In 1998, President Richard Atkinson requested the Academic Initiatives Department to develop a proposal for a systemwide initiative in the area of television, building on the success of UCSD-TV at the San Diego campus. UCSD-TV (Channel 35 in San Diego) was established when President Atkinson was Chancellor of UCSD and has become a model of using television to disseminate the academic content of the University to the general public.

Academic Initiatives established a systemwide UC Work Group on Television and it developed a proposal for establishing a UC-wide television entity to develop and broadcast content from all UC campuses as well as the national laboratories managed by UC.

At the same time, the University of California was active (along with other higher education allies such as ResearchTV) in providing comments to the FCC about ensuring that universities be eligible for public interest stations that were to be made available by direct satellite broadcasters (DBS) under the Cable TV Act of 1992. The FCC ruled in November 1998 that the DBS providers (DirecTV and EchoStar) were required to set-aside 4 percent of their channels for "noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature." The FCC order specifically stated:

The record in this proceeding reveals the wide variety of programming that could be available on DBS systems as a result of our implementation of these provisions. Distance learning programs on all grade levels could greatly expand educational opportunities for many segments of society. In addition, some commenters have proposed offerings that would allow major universities to share research projects with consumers across the country. Rural libraries could benefit from expanded resources. Other possible programming could include children's educational programming, as well as a wide array of medical, historical, and scientific programming. We expect that the decisions we make here will contribute to enhanced viewing opportunities for consumers throughout the United States. [emphasis added]

As a result of this ruling the University of California developed a proposal that was submitted to both DirecTV and EchoStar to offer a UCTV channel to their nationwide audiences. In December 1999, EchoStar notified the University of California that is was offering UCTV a channel on its prime satellite (119 degree West Longitude), then accessible to the 3.4 million subscribers to the DishNetwork. On January 7, 2000, UCTV began broadcasting as Channel 9412 on the DishNetwork. The DISH Network now has over 10 million subscribers [as of June 2004]. UCTV is now available to millions more on an ever increasing number of California cable systems. UCTV can also be watched online at www.uctv.tv . In addition, the website contains a library of over 1,700 programs that can be viewed anytime on demand.