“Pulse” to go off the air in September

“Pulse,” UC Davis Health System’s television program on health and medicine, will end its 14-year tenure this September.

The program has been successful in consistently attracting a large audience and conveying information about the latest programs and research at UC Davis Medical Center, as well as healthy lifestyle tips. However, at a time when the health system is addressing sharply rising costs and declining revenue, officials have decided that resources should be directed to other programs.

Locally, “Pulse” is broadcast at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays on KCRA Channel 3. When it debuted in 1989, it was carried by KXTV Channel 10. KCRA began broadcasting the program five years ago. In the Sacramento market, “Pulse” regularly draws more viewers than any other program in its time slot, attracting, on the average, 75,000 households every Sunday evening.

For the past three years, “Pulse” was syndicated nationally on The Discovery Health Channel. Offered by cable television systems around the United States, The Discovery Health Channel has the potential to reach 21 million viewers. In previous years, “Pulse” was broadcast nationally on Knowledge TV and The Discovery Channel.

The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has recognized “Pulse,” awarding it more than five Emmys over the history of the program.

The Idea Factory, a local video production company, produced “Pulse” for the health system for the past five years. Prior to that time, “Pulse” was produced in collaboration with KXTV.