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WKAR-TV

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WKAR-TV is a PBS member station serving the Lansing, Michigan area. It is owned by Michigan State University. The station broadcasts on digital channel 40, which redirects to its former analog channel 23 via PSIP). Its studios are located on MSU's campus in East Lansing, its city of license. WKAR's transmitter is located on Kinawa Road in Meridian Township, Michigan between East Lansing and Williamston. WKAR transmits its signal from an antenna with a height of 969 feet.

WKAR-TV is part of the Broadcasting Services Division of MSU. WKAR-TV's studios and offices are located in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, at the southeast corner of Wilson and Red Cedar Roads on the MSU campus.

WKAR's SD analog channel is available on Comcast's Flint system on channel 21, but for unknown reasons, none of its digital subchannels are available.

History

WKAR-TV went on the air in January 1954 broadcasting on channel 60. Its call letters are the same as WKAR Radio (which first went on the air in 1922 with the call letters being assigned randomly, and do not reflect the university's early agricultural roots). Both WKAR Radio and WKAR-TV are licensed to Michigan State University. It is the second-oldest educational television station in the United States, and the oldest east of the Mississippi River. It was the third station on the air, but the second, in Los Angeles, went dark not long after it went on. KUHT in Houston is the oldest.

Despite MSU's long history in broadcasting, WKAR-TV struggled for viewers because television sets at that time were not required to have UHF tuning capability. Viewers needed an expensive converter to watch channel 60, and the picture was marginal at best even with one. With this in mind, MSU unsuccessfully tried to persuade the FCC to redesignate channel 10, the only other VHF channel allocated to the Lansing area, for noncommercial use.

Eventually, MSU cut a deal with Jackson Telecasters to share channel 10. So in 1959, WKAR-TV changed its call sign to WMSB (for Michigan State Broadcasting) and moved to channel 10. It shared the frequency with Jackson Telecasters' new station, NBC affiliate WILX-TV. The two broadcasters maintained separate studios and offices and shared the same transmitting facilities in Onondaga. WMSB was on the air for 30 percent of the broadcast day, but WILX had all of prime time. WMSB would often give its time to WILX in case of breaking news, or if NBC aired sports or special events during WMSB's time.

In 1972, WKAR-TV resumed full-time broadcasting on channel 23. This was made possible by the All Channels Act of 1961 (requiring all TV sets sold in the United States to receive UHF channels starting in 1964), the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and the subsequent development of PBS in 1969. The channel 23 dedication show was simulcast on both channels 10 (WMSB) and 23 (WKAR-TV), after which WMSB went silent and WILX began broadcasting on channel 10 full-time.

In 1981, WKAR-TV moved from the Quonset hut it had occupied since the station first signed-on to the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. The Breslin Student Events Center occupies the former studio location today.

File:Wkartv.png
WKAR-TV logo, used through 2008.

WKAR-TV serves as the flagship station for Michigan Public Broadcasting (MPB) television programs. Programs distributed statewide on a weekly or monthly basis include "QuizBusters", "Off the Record, "BackStage Pass" as well as specials like the Governor of Michigan's annual "State of the State" address.

WKAR-TV also held a yearly phone-in auction spanning over several days, where viewers could bid on items which were donated by local businesses and volunteers. When it was first held in 1977, it was the first of its kind in mid-Michigan. In 2007, citing a poorer economy, and the fact that they can raise more money by putting their resources into other developmental activities, the fundraising event ceased at the conclusion of the 30th WKAR-TV Auction.[1]

On January 11, 2016, WKAR announced that it would partner with WTVS in Detroit to launch a 24-hour children's television service to be carried by both stations. The station also confirmed that it will not participate in the FCC's spectrum incentive auction.[2]

Fire

At approximately 3:36 p.m. on August 21, 1978, a fire broke out at WKAR's transmitter site, knocking the station off the air for the next 2 months and causing $900,000 (in 1978 dollars) in damage. WKAR-FM also went off the air at about 4 p.m. That station returned to the air by mid-September. While the transmitter was under repair, WJIM-TV (now WLNS) aired some of WKAR's programming, such as Sesame Street. Cause of the fire remains unknown.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3]
23.1 1080i 16:9 WKAR-HD Main WKAR-TV programming / PBS
23.2 480i 4:3 WKAR-WLD World (WKAR-AM on SAP)
23.3 WKAR-CRT Create (WKAR-FM on SAP)

WKAR-TV offers several companion services. Most of these services carry PBS digital services usually carried as subchannels by other member stations. Comcast Cable in the Greater Lansing/East Lansing/Meridian areas may offer some channels at longer hours than the aerial digital subchannels.

WKAR-DT began broadcasting on Channel 55 on January 15, 2004.

On November 4, 2007 WKAR Life and WKAR World were added to the digital lineup. On April 6, 2008 WKAR Life became WKAR Create.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WKAR-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 23, on January 13, 2009.[4] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 55, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 40, using PSIP to display WKAR-TV's virtual channel as 23 on digital television receivers.

On June 18, 2010, construction of a new broadcast tower for WKAR-TV and WKAR-FM was approved during a Michigan State University Board of Trustees meeting. The project was completed in August 2011.[5]

On September 10, 2012, WKAR-TV began transmission of its digital signal 24/7.[6]

WKAR Create

WKAR Create is broadcast on the channel that formerly carried KAR3. From 7 a.m. to midnight (24/7 on cable) WKAR Create carriers the Create service, a channel broadcasting lifestyle programming. The change from WKAR Life to WKAR Create was due to viewer feedback.

WKAR World

WKAR world is broadcast on the channel that formerly carried KAR2. WKAR World carries the PBS World service, with some local programming from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

KAR4

KAR4 broadcast educational programming for teachers from the Annenberg Channel. KAR-4 was only available on cable in East Lansing and Meridian Township. It is unknown when this service was discontinued (the Annenberg Channel closed in October 2008), as TV listings and WKAR's website no longer have any references to this channel.

References

  1. ^ http://www.wkar.org/enews/story.php?fill=070416/auction.html
  2. ^ "WKAR to stay on air, launch 24/7 children's channel with Detroit Public TV". MLive.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WKAR
  4. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ http://wkar.org/post/going-great-heights-build-new-wkar-tower
  6. ^ http://wkar.org/post/wkar-tv-broadcast-goes-247-september-10
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