Jack G. McBride
1926-2008

Jack G. McBride was born on February 18, 1926. A pioneer in educational broadcasting, he helped design the Nebraska ETV Network, known today as NET Television. Beginning in 1953, he started to design, program and staff KUON-TV, the nation's seventh television station, which debuted in 1954. Then, from 1955 to 1959, McBride co-designed and co-directed the Nebraska In-School TV-Correspondence Instruction project for the Fund for Advancement of Education. During this period, he also co-incorporated and developed the Nebraska Council for Educational Television, Inc., the Nebraska Educational Television Council for Higher Education, Inc. and the Nebraska Educational Television Council for Nursing Education, Inc. From their inceptions in 1963 to his retirement in 1996, McBride served as general manager of Nebraska ETV Network and as secretary to the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission.

In the 1960's, McBride, along with Ed Morris (WTTW), Martin Busch (KUSD) and Otto Schlaak formed the Central Education Network with Ray Giese as its first executive director. From 1961 to 1967, he chaired the National Association of Educational Broadcaster's Permanent Convention Committee. In 1963, McBride became the supervising administrator of the Great Plains National Instructional Television Library. As part of the Nebraska Educational Television Commission, he also co-designed and administered a nine station/sixteen translator statewide Nebraska Educational Network. In 1967, he was general manager to this network. In 1966, he became a board member of the Educational Television Service division of NAEB and its chair in 1967. Nine years later, he co-incorporated the nonprofit citizens statewide support foundation, Nebraskans for Public Television, Inc. McBride worked for the University of Mid-America from 1974 to 1978, primarily as executive vice-president and chief operating officer for a model regional multi-media distance learning project funded by the National Institute of Education and private foundations. Meanwhile, he co-incorporated and developed the six state consortium whose trustees were the presidents of eleven major state universities.

During the 1970s and 1980s, McBride was involved as director in several cable and video projects of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including the CPB/Cox Cable Communications interactive cable television project and the Annenberg School of Communications/Corporation for Public Broadcasting Project, an interactive videodisc for science laboratory instruction. In 1988, McBride co-designed and developed NEB*SAT, the statewide full time dedicated GTE SpaceNet transponder serving all Nebraska educational sectors.

Jack McBride received many awards over the years. These awards include the 1992 Outstanding Public Television Manager from PBS (Public Broadcasting Service)/APTS (America's Public Television Stations), the 1993 Central Educational Network Carpe Diem Award and the 1996 APTS 21st Century Award for visionary broadcasters.

Jack G. McBride died on July 28, 2008.

Bibliography:

Books:

• McBride, Jack G. "The Cost of student instruction," in Televised instruction: a series of lectures, Lee Sherman Dreyfus and Wallace M. Bradley, eds. Detroit: Wayne State University, 1962.
• McBride, Jack G. ETV for Maine, an administrative, financial, programming, and technical report. Washington, DC: Jansky and Bailey, 1960.
• McBride, Jack. ETV for metropolitan Edmonton: a report of the survey of the potential use of television at the several levels of education.... Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 1964.
• McBride, Jack G. Excerpts from the Michigan Educational Television Feasibility Study. 1968.
• McBride, Jack. Report to the Council of Higher Educational Institutions in New York City on its cooperative isntructional television demonstration program and service, September, 1965 - August, 1966. New York: Council of Higher Educational Institutions in New York City, 1966.
• McBride, Jack G. Report to the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board on a Wisconsin educational radio and television management study. Madison: Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, 1968
• McBride, Jack. The Twenty elements of instructional television. Washington: National Association of Educational Broadcasters, 1966.
• McBride, Jack G. and Ronald E. Fenz. Evaluation of the Georgia Educational Television Network: a Report to the Georgia Board of Education. Alexandria, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 1977.
• McBride, Jack G. and Wes Meierhenry. A Study of the use of in-school telecast materials leading to recommendations as to their distribution and exchange. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 1961.
• McBride, Jack and Clarence Walter Stone. A Report on development of instructional television services in western Pennsylvania, phase I. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 1964.

Other resources:

Oral History interview by Jim Robertson