This website, which is not affiliated with KQED or Northern California Public Media, offers examples of KQED’s award-winning, staff-produced, on-air television and radio productions, with local content representing its Bay Area signal area communities.

Northern California Public Media does an excellent job of providing inhouse-produced local programming reflecting the entire Bay Area region. Their wide range of on-air broadcast television and radio community interest productions, too numerous to be highlighted here, may be found on their homepage.

In contrast, KQED has cancelled nearly all of its local, staff-produced on-air broadcast television and radio programming.

This webpage highlights the award-winning local programming which KQED once produced inhouse, over many decades, since Jonathan Rice and James Day placed KQED on-air, on April 5, 1954.

KQED presenters, programs and series have won many Emmy and Peabody awards throughout the station’s history, most notably for me, Corirdo’s! Tales of Passion and Revolution, by Luis Valdez of Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista and the KQED-Bill Graham collaboration, 1989 Earthquake Relief Concert: It’s Everybody’s Fault, which I was honored to work on as a KQED TV Programming employee.

Likewise, KQED journalists have won a significant number of SJP Excellence in Journalism awards since the station’s inception, with the thirteen winners from November 2025 mentioned on the KQED website link above.

KQED Award Winning Staff and Local Productions

It’s a mystery to me as to why KQED has not utilized inhouse production staff to produce a documentary series about the many awards which KQED staff and locally produced programs received over the years, since 1954. Hint-hint, nudge-nudge.

Live Local On-Air Fundraising Saved KQED Numerous Times

Some programming, like the KQED Auction and KQED inhouse Pledge Breaks, saved the station during difficult economic times. At that time KQED used local celebrities to discuss the importance of sustaining donations to preserve KQED’s inhouse, locally produced radio and television programming, during live on-air Pledge Breaks.

Recently KQED aired the American Masters Special, American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez. Unfortunately the Programming staff missed the opportunity to air Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution, following that special. It would have been a perfect opportunity for live on-air fundraising, since Valdez is a beloved local treasure in our region.

Member Dollars Once Funded Significant inhouse On-Air Broadcast Productions

The KQED Board and Management once used a significant portion of our member dollars and donations to produce extraordinary local radio and television programming, all created inhouse by KQED production staff, journalists and local talent, then broadcast for free on-air.

Now, with KQED donors and members providing most support for KQED operations, the KQED Board and Management must be revised and reformed, so the focus at the station is once again on inhouse staff production of local radio and television on-air programming, reflecting its Bay Area signal communities.

KQED’s leadership opted to eliminate most inhouse on-air broadcast television production during cuts in 2020, 2024 and 2025, also allegedly eliminating some journalists, plus KQED television and radio staff.

Allegedly KQED also scaled back production of its much-loved, multi-Emmy Award winning YouTube video series, Deep Look, which captured the natural world using macro photography and microscopy.

Perhaps the saddest programming cut of all, KQED leadership allegedly made cuts to Newsroom, the news program instituted by Jonathan Rice during the 1968 San Francisco Newspaper Strike.

Restore Lost On-Air Broadcast Programs, Journalists and Production Staff

If you, like me, also want KQED to place all of its content on-air, to produce more signal area local content inhouse for broadcast television and radio programming, please let KQED know. I have always contacted KQED Membership before making any Pledge, to insure my Pledge dollars and donations are used for inhouse production of on-air content only.

(To be continued. I will be adding image links to programs, plus more links to KQED’s past, outstanding on-air broadcast productions, all produced by KQED staff inhouse, thankfully, still found online.)

KQED staff can produce more incredible local programming again, if the Board and Management can put the full force of fundraising behind that effort, as they did for Campaign 21, which raised $140 million dollars.