CPM's roots are in public broadcasting. KCTS Television went on-air in 1954 from the campus of the University of Washington. In 1970, KCTS 9 became part of the newly formed Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and has been providing the Northwest with trusted, quality programming for more than 50 years. 

The station broadcasts throughout Western Washington and is retransmitted through many parts of Canada. In 1994, KCTS 9 and PBS member station KYVE 47 in Yakima merged, extending the organization's audience into Central Washington State. 

In 2015, KCTS 9 announced a digital-first strategy, producing local content for multiple media platforms — online, mobile, social media, and broadcast — to expand its reach and service to audiences of all ages. Later that year, KCTS Television merged with Crosscut Public Media to form Cascade Public Media. In 2018, CPM opened Hive Media Lab and acquired Piranha Partners. 

As media and technology continue to evolve, Cascade Public Media is evolving as well. We've proudly served the Cascade region for almost 70 years, and have always changed with the times while staying true to our mission to inform and inspire. Now, we continue our evolution with a new name: Cascade PBS. 

We’ll keep delivering high-quality public television that entertains, informs, and inspires; and our newsroom will continue its investigative journalism and news reporting with the same care and skill as always — now under the most trusted name in media, Cascade PBS.