WTVI
 |
|
| Charlotte, North Carolina | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WTVI-PBS Charlote |
| Channels | Digital: 11 (VHF) Virtual: 42 (PSIP) |
| Translators | 14 (UHF) Hickory |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | Central Piedmont Community College |
| First air date | August 27, 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning | TeleVision Information |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 42 (1965-2009) |
| Former affiliations | NET (1965-1970) |
| Transmitter power | 2.2 kW |
| Height | 363 m |
| Facility ID | 10645 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°17′14″N 80°41′45″W / 35.28722°N 80.69583°W |
| Website | www.wtvi.org |
WTVI is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member public television station based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The station broadcasts on digital channel 11 (virtual channel 42). It is the only public television station in North and South Carolina that is not operated by UNC-TV nor SCETV, and one of three serving Charlotte (UNC-TV's WUNG and SCETV's WNSC-TV are the others). Owned by Central Piedmont Community College, its studio is located in the Chantilly-Commonwealth section of east Charlotte, while its transmitter is located in the northeastern portion of the city.
Contents |
History [edit]
The station first signed on August 27, 1965;[1] at first, it was owned by the local board of education. WTVI's original station manager was Donna Lee Davenport, who was also instrumental in creating the station. In 1982, WTVI's license was transferred to the not-for-profit Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Broadcasting Authority, making the station community-owned.
Mecklenburg County covers the debt on WTVI's digital broadcasting equipment and maintains the station's studios, located on Commonwealth Avenue in Charlotte. The county also pays WTVI $95,000 annually to broadcast county commission meetings.[2]
In 2004, WTVI cut back on well-known PBS programming. Ratings increased for a while with "alternative" shows, but after several years the station was in trouble.[3]
WTVI's board was advised on June 30, 2011, that the station was running a $300,000 deficit and that the station's long-term operation was questionable if its financial condition did not improve.[2] On March 13, 2012 CPCC offered to take over the station. CPCC requested $1.35 million from Mecklenburg County--$357,000 to complete the purchase and about $800,000 to give the station a significant technical overhaul. The Mecklenburg County Commission approved funding for the deal on March 20. Without county money, CPCC would have been unable to complete the purchase and the station would have likely gone off the air June 30, 2012.[4] The deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on May 21, 2012,[5] and the acquisition of WTVI was completed on July 1, 2012, with the broadcast licenses being transferred the following day.[6] As a result, WTVI became an educational licensee for the second time in its history. It is also one of seven full PBS members to be operated by a community college. The others are Milwaukee Public Television; WDCQ-TV in Bay City, Michigan; WVUT-TV in Vincennes, Indiana; KACV in Amarillo, Texas; KNCT in Killeen, Texas; WSRE in Pensacola, Florida and WBCC-TV in Orlando, Florida.
Three months after taking over, CPCC brought back familiar PBS shows such as Downton Abbey, NOVA and Nature. More local programs are planned, including some previously aired on CPCC's cable channel. One new show is Off the Record, hosted by David Rhew and similar to Jerry Hancock's Final Edition, dropped in 2009 for budget reasons.[3]
WTVI is aired on cable channel 5 in Charlotte and surrounding areas, channel 4 in Kannapolis and Metrolina, and channel 9 in York and Lancaster counties (the area's actual channel 9, WSOC-TV, is seen on cable channel 4). In recent years, WTVI has been carried on cable in Troy, which is within the Greensboro media market.
The call letters were first used by a station broadcasting on UHF channel 54 in St. Louis, Missouri, in the early 1950s, eventually becoming KTVI channel 2.[citation needed]
Digital television [edit]
In 2000, WTVI began digital broadcasting on VHF channel 11, and added four additional virtual channels, including one High-Definition channel. WTVI was the first high-definition production television station in Charlotte.
Although the DTV Delay Act permitted waiting until June 12, 2009 to switch, WTVI began broadcasting only a digital signal on the original transition date of February 17, 2009.
WTVI's digital channel is multiplexed among 3 subchannels:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WTVI-HD | Main WTVI programming / PBS |
| 42.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WTVI-MH | MHz WorldView |
| 42.3 | WTVI-ED | Create |
Before February 17, 2009, WTVI's digital channel configuration was:
| Channel | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 42.1 | WTVI | Main WTVI Programming / PBS |
| 42.2 | WTVI-CV | "The Civic Channel" |
| 42.3 | WTVI-ED | Create |
| 42.4 | WTVI-KD | PBS Kids |
| 42.5 | WTVI-HD | WTVI / PBS HD |
References [edit]
- ^ http://www.wtvi.org/about.cfm
- ^ a b Washburn, Mark. (2011, July 1). Charlotte's public TV station in dire straits. The Charlotte Observer
- ^ a b Washburn, Mark (2012-10-06). "Struggles remain in the air for WTVI". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ^ Perlmutt, David. County board split on CPCC, WTVI merger. The Charlotte Observer, 2012-03-21
- ^ http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/21/3257751/briefly.html
- ^ http://countynews4you.com/2012/07/05/celebrating-31-years-with-wtvi/
External links [edit]
- WTVI website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVI
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTVI-TV
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
