WNET

Encyclopedia : W : WN : WNE : WNET

---

WNET (Thirteen/WNET) is a non-commercial television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the three-state New York metropolitan area, WNET is a flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service, along with stations such as WGBH-TV in Boston and WETA-TV in Washington, D.C. As such, WNET is a primary provider of PBS programming. Among its contributions are Nature, the Charlie Rose show, Great Performances, Live From Lincoln Center and American Masters.

The license-holder is the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, which is also the parent of Plainview, New York-based PBS station WLIW (channel 21). The current President and Chief Executive Officer is Dr. William F. Baker. WNET is the most watched PBS station in the country; its sister station WLIW is the fourth most-watched.

History

WNET commenced broadcasting on January 2, 1948 as WATV, a commercial television station. WATV was the first of three new stations in New York to sign-on during 1948, and was also the city's first independent station. In 1958 its original owner, Atlantic Television, sold the station to National Telefilm Associates, an early distributor of motion pictures and television programs. The call letters were changed to WNTA-TV to reflect the new ownership. WNTA produced schedule of programming with greater emphasis on the people and events of New Jersey, in comparison to the other commercial television stations. But channel 13 continued to lag behind New York's other independent stations -- WNEW-TV (now WNYW), WOR-TV (now WWOR), and WPIX -- in terms of programming and popularity among viewers.

By the start of 1962, it became clear that the New York market, despite being the largest in the country, could not support four independent stations. The Educational Broadcasting Corporation, a non-profit company, bought WNTA for $6.28 million and converted channel 13 into WNDT, a non-commercial, educational station affiliated with National Educational Television. About $1 million of that amount came from WCBS, WNBC, and WNEW, which were eager to see a competitor off the dial. In addition, CBS donated a theatre facility on Ninth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan to WNDT and NET for production uses.

With legendary news reporter Edward R. Murrow at the helm on the maiden broadcast, the switch occurred on September 16, 1962. This move gave New York City its first educational station, and with a dial position on the coveted VHF band. The Federal Communications Commission had allocated to New York UHF channel 25 as its non-commercial station, but it would be 1967 before it would come on the air (as WNYE-TV).

In 1970 the Ford Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting threatened to withdraw funding from NET if it didn't merge with the station. The threat was an attempt to curb NET's production of controversial documentaries and replace it with a less controversial broadcaster, less hostile to the Nixon administration. NET was disbanded in the fall of that year and was replaced by the Public Broadcasting Service. Channel 13's call sign was changed to the present WNET shortly thereafter.

Channel 13's studios and offices were originally located in West Orange, New Jersey, then in the Mosque Theater, and then for a short time at the Gateway Center office building, both in Newark, New Jersey. The station eventually moved its operations to New York City, New York, where most television stations and television networks were based.

Channel 13's transmitter facilities, including a newly installed digital transmission system, were destroyed on September 11, 2001, when airplanes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center towers. , Channel 13's head transmitter engineer, was among those who perished when the north tower collaped. For the next ten months WNYE-TV, headquartered in Brooklyn, became WNET's surrogate transmitter and airwave (for those without cable, repeats of WNET prime-time schedules were screened on WNYE). After the surrogate period, WNYE branched more into independent public television, culminating July 1, 2003. The divorcement of WNYE from the network made WNET the only PBS station in New York City. In February 2003, WNET completed the merger with Long Island PBS broadcaster WLIW (licensed to Garden City and headquartered in Plainview), combining the two stations into one operation.

Original Creations

Thirteen has also produced and created a number of PBS shows. This includes:

• THE BRAIN
• THE MIND
• Charlie Rose
• Cyberchase
• (with WGBH)
• Reel New York
• Wide Angle

Ident and Logo Gallery

Image:watv.jpg|The WATV-TV ID Image:wnta60s.gif|The WNTA-TV ID Image:wnet71.jpg|From 1972: WNET-TV ID a.k.a. "The 13 Of Doom" Image:wnet77.jpg|From 1974, The "WNET Presents" ID Card Image:wnet_84a.jpg|1987: The world-famous radar identity Image:wnet89.jpg|A 1989 ID Image:wnet90s c.jpg|A 1992 ID Image:WNET_1998_-_I00.jpg|A Famliliar ID From 1996-1998 Image:wnet99.jpg|1999 ident; Used to signify an Original Series Image:WNET_2005_-_I001.jpg|2005 WNET-TV ID #5 Image:WNET_2005_-_I002.jpg|2005 WNET-TV ID #3 Image:WNET_2005_-_I003.jpg|2005 WNET-TV ID #8 Image:WNET_2005_-_I004.jpg|2005 WNET-TV ID #1 Image:WNET_2005_-_T000.jpg|On Late Night Sundays, WNET-TV Goes Off The Air For A Couple Of Hours, Here's A WNET-TV Test Screen With Colorbars From 2005.

See also

• Media of New York City

External links

• [Official Site]
• [Public Broadcasting Service]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WNET]

Coordinates: [40° 42' 43" N 74° 0' 49" W]

Terrestrial television>Broadcast television in the New York City market  [(Nielsen DMA #1)]
WCBS 2 (CBS)  -  WNBC 4 (NBC)  -  WNYW 5 (Fox)  -  WABC 7 (ABC)  -  WWOR 9 (UPN-to be MNTV in 09/06)  -  WPIX 11 (The WB-to be The CW in 09/06) (The Tube on DT2)  -  WNET 13 (PBS)  -  WEBR-CA 17 (GCN)  -  WLIW 21 (PBS)  -  WMBQ-CA 22 (MTV2)  -  WNYE 25 (NYC)  -  WPXN 31 (i)  -  W36AZ 36 (Ind)  -  WDVB-CA 39 (ImaginAsian)  -  WNYN-LP 39 (Azteca América)  -  WXTV 41 (UNI)  -  WSAH 43 (S@H/JTV)  -  WNJU 47 (TMD)  -  WEDW 49 (PBS/CPTV)  -  WNJN 50 / WNJB 58 (PBS/NJN)  -  WVVH-LP 50 (A1) - WKOB-LP 53 (Ind)  -  WTBY 54 (TBN)  -  WRNN-LP 57 (Ind)  -  W60AI 60 (HSN)  -  WMBC 63 (Ind)  -  WFME 66 (Religious)  -  WFTY 67 (TFR)  -  WFUT 68 (TFR)
Local digital-only channels
WRNN 48 (Ind) - WLNY 57 (Ind) (Both stations also have low-powered repeaters in analog.)
Local cable television channels
MSG Network  -  News 12  -  NY1  -  NYCTV  -  SportsNet New York  -  YES Network

PBS Member Stations in the state of New York
WNET 13 () - WPBS 16 / WNPI 18 () - WMHT 17 () - WNED 17 () - WLIW 21 () - WXXI 21 () - WCNY 24 / W59AU 59 ( / ) - WSKG 46 () - WCFE 57 ()
'''See also: , , , , , and stations in New York

	History · Government · Geography · Demographics · Economy · Transportation Culture · Media · Music · Sports · Neighborhoods · Architecture · Museums · Education New York City Lists · · New York State
The Five Boroughs: The Bronx · Brooklyn · Manhattan · Queens · Staten Island

 

---

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

?