This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(January 2020) |
The Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) is a Wisconsin state agency that plans, develops, constructs and operates statewide public radio, public television, public safety, and educational telecommunication systems and programs, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] and oversees over 60 FCC-licensed broadcast and support stations. [3] [6] [7]
The ECB operates the Wisconsin Public Radio network and the PBS Wisconsin television network in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, The ECB is responsible for maintaining the state's public safety broadcasting systems. [1] [3] [5] [8] It also distributes educational programming for Wisconsin's K-12 schools via online media. [1] [3] [5] [9]
The ECB is established and governed by state statute: WI Stat § 39.11 (2015), [10] with additional legislation modifying its status, funding and governance [11]
It is governed by a Board of Directors, [1] and managed by an Executive Director. [2]
The agency is assigned to ensuring that public radio and public television programs and services are made available throughout Wisconsin, and that these programs and services reflect and respond to the educational and cultural needs of the state's residents. [1] [2] [12]
Additionally, the ECB manages the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards stations in Wisconsin, and the state's Emergency Alert and Amber Alert networks. [1] [2] [3] [5] [8]
In a 2011 state audit, [6] the ECB reported that it operated
The ECB also manages 9 satellite earth stations. [7]
The digital signal on 13 stations provided HD Radio clarity, for listeners equipped with HD Radio receivers. However, it required higher broadcast energy, resulting in higher utility bills for the stations. The HD equipment had higher acquisition, operating, maintenance and replacement costs. It also interfered, to some extent, with the strength and quality of reception for non-HD listeners. And few listeners were HD-equipped. Consequently, ECB and WPR decided, in late 2020, to begin discontinuing HD Radio service at seven of the ECB/WPR HD Radio stations -- KUWS-FM/Superior, WHSA-FM/Brule-Superior, WUWS-FM/Ashland, WHBM-FM/Park Falls, WHWC-FM/Menomonie-Eau Claire, WHAA-FM/Adams-Wisconsin Rapids and WHDI-FM/Sister Bay -- reverting, instead, to normal broadcast signals. [13]
The agency has cooperative relationships with, and provides educational and instructional programming for, public television stations WDSE-TV/Duluth-Superior and Milwaukee PBS, as well as with several University of Wisconsin System college radio stations. In addition, The ECB assists others in the public sector to meet their needs through the use of telecommunications. [1] [5] [9]
The ECB program "Wisconsin Media Lab" has provided free educational programs, online, for K-12 schools. It has produced and licensed educational content, making video programs, interactive websites, e-books, images, sound files, lesson plans and other products available to schools throughout the state at no cost. The resources have been aligned with academic standards, have covered all curricular areas, and have been made available online at WIMediaLab.org. An advisory committee of subject matter experts and Wisconsin educators has guided each production, and the products have undergone extensive evaluation and testing in schools. [5]
In October 2014, ECB's K-12 education programming moved online. These resources now reside at PBS Wisconsin Education [14] providing 24/7 access to content for students and teachers, and has allowed PBS Wisconsin, MPBS and WDSE to free up their television schedules for other content.
The agency had a 2021 budget of approximately $20 million, and staffing equal to 55 full-time employees. [3]
In 2015, the ECB, as with many public broadcasting organizations in Republican-governed states, faced a loss of a third of its state funding in Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget, from $8 million to $5.2 million [5] [15] [16] -- triggering an intense political response. [16] [17]
While the public radio and TV stations were unlikely to be severely affected (they had revenue from other sources, including subscriptions and sponsorships), the change threatened to sharply diminish the functioning of the agency's Wisconsin Media Lab, as well as limiting the availability of necessary maintenance and repairs to the broadcast equipment of the various ECB-governed stations. [5] The state legislature's Joint Finance Committee allowed some of the cuts, however it limited them to half the Governor's two-year $5-million total cuts request, cutting $2.3 million from the state subsidy. [16]
By Fiscal Year 2020, the state contribution from "General Purpose Revenue" had settled at $6 million, with "Program Revenue" (income from operations) required to supply the remaining $11.6 million of the ECB budget. [3]
With its numerous electronic communications operations, ECB requires technicians and engineers with a highly specialized set of skills, and has hired many with U.S. military backgrounds in those fields. With about half of the ECB's technical staff eligible for retirement, the agency continues to seek to hire transitioning U.S. military service members and veterans, Executive Director Marta Bechtol has said. A demographic analysis in the 2010s reported that the ECB the highest percentage of veteran employees of all Wisconsin state agencies (except Wisconsin's Department of Military Affairs). [4]
WTTW is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT. The two stations share studios in the Renée Crown Public Media Center, located at 5400 North Saint Louis Avenue in the city's North Park neighborhood; its transmitter facility is atop the Willis Tower on South Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WTTW also owns and operates The Chicago Production Center, a video production and editing facility that is operated alongside the two stations.
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the Ideas Network and the NPR News & Music Network, as well as the All Classical Network, a digital-only, full-time classical music service.
WHA is a non-commercial radio station, licensed since 1922 to the University of Wisconsin and located in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves as the flagship for the Wisconsin Public Radio talk-based "Ideas Network". WHA's programming is also broadcast by two low-powered FM translators, and by WERN FM's HD3 digital subchannel. The station airs a schedule of news and talk programs from Wisconsin Public Radio, NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC.
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local and regional programming as well as television programs from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and American Public Television (APT), and radio programs from National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media (APM), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and the BBC World Service, among other distributors. Its headquarters and television studios are located in Portland.
WMVT is a secondary PBS member television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is owned by Milwaukee Area Technical College alongside primary PBS member WMVS. Collectively branded as Milwaukee PBS, the two stations share studios at the Continuing Education Center on the MATC campus on North 8th Street in downtown Milwaukee, and transmitter facilities on North Humboldt Boulevard in Milwaukee's Estabrook Park neighborhood.
KVCR-DT is a PBS member television station in San Bernardino, California, United States. It is owned by the San Bernardino Community College District alongside NPR member KVCR. The two stations share studios at the San Bernardino Valley College campus on North Mt. Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino; KVCR-DT's transmitter is located atop Box Springs Mountain.
PBS Wisconsin is a state network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It comprises all of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the state outside of Milwaukee
The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The authority operates as a statutory corporation that holds the licenses for all of the PBS stations operating in the state; it is managed by an independent board of gubernatorial appointees, and university and education officials, which is linked to the executive branch of the Oklahoma state government through the Secretary of Education.
WHAD is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Delafield, Wisconsin and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), it airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming. Like the Milwaukee area's other NPR station, WUWM, the station airs BBC World Service in the overnight hours. WHAD maintains a local news staff and cut-ins outside the main WPR network, and the station's facilities, located on the seventh floor of 310 W. Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee with the ability to originate its own programming for the network, formerly including Kathleen Dunn's afternoon program until her retirement in the summer of 2017. WHAD has its own 414 studio line for Milwaukee callers to call into locally originated programs, though currently all programing is currently produced at WPR's Madison studios. Because of the lack of a sister station providing WPR's News and Classical Network to Milwaukee, WHAD provides the HD2 Classical Network via HD Radio to the market via their HD2 subchannel, which only differs from the News and Classical Network in having a full-classical format overlaying NPR and APM news programming exclusive to WUWM in the market; it became the market's only classical music station over the air in 2007 after WFMR abandoned the format commercially.
The Presidential Broadcast Service - Bureau of Broadcast Services (PBS-BBS), is a state radio network owned by the Philippine government under the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
Wyoming Public Radio (WPR) is the statewide public radio network in Wyoming, and is licensed to the University of Wyoming.
WHHI is a radio station licensed to Highland, Wisconsin, and serving the Dodgeville area. WHHI's 100kw signal covers a large swath of Southwest Wisconsin, Northwest Illinois and Northeast Iowa including into the Dubuque area as well as extreme southeast portions of Minnesota. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming.
WLBL is a radio station licensed to Auburndale, Wisconsin, serving Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming.
WLBL-FM is a radio station licensed to Wausau, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming. WLBL-FM also broadcasts local news and programming from studios in the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County in Wausau.
WVSS is a radio station licensed to Menomonie, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and airs WPR's "NPR News & Music Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming, as well as local news from WPR's regional studio in Eau Claire.
WHRM is a radio station licensed to Wausau, Wisconsin, serving the Wausau/Stevens Point area. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "NPR News and Classical Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming. WHRM also broadcasts regional news and programming from studios in the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau.
WEMY is a Christian radio station broadcasting on 91.5 FM, serving the Green Bay, Wisconsin area. The station's format consists of Christian adult contemporary music with some Christian talk and teaching. WEMY is also heard in the Manitowoc–Two Rivers area through a translator on 95.5. It is part of "The Family" radio network based at WEMI in Appleton.
WOVM is a non-commercial American radio station licensed to Appleton, Wisconsin. The station is owned by Music That Matters, Inc.
WPNE is a radio station licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "NPR News and Classical Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming. WPNE-FM also broadcasts regional news and programming from studios in the Instructional Services building at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, along with sister Ideas Network station WHID (88.1). WPNE-FM transmits from facilities shared with WBAY-TV, WIXX, and WPNE-TV in Ledgeview.
WHWA is a public radio station in Washburn, Wisconsin, licensed to the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and airs WPR's "NPR News and Classical Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming. WHWA also broadcasts regional news and programming from studios in the Holden Fine Arts Center at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. The WHWA transmitter is on Maple Hill, approximately four miles west of Washburn, co-located with WEGZ. The WHWA transmitter replaced a 38-Watt WPR translator (W284AN/104.7) in Ashland as part of an effort to improve public radio reception in the area.