KVPT (channel 18) is a PBS member television station in Fresno, California, United States, owned by Valley Public Television, Inc. Its studios are located on Van Ness Avenue and Calaveras Street in downtown Fresno, and its transmitter is located on Bear Mountain, near Meadow Lakes, California.

The drive to build a public television station in Fresno had lasted nearly 25 years before channel 18 signed on as KMTF in April 1977.

KMTF changed its call sign to KVPT in 1990; that year, it also moved into its present studios, donated by commercial station KSEE.

In December 1952, a meeting was held by the Fresno Area Council on Educational Television to discuss possible use of ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 18.

[7] In 1963, the San Joaquin Valley Community Television Association announced possible plans for a fundraising drive to support the construction of a station.

[9] These efforts gained some steam in late 1964 and early 1965: Fresno State College was authorized to collaborate with the group, allowing it to use the college's TV facilities in lieu of constructing its own studio,[10] and in January 1965, applications were filed with the FCC for a construction permit and with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) for federal money.

School systems outside of Fresno County were indifferent to the educational television project, and business leaders made pledges contingent on starting construction.

[14] In 1971, the associated Fresno State College Foundation rejected a proposal to turn KAIL (channel 53) into an educational station, unsure if it was empowered to run such a venture.

[15] The Fresno County Department of Education began a study in late 1972 over the feasibility of expanding its closed-circuit instructional television system.

Its first choice of call sign, KFTM, was already assigned in Fort Morgan, Colorado; of the combinations including the four counties involved in operations, only KMTF (Kings, Madera, Tulare, Fresno) was available.

[41] By March, Poore had told The Bee that donation totals were disappointing, citing conflicts with other charitable fundraising efforts and confusion as to whether channel 18 would be a cable service.

[43] Donations surpassed $100,000 in May,[44] and a 27-hour telethon hosted by commercial independent station KMPH-TV (channel 26, now a Fox affiliate) in June raised another $50,000.

[48] Even though the fund drive still needed to raise $46,000, enough money had been secured to build KMTF, though without the ability to broadcast local programs in color.

[58] Where previous capital fundraising efforts had failed, in January 1988, KMTF received two buildings, one donated and the other leased by Meredith Corporation, then-owner of Fresno commercial station KSEE, which was moving to a new facility.

[61] On March 1, 1990, KMTF changed its call letters to KVPT and its corporate name to Valley Public Television, Inc., as part of a campaign to emphasize a more consistent, regional brand.

[66] In August 1993, KVPT and KCET jointly agreed to avoid a lengthy comparative hearing process and serve Bakersfield exclusively by translator.

[68][69] The station had only a handful of local programs, which The Bee columnist Lanny Larson called "visually unappealing" and in need of a refresh.

[70] In 1996, to convince donors that it needed to replace equipment, the station aired a special program, Please Stand By, to demonstrate issues with its facilities;[71] after 20 years, a new transmitter was installed in 1997.

[73][74] After 26 years as the station's only general manager, Colin Dougherty retired in 2003, estimating he had helped raise some $75 million for channel 18 in its lifetime.

[75] One of the station's longest-running local programs, the public affairs show Valley Press, ended in 2008; Jim Tucker, who had been its only host since 1989, retired after 675 editions.

[89] The turnover led former interim CEO and employee Phyllis Brotherton to publish an op-ed in the Visalia Times Delta calling for a course correction at the station.

[86] A 2023 audit by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting inspector general found that Valley PBS overstated revenues received from sources beyond the federal government and failed to file required reports, resulting in an overpayment of $214,000 in grants over a two-year period.