KBSV (channel 23) is a non-commercialindependent television station in Ceres, California, United States, broadcasting Assyrian programming to the Ceres and Modesto area since 1996. It is owned by Bet-Nahrain, Inc. alongside radio station KBES (89.5 FM). The two stations share studios and a transmitter site at the Bet-Nahrain Assyrian Cultural Center on South Central Avenue in Ceres. Though holding a full-service station license, KBSV broadcasts at low power to a limited area.
History
KBSV began broadcasting April 14, 1996.[3] It was founded by Bet-Nahrain Inc., the organization of Sargon Dadesho, an Assyrian-American activist originally from Iraq;[4] prior to the advent of channel 23, Bet-Nahrain offered an hour a day of Assyrian programming on local public-access television.[5] The station also began webcasting 24 hours a day in 1997.[6]
AssyriaSat was primarily used to transmit news and other information to the Assyrian community in both the homeland and diaspora, and it as well as Dadesho gained media traction after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[7] In 2003, KBSV was believed to be the only non-governmental broadcast originating in the U.S. and receivable in Iraq.[8]
KBSV was previously broadcast from Mount Oso in Stanislaus County, but it was forced to move after the property owner terminated their lease for the site and has since operated on a temporary facility basis from the KBES tower, the intended permanent location.[2]
^Arax, Marx (April 18, 2003). "Assyrian exile dreams of past glory". gulfnews.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2024. KBSV-TV Channel 23, or "Assyria Sat", is believed to be the only live, non-governmental broadcast that bounces via satellite from America to the deserts and hills of Iraq.