WGVU-TV

Last updated

WGVU-TV
WGVU-TV logo.png
Channels
BrandingPBS WGVU Public Media
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner Grand Valley State University
History
First air date
December 17, 1972(51 years ago) (1972-12-17)
Former call signs
WGVC (1972–1987)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 35 (UHF, 1972–2009)
Call sign meaning
Grand Valley State University
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 24784
ERP 41.5 kW
HAAT 259.9 m (853 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 42°57′34.7″N85°53′44.9″W / 42.959639°N 85.895806°W / 42.959639; -85.895806
Links
Public license information
Website www.wgvu.org/television/
Satellite station
WGVK
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
History
First air date
October 1, 1984(39 years ago) (1984-10-01)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 52 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Call sign meaning
"WGVU Kalamazoo"
Technical information [2]
Facility ID 24783
ERP 10 kW
HAAT 169 m (554 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 42°18′23.1″N85°39′25″W / 42.306417°N 85.65694°W / 42.306417; -85.65694 (WGVK)
Links
Public license information

WGVU-TV (channel 35) is a PBS member television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It operates a full-time satellite station, WGVK (channel 52) 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.

Contents

History

The station signed on the air on December 17, 1972, as WGVC, owned by what was then Grand Valley State College. [3] Channel 35 originally operated from the basement of Manitou Hall on GVSC's Allendale campus.

WGVC's signal was somewhat marginal in the southern portion of the vast West Michigan market (Kalamazoo and Battle Creek). It must conform its signal to protect fellow PBS member WNIT in South Bend, Indiana, on adjacent channel 34. In much of this area, WGVC could only be seen on cable. This was very similar to what the area's main ABC affiliate, WZZM-TV (channel 13), faced due to the presence of WTVG in Toledo, Ohio. To make up for this shortfall in coverage, Grand Valley State signed on WGVK as a satellite station in 1984. In 1986, the station relocated to its current studio facility at the Meijer Public Broadcast Center. The station's callsign was changed to WGVU-TV in 1987, when Grand Valley State was elevated to university status.

Programming

WGVU produces numerous local programs. It also carries national shows from PBS, American Public Television, and the National Educational Telecommunications Association. NPR and PRX programming heard on WGVU-FM is aired on the fifth digital subchannel's SAP channel.

Weekly

Specials

Documentaries

Notable documentaries produced by WGVU include LZ Michigan (A "Landing Zone" to Remember, Honor, and Celebrate our Community's Veterans and Their Families), Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History,Surviving Auschwitz: Children of the Shoah and Defying Hitler.

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' signals are multiplexed:

Subchannels of WGVU-TV [4] and WGVK [5]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
WGVU-TVWGVKWGVU-TVWGVK
35.152.1 1080i 16:9 WGVUPBSWGVKPBS PBS
35.252.2 720p PBSKIDSPBSKids PBS Kids
35.352.3 480i CREATECreate Create
35.452.4World World
35.552.5WGVUMLCWGVKMLCMichigan Learning Channel
35.652.6GuideSchedule scroll and WGVU-FM
(WGVU-FM audio also on DT1 SAP channel during programs without audio description)

Analog-to-digital conversion

Both stations shut down their analog signals respectively, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television: [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Valley State University</span> Public university in Allendale, Michigan, US

Grand Valley State University is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on 1,322 acres (5.35 km2) approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Grand Rapids. The university also features campuses in Grand Rapids and Holland and regional centers in Battle Creek, Detroit, Muskegon, and Traverse City.

Iowa PBS, formerly Iowa Public Television (IPTV), is a network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is operated by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which holds the licenses for all the PBS member stations in the state. Iowa PBS' headquarters are located at 6450 Corporate Drive in Johnston, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama Public Television</span> PBS member network serving Alabama, United States

Alabama Public Television (APT) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Alabama. It is operated by the Alabama Educational Television Commission (AETC), an agency of the Alabama state government which holds the licenses for all of the PBS member stations licensed in the state. The broadcast signals of the nine stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. The network produces public affairs, cultural, natural history, and documentary programming; broadcast and online education programs for classroom use and teacher professional development; and electronic field trips serving K-12 students.

Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquartered in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of the PBS member stations licensed in the state, with the exception of KBDI-TV in Broomfield, which serves as the Denver market's secondary PBS station through the network's Program Differentiation Plan. The network comprises five full-power stations—flagship station KRMA-TV in Denver and satellites KTSC in Pueblo, KRMJ in Grand Junction, KRMU in Durango and KRMZ in Steamboat Springs. The broadcast signals of the five full-power stations and 60 translators cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUFT (TV)</span> PBS member station in Gainesville, Florida

WUFT is a PBS member television station in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is owned by the University of Florida alongside low-power weather-formatted independent station WRUF-LD, 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; WUFT's transmitter is located on Northwest 53rd Avenue in Gainesville.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is the public television and radio state network serving the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is owned by the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Authority, an agency of the state government that holds the licenses for all Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) member stations licensed in West Virginia. It is headquartered in Charleston with studios in Morgantown and Beckley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZZM</span> ABC affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan

WZZM is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station has studios on 3 Mile Road NW in Walker, and its transmitter is located in Grant, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOOD-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan

WOOD-TV is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for West Michigan. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Battle Creek–licensed dual ABC/CW affiliate WOTV and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WXSP-CD. The three stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in Grand Rapids; WOOD-TV's transmitter is located southwest of Middleville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXMI</span> Fox affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan

WXMI is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of the Fox network. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains studios on Plaza Drive on the northern side of Grand Rapids, and its transmitter is located southwest of Middleville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBPH-TV</span> Religious TV station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

WBPH-TV is a religious independent television station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia television market. The station is owned by Sonshine Family Television. WBPH-TV's studios are located in Allentown, and its transmitter is located on South Mountain in Salisbury Township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWMT</span> CBS affiliate in Kalamazoo, Michigan

WWMT is a television station licensed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on West Maple Street in Kalamazoo; its transmitter is located in northwest Yankee Springs Township on Chief Noonday Road/M-179 near Patterson Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOTV</span> ABC/CW affiliate in Battle Creek, Michigan

WOTV is a television station licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC and The CW. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Grand Rapids–licensed NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WXSP-CD. The stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in Grand Rapids, while WOTV's transmitter is located on South Norris Road in Orangeville Township. WOTV brands itself as ABC 4 West Michigan, based on its channel 4 position on most area cable systems.

WTLJ is a religious television station licensed to Muskegon, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's transmitter is located in Allendale Charter Township in Ottawa County, just southwest of Grand Valley State University. Its signal is relayed on translator station WJGP-LD in Kalamazoo.

WSIU-TV is a PBS member television station in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. It is owned by Southern Illinois University alongside NPR member WSIU. The two stations share studios on the university's campus in Carbondale; WSIU-TV's transmitter is located along US 51 near Tamaroa, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Dakota Public Broadcasting</span> Public radio and TV network in South Dakota

South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) is a network of non-commercial educational television and radio stations serving the U.S. state of South Dakota. The stations are operated by the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunication, an agency of the state government which holds the licenses for all of the PBS and NPR member stations licensed in South Dakota except KRSD in Sioux Falls, which is owned and run by Minnesota Public Radio, and KAUR in Sioux Falls, which is owned by Augustana University and operated by MPR. SDPB has studios and offices in Rapid City and Sioux Falls with headquarters being located in the Al Neuharth Media Center on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

WGVU-FM is an NPR member station serving Grand Rapids, Michigan. Owned by Grand Valley State University, it is simulcast in West Michigan. The main broadcast frequency is 88.5 MHz, which is licensed to Allendale, the Grand Rapids suburb that is home to Grand Valley State's main campus. It is simulcast on WGVS-FM 95.3 MHz, which is licensed to Whitehall and serves Muskegon. The format is talk radio from NPR, along with jazz.

WDCQ-TV, branded Delta College Public Media, is a PBS member television station licensed to Bad Axe, Michigan, United States, serving the Flint–Tri-Cities television market. The station is owned by Delta College in University Center, an unincorporated community in Frankenlust Township in southwestern Bay County. WDCQ-TV's transmitter is located in Quanicassee, in northwestern Tuscola County.

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.

Nebraska Public Media, formerly Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), is a state network of public radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC). The television stations are all members of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), while the radio stations are members of National Public Radio (NPR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Public Broadcasting</span> Public broadcaster of the state of Mississippi, United States

Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) is the public broadcasting network serving the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is owned by the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET), an agency of the state government that holds the licenses for all of the PBS and NPR member stations in the state. MPB's headquarters is located on Ridgewood Road in northeast Jackson. The public broadcaster was established as Mississippi Educational Television.

References

  1. "Facility Technical Data for WGVU-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "Facility Technical Data for WGVK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. FCC History Cards for WGVC (WGVU-TV). Federal Communications Commission.
  4. RabbitEars TV Query for WGVU
  5. RabbitEars TV Query for WGVK
  6. List of Digital Full-Power Stations