WLAE-TV

Last updated
WLAE-TV
WLAE-TV (2013).svg
Channels
BrandingWLAE
Programming
Affiliations32.1: Educational Independent
32.2: WLAE Encore
32.3: CatholicTV
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
July 8, 1984(39 years ago) (1984-07-08)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
32 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Digital:
31 (UHF, until 2019)
PBS (1984–2013)
Call sign meaning
Louisiana Educational Television
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 18819
ERP 168 kW
(Construction permit to increase to 310 kW) [2]
HAAT 274 m (899 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 29°58′58″N89°57′9″W / 29.98278°N 89.95250°W / 29.98278; -89.95250
Links
Public license information
Website www.wlae.com

WLAE-TV (channel 32) is an educational independent television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by the Educational Broadcasting Foundation, a partnership between the Willwoods Community (a Catholic-related organization) and the Louisiana Educational Television Authority (operator of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, which owns the PBS member stations in Louisiana that are located outside of New Orleans). WLAE's studios are located on Howard Avenue in New Orleans, and its transmitter is located on Paris Road/Highway 47 (northeast of Chalmette).

Contents

History

As a PBS member station

WLAE "32-LAE" logo used 1999 to late 2006, at the earliest. Wlaelogo.JPG
WLAE "32-LAE" logo used 1999 to late 2006, at the earliest.

In 1978, a group of married couples, supported by the Catholic Church, formed the Willwoods Community. The organization joined forces with the Louisiana Educational Television Authority, which had been looking for a way to get its locally-based programming into the state's largest market. At the time, WYES-TV (channel 12) was the city's sole public TV station, and Willwoods sought to obtain the other non-commercial license allocated to the New Orleans market. On December 14, 1981, under the banner of the "Educational Broadcasting Foundation," the partnership was granted an educational station license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

WLAE-TV first signed on the air on July 8, 1984; it originally served as a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). WLAE-TV operated as a secondary member of the network through PBS' Program Differentiation Plan, and thus only carried 25% of the programming broadcast by PBS, while the remainder aired on WYES. Sesame Street was one of the few programs that was shown on both stations. [3] In addition to offering PBS programming, WLAE also aired, and still airs, locally produced educational programs, as well as select programming from Louisiana Public Broadcasting (mostly consisting of news and public affairs programming).

WLAE is also one of very few public television stations to televise a daily Catholic Mass, presented live from the St. Louis Cathedral in the city's Jackson Square district; PBS had tightened its restrictions regarding religious programming on member stations in 2009, although WLAE was exempted from these restrictions through a grandfather clause. [4] WLAE was one of at least two PBS member stations that were owned at least in part by a Catholic-related organization (KMBH in Harlingen, Texas was the other; it is now Fox affiliate KFXV, owned by commercial media company Entravision Communications), and one of at least three in general that were run by a religious organization (counting KBYU-TV in Provo, Utah, which left PBS in 2018).

WLAE's last logo as a PBS station, used from c. 2006 to August 1, 2013. WLAE-TV New Orleans.png
WLAE's last logo as a PBS station, used from c. 2006 to August 1, 2013.

In 2000, WLAE and WYES both received a $691,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to negotiate and establish joint production and master control facilities. The two stations' operators agreed to build the facility on the grounds of a Lakefront research park owned by the University of New Orleans. In 2005, WLAE and WYES planned a campaign to raise $4 million in capital on behalf of their relocation plan. [3] During most of 2016, WLAE underwent a technical upgrade, preventing the airing of its programming on its three subchannels, but it is now at full programming.

Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans metropolitan area on August 29, 2005, WLAE was knocked off the air due to significant damage to its transmitter. It took two years for the station's over-the-air signal to be restored. Soon after the storm, it established a direct feed to New Orleans area cable providers (including the market's largest, Cox Communications) and to satellite provider DirecTV. The station's analog signal resumed operations in January 2007, its digital signal signed on the air for the first time two months later in March 2007.

Meanwhile, the University of New Orleans campus suffered major damage due to the storm. WYES and WLAE management agreed to forgo plans to build the new studio facility at the research park. Instead, the money earmarked for that project was used to purchase new master control equipment to replace the equipment at the WLAE studios that had been damaged by the storm. [3]

As an educational independent station

On August 1, 2013, WLAE ended its membership with PBS to increase its focus on its locally produced programming; WYES became the market's exclusive PBS station once again as a result. The station had contemplated the move since the Louisiana state government reduced the station's funding by $270,000 in 2010. The decision to drop PBS programming was estimated to save the station around $130,000 annually (out of an annual budget of $2.3 million), allowing WLAE to invest the money into its local productions. The station's departure from PBS resulted in the PBS NewsHour only being available through WYES-TV's World subchannel on digital channel 12.2 until it was added to that station's primary channel the following month on September 2, 2013; the program had aired on WLAE under a longstanding arrangement with WYES. [4] [3] The station is considering entering into production and business partnerships with WYES. [3]

Programming

As a non-commercial independent station, much of WLAE's programming currently consists of locally produced programs as well as programs distributed by American Public Television (APT) and other distributors of syndicated public television programs. The station's original productions include the hour-long health discussion program Hello Health (which debuted in 2008 under a partnership with the Ochsner Medical Center); the legal discussion program John Redman: Power of Attorney; the Hispanic-targeted monthly magazine series Conexiones; interior design how-to program Chet Chat; and interview and discussion program Ringside Politics. [3] It also airs many programs from part-owner LPB, including its flagship news program, Louisiana: The State We're In.

In October 2022, WLAE-TV aired a documentary about the historic African American village of Fazendeville, Louisiana, entitled "Battlegrounds: The Lost Community of Fazendeville." [5] As part of its educational outreach for the program, the station also held a special screening of the documentary at the St. Bernard Docville Farm in Violet on October 30. The event was supported by the Mereux Foundation. [6]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WLAE-TV [7]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
32.1 1080i 16:9 WLAE HDMain WLAE-TV programming
32.2 480i 4:3 Encore WLAE Encore
32.3C TV CatholicTV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WLAE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 32, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 31. [8] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 32.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Public Broadcasting</span> PBS/NPR member network in Georgia, United States

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the Georgia state government which holds the licenses for most of the PBS and NPR member stations licensed in the state. The broadcast signals of the nine television stations and 19 radio stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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.

KETC is a PBS member television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, owned by St. Louis Regional Public Media. The station's studios are located at the Dana Brown Communications Center on Olive Street in St. Louis' Grand Center neighborhood, and its transmitter is located in South St. Louis County.

WTVS is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios on Clover Court 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVUE-DT</span> Fox affiliate in New Orleans

WVUE-DT, branded Fox 8, is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains primary studios on Norman C. Francis Parkway in the city's Gert Town section, with a secondary studio within the Benson Tower in downtown New Orleans; its transmitter is located on Magistrate Street in Chalmette, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDSU</span> NBC affiliate in New Orleans

WDSU is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Howard Avenue in the city's Central Business District, and its transmitter is located on East Josephine Street in Chalmette.

WYES-TV is a PBS member television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, owned by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation. The station's studios are located on Navarre Avenue in the city's Navarre neighborhood, and its transmitter is located on Magistrate Street in Chalmette.

WPXL-TV is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains offices on Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Cleary Avenue in Metairie; its transmitter is located off Paris Road near the Orleans–St. Bernard parish line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHNO</span> CTN TV station in New Orleans

WHNO is a religious television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, owned and operated by the Christian Television Network (CTN). The station's studios are located on St. Charles Avenue in downtown New Orleans, and its transmitter is located off Behrman Highway in the city's Algiers neighborhood.

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.

<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.

Arkansas PBS is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkansas government operated through the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which holds the licenses for all of the public television stations based in the state. The commission is managed by an independent board of university and education officials, and gubernatorial appointees representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts. Along with offering television programs supplied by PBS and various independent distributors, the network produces public affairs, cultural and documentary programming as well as sports events sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).

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.

WBRA-TV is a PBS member television station in Roanoke, Virginia, United States, owned by Blue Ridge Public Television, Inc. The station's studios are located on McNeil Drive in southwest Roanoke, and its transmitter is located on Poor Mountain in unincorporated southwestern Roanoke County.

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">Connecticut Public Television</span> PBS member network

Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the PBS member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses for all PBS member stations licensed in the state, and also owns the state's NPR member, Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR). Together, the television and radio stations make up the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPBN). CPBN is the state's only locally owned media organization producing TV, radio, print and Internet content for distribution across the state. As of 2019, Mark Contreras was announced as the new President / CEO. The organizational structure of CPTV also includes a Board of Trustees. The network co-produced the long-running children's television series, Barney & Friends until the show were transferred to WNET.

WDSE, branded on-air as PBS North, is a PBS member television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Owned by the Duluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation, it is sister to adult album alternative radio station WDSE-FM (103.3). The two outlets share studios on rented space at the University of Minnesota Duluth; the television station's transmitter is located west of downtown Duluth in Hilltop Park.

<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.

WKMJ-TV is a PBS member television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the flagship station for KET2, the second television service of Kentucky Educational Television (KET), which is owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WLAE-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "Engineering Statement WLAE-TV New Orleans, LA Channel 23 January 2, 2023". January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Walker, Dave (July 29, 2013). "'NewsHour,' 'Charlie Rose' viewers will scramble as WLAE drops PBS affiliation". The Times-Picayune . Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "New Orleans PDP station WLAE ends PBS membership". Current . August 2, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ Pope, John. "Lost Black settlement on the Chalmette Battlefield is the topic of documentary." New Orleans, Louisiana: Nola.com, October 21, 2022.
  6. ↑ Rooney, Meghan. "WLAE-TV Debuts Groundbreaking Documentary Battlegrounds: The Lost Community of Fazendeville (Presented by the Mereaux Foundation)," in "Snapshots." New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Magazine, December 30, 2022.
  7. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WLAE
  8. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.