to 17 million households with a potential adult viewing audience of 30 million. At the time, Nielsen did not track ratings for satellite channels, but a study commissioned by the network showed that an estimated 1.2 million viewers watched the channel for a period of one to four hours per week. When the war in Iraq started in 2003, ''Mosaic'' gave the channel record high ratings (about 4 million viewers per week), whereas its slate of original programming grew slightly, including a 90-minute talk-show, ''The Active Opposition''. As of June 2003, Link TV employed a staff of 27.

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

was one of the most notable celebrity viewers. In October 2012, Link TV announced that it was merging with

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

station in

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, to form a new nonprofit entity, to be called KCETLink. The entity was headquartered at KCET's Burbank facilities. In 2018, KCETLink merged with the KOCE-TV Foundation to form the Public Media Group of Southern California. The channel was removed from the DirecTV lineup on January 15, 2023, as Link TV has chosen not to renew its yearly public interest contract with the satellite provider. On November 1, 2023, due to financial issues, Link TV ceased broadcasting on satellite television, with the website recommending viewers to watch licensed programs on the websites and channels of their original broadcasters while the Public Media Group seeks alternative methods to continue operations.

Production and projects

In 2010, Link TV announced the launch of ViewChange.org, an online video platform funded by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

that aims to raise awareness of global development issues. It applies

Semantic Web The Semantic Web, sometimes known as Web 3.0, is an extension of the World Wide Web through standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The goal of the Semantic Web is to make Internet data machine-readable. To enable the encoding o ...

technology to video, in order to automatically create links to related content from other online sources. In conjunction with the New York City

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

International Film Festival, LinkTV broadcast a "Youth Producing Change" program which showcases the works of youth from all over the world. They also support efforts to fund groups such as imMEDIAte Justice Productions which help youth create their own film works. Production facilities for Link TV are in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

Programs

Original

* '' Mosaic: World News from the Middle East'' * ''Mosaic Intelligence Report'' * ''Global Pulse'' * ''Latin Pulse'' * ''CINEMONDO'' * ''Global Spirit'' * '' Explore'' * ''Earth Focus'' * ''Who Speaks for Islam'' * ''Bridge to Iran'' * ''Real Conversations'' * ''Global Lens'' * ''Oceans 8'' * ''DOC-DEBUT'' * ''4REAL'' * ''Men of Words'' * ''Lunch with Bokara'' * ''Bokara's Conversations on Consciousness'' * ''U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project'' * ''Ethics and the World Crisis'' * ''

ColorLines ''Colorlines'' is a digital news platform that publishes political content focusing on social justice and progressive activism. History ''Colorlines'' was founded in 1998 as a print publication published jointly by the Applied Research Center ( ...

'' * ''Future Express'' * ''Connections'' * ''The Israel Lobby'' * ''Youth Producing Change'' * ''LinkAsia'' * ''World Music''

Licensed

* '' DW News'' * '' Borgen'' * ''

World News'' * ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' * ''DocFilm'' (

) * ''

Newshour ''Newshour'' is BBC World Service's flagship international news and current affairs radio programme, which is broadcast twice daily: weekdays at 1400, weekends at 1300 and nightly at 2100 (UK time). There is also an additional online programme ...

'' (

) * ''

NHK Newsline NHK Newsline (stylized as NHK NEWSLiNE, formerly and also simply known as Newsline) ( ''NHK Nyūsurain'') is a foreign news program aired on NHK's international broadcasting service NHK World TV. Produced by Japan International Broadcasting Inc., ...

'' * ''Sleepless in Gaza...and Jerusalem'' * ''

TED Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

'' * '' Arab Labor'' * ''Rappers, Divas, Virtuosos: New Music From the Muslim World'' * ''

bro'Town ''bro'Town'' is a New Zealand Adult animation, adult animated sitcom that aired on TV3 (New Zealand), TV3 from 22 September 2004 to 24 May 2009. It starred David Fane, Mario Gaoa, Shimpal Lelisi and Oscar Kightley. Overview The main charact ...

Affiliates

* KOCE-TV * KRCB 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Link Tv 1999 establishments in the United States 2023 disestablishments in the United States Commercial-free television networks Defunct television networks in the United States Progressivism in the United States Organizations based in San Francisco Television channels and stations established in 1999 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2023 24-hour television news channels in the United States Peabody Award winners