Well, do you remember when a loaf of bread cost 25 cents and gas was only 35 cents a gallon?

The year was 1965, the very same year PBS Charlotte first went on the air.

For 60 years, we've been proud to educate, inspire and entertain this amazing region, serving viewers like you through every generation.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis brings us this history lesson as we celebrate our anniversary.

(dramatic whooshing) (upbeat horn music) - [Jason] It all began at 7:00 PM on August 27th, 1965, WTVI Television signing onto the air for the very first time.

Less than a month later, the station's very first local program aired when it collaborated with Children's Theater of Charlotte, and so began WTVI's long history of serving Charlotte and the 13-county metropolitan region.

- But Charlotte was growing so rapidly in the '60s that it was almost hard to keep up with what was going on.

- [Jason] Originally owned by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education, WTVI's Commonwealth Park Studios once housed an elementary school, it's early programming focused mainly on in-school instructional programs.

- It was exciting because public television, or instructional television as it was then, was new and everybody was very excited about having a television station as part of Charlotte and Mecklenburg schools.

- Being here at that time was exciting because it was new, we were the first station in the country to provide a weekly sustaining news broadcast, especially for schoolchildren.

- [Jason] By the time WTVI signed on in 1965, public television already had a history of producing quality new programs.

Julia Childs, the French chef, was a wildly popular program, her humor and her expertise on French cuisine gave viewers a treat every time they tuned into her show.

For younger viewers, there was Fred Rogers.

♪ It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood ♪ ♪ A beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine ♪ Every day, Mr. Rogers would welcome children into his neighborhood with a soothing message that kids everywhere could relate to.

♪ Sunny days sweeping the clouds away ♪ In 1969, the Children's Television Workshop produced a brand-new program called "Sesame Street."

The show would feature human actors interacting with puppet characters, and it was a huge success.

- [Person] Hey, you guys!

- [Jason] The 1970s brought shows like "The Electric Company" and lots of local productions, game shows, community affairs programs, and a totally '70s production bus.

- Hello, I'm Jerry Hancock, thank you for joining us tonight on "Final Edition..." - [Person] We didn't have nearly the equipment or sets that we have now, it was pretty amateurish by comparison.

- [Announcer] It's time once again to play "Media Madness."

- "Media Madness," yes, that was...

It was, like, a takeoff on a game show, it was instructional, and we were trying to break out of just the straight instructional mode.

- Thank you, thank you, and welcome... - [Donald] We're trying to be entertaining, and then, sell a message at the same time.

- I did this series with them called "I Hate Math" here at WTVI, and "I Hate Math" was hosted by Ben Franklin, so I played Ben Franklin.

It was kind of lessons on why math is so important.

- [Jason] In 1978, WTVI separated from the school system, with its license transferred to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Broadcasting Company, a division of the county, becoming the Carolinas' only community-owned-and-operated public television station.

- I remember the first WTVI fundraiser.

We really didn't know what we were doing, but we just solicited, we talked about upstairs, downstairs, we talked about the station and the type of programming we had in this community that was local, and we were absolutely dumbfounded when we raised over $11,000.

- [Jason] The 1980s brought more change to WTVI, new leadership and more locally-produced content.

- Everybody shared the vision, and we all wanted to be a first-class community television station.

WTVI was in a state where it was either gonna make it for the long haul or it wasn't, but we needed the new tower, the transmitter that I inherited was down more than it was up.

The next step was two bond referendums, unique in public broadcasting's history nationally, and we were able to build this facility.

- [Jason] The 1990s brought locally-produced shows like "Art Scene," profiling area musicians, artists and actors, and saw the launch of "Carolina Business Review," the longest-running show on business and industry in the Carolinas.

- I knew what was going on behind the eyes there and I was just as scared as I was now, maybe not... Maybe more scared than I am now, but it was...

It's fun to see Jason, it was neat to know some of the things back then that we thought were big news, and how we compare and contrast it now, and some of the headlines are different, but a lot of the challenges and the dynamics are the same.

(upbeat jazz music) - [Jason] Moving into the 21st century, "Antiques Roadshow" was a tremendous find for PBS and helped spawn Charlotte's own version of the program, "Carolina Collectibles."

- This is one of my favorite days of the year, it's "Carolina Collectibles" day.

- You guys are professional, we have some great people here who are evaluating this, so it's wonderful.

- [Jason] Over its 60-year history, WTVI has perfected a couple of things, a phone number... - Call that number on the bottom of the screen... - Call 1-888-371-9884... - 1-888-371-9884... - The number's 704... - 371... - 9884.

- So go ahead, give us a call, 888-371-9884... - [Jason] And a couple of simple words.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you tonight.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, Jim.

- Thanks so much.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Thank you so much for sharing your time with your local public television station, PBS Charlotte.

- [Jason] In 2012, WTVI became a viewer-supported service of Central Piedmont Community College, rebranding itself as PBS Charlotte, and since then, its local content has earned two national PBS Awards and six Emmys.

- Public television's always been the honorable place on the dial, but I always thought that that was the town square, that was the place to find real dialogue that would matter.

- I consider myself a great friend of WTVI, I've participated in fundraisers for the station, I just think public broadcasting is essential.

- It's feeding the brain, it's giving you information that you can't get from a... Just a general station 'cause they don't have the time to cover it, it's maybe not that they don't want to, but you guys take the time to tell the story and that is just so important to me... - I love to see the stories, I love historical fiction, I love everything about PBS.

- So I hope another 60 years is around the corner for you guys.

Happy birthday.

- [Jason] And for that, we thank all viewers just like you.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Jason Terzis reporting.