Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the fifth-largest city in Michigan. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor is also included in the larger Greater Detroit Combined Statistical Area.
National Educational Television (NET) was an American educational broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970, and was succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has memberships with many television stations that were formerly part of NET.
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable TV specialty channels. Public-access television was created in the United States between 1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under Chairman Dean Burch, based on pioneering work and advocacy of George Stoney, Red Burns, and Sidney Dean.
Public, educational, and government access television refers to three different cable television narrowcasting and specialty channels. Public-access television was created in the United States between 1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and has since been mandated under the Cable Communications Act of 1984, which is codified under 47 USC § 531. PEG channels consist of:
- Public-access television – Generally quite free of editorial control, a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create television programming content which is transmitted through cable TV The channels are reserved free or at a minimal cost. The local origination television content revolves primarily around community interest, developed by individuals and nonprofit organizations.
- Educational-access television – Is distance education, a curated form of educational television, it is a synchronous learning educational technology unique to cable television systems and transmit instructional television, on Time Warner Cable channel 21, programming within city limits. Educational-access channels are generally reserved for educational purposes and are not for government-access or public-access television. Many schools have adapted educational access channels to enhance school curriculum. Some schools have done this better than others. Although the use of television in schools can be traced to those schools serving the bedroom communities of Manhattan in the 1960s, where executives and technicians of early television lived, the creation of PEG channels expanded the value of television as a school or community resource. Students produced and aired community stories in part to serve community stakeholders and in part to engage in active learning. These schools developed school-based community television as a storytelling laboratory.
- Government-access television – Cable channel capacity for the local government bodies and other legislative entities to access the cable systems to televise public affairs and other civic meetings. Government channels are generally reserved for government purposes and not for education-access or public-access television.
- Leased access – Cable television channels that are similar to commercial television where a fee is paid-for-services of reserved channel time.
- Municipal-access television – or "Community Access television" are ambiguous terms that usually refer to a channel space assigned on a Cable TV System intended to provide the content to all or some of the above listed access channels, and may contain other "access" programming such as "religious access" or the TV programming of a local institution, such as a college or a library. These channels are usually created as cost saving measures for the Cable TV company if their franchises or governing authorities allow it.
- Hybrid – Often, one channel will take on the role of another channel type on a regular basis. An example of this would be a college with a strong television production curriculum assumes the roles of educational access and public access. Beyond the typical curated educational access programming, a public access television element would be added where public access television producers would make shows using college owned equipment and college students as crew. This can be very beneficial to both entities, as the students earn credits for the work while contributing to the public access channel. However, difficulties can arise when the programming made for public access is of a type that does not reflect the values or tastes of the supporting college, and in such situations, colleges often make the decision to downplay or abandon the public access element of the channel, depending on how much funding is earned by assuming the public access television duties.
WTVS, virtual channel 56, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Detroit, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. WTVS' main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an additional studio at the Maccabees Building in Midtown Detroit. The station's transmitter is located at 8 Mile and Meyers Road in Oak Park. WTVS partners with the Stanley and Judith Frankel Family Foundation in the management of classical and jazz music station WRCJ-FM (90.9).
Southeast Michigan, also called Southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are concentrated in Metro Detroit.
WGVU-TV, virtual channel 35, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It operates a full-time satellite station, WGVK in Kalamazoo. The two stations are owned by Grand Valley State University, and maintain studios in the Meijer Public Broadcast Center, located in the Eberhard Center on the GVSU Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids. WGVU's transmitter is located near the GVSU main campus in Allendale, while WGVK's transmitter is based in Kalamazoo's Westwood neighborhood.
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS which is produced by independent public television distributors such as American Public Television are not labeled as "PBS Kids" programming, and it is mainly a programming block branding.
New Hampshire PBS (NHPBS), known as New Hampshire Public Television (NHPTV) prior to October 1, 2017, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member network serving the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is operated by New Hampshire Public Broadcasting (NHPB), a community-based organization which holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations licensed in the state. Its studios are located just outside the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham.
WCMU-TV, virtual channel 14, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by Central Michigan University. WCMU-TV's studios are located on the CMU campus in Mount Pleasant, and its transmitter is located 3 miles (5 km) west of Barryton, Michigan.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations serving the U.S. state of Louisiana. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television Authority, an agency created by the executive department of the Louisiana state government which holds the licenses for six of the seven PBS member stations licensed in the state. Louisiana Public Broadcasting's studio facilities and offices are located on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.
Michigan Radio is a network of four FM public radio stations operated by the University of Michigan through its broadcasting arm, Michigan Public Media. The network is a founding member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio International, American Public Media, and BBC World Service. Its main studio is located in Ann Arbor, with satellite studios in Flint and offices in Grand Rapids. It currently airs news and talk, which it has since July 1, 1996.
WLNS-TV, virtual channel 6, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Lansing, Michigan, United States and serving the Central Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also operates dual ABC/CW+ affiliate WLAJ under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with owner Mission Broadcasting. Both stations share studios on East Saginaw Street in Lansing's Eastside section, and transmitter facilities on Van Atta Road in Okemos, Michigan.
WGTE-TV, virtual channel 30, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Toledo, Ohio, United States, serving northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Owned by the Public Broadcasting Foundation of Northwest Ohio, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NPR) member WGTE-FM (91.3). The two stations share studios on South Detroit Avenue in Toledo; WGTE-TV's transmitter is located on Corduroy Road in Oregon, Ohio.
WCMZ-TV, virtual and UHF digital channel 28, was a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States. It was a satellite station of Mount Pleasant-licensed WCMU-TV which is owned by Central Michigan University. WCMZ-TV's transmitter was located off Kipp Road near M-15, just south east of the village of Goodrich in southeastern Genesee County, which is now used by former sister radio station WFUM. WCMZ-TV was sold in the FCC spectrum auction in February 2017 and signed off for good in April 2018.
Michigan Government Television (MGTV) was a public affairs Government-access television (GATV) cable TV channel. Modeled on C-SPAN, its programming covered events and proceedings within the state government, including sessions of the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate.
WNMU, virtual channel 13, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Marquette, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Owned by Northern Michigan University, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NPR) member WNMU-FM (90.1). The two stations share studios at the Edgar L. Harden Learning Resource Center on the university's campus in Marquette, and transmitter facilities in Ely Township southwest of Ishpeming.
WRUF-LD, virtual channel 10, is a low-power independent television station licensed to Gainesville, Florida, United States. Owned by the University of Florida, it is sister to Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member WUFT, National Public Radio (NPR) member WUFT-FM (89.1), and commercial radio stations WRUF and WRUF-FM (103.7). The five stations share studios at Weimer Hall on the University's campus; WRUF-LD's transmitter is located on Northwest 53rd Avenue in Gainesville.
There are several media outlets in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the United States. These outlets serve Grand Rapids and the surrounding metropolitan area.
Amanda D. Lotz is an American educator, television scholar, and media scholar. She is known for her research in television studies, the economics of television and media companies, and also popularizing the terms network era, post-network era, and the multi-channel transition describing the television industry's transition to cable and to internet distribution.
