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Overview
WKAR-TV is part of the Broadcasting Services Division
of Michigan State University.and is a member
of the Public Broadcasting Service. In service
to the mid-Michigan community since 1954, WKAR-TV
provides quality, family television programming seven days a week. WKAR-TV's
studios and offices are located in the Communication
Arts and Sciences Building, at the southeast corner of Wilson and Red
Cedar Roads, on the Michigan State University campus.
As a non-commercial, public television station, WKAR-TV is viewer-supported
and depends on viewer memberships and contributions. For membership information,
or to request a copy of our award-winning program guide, "Fine Tuning",
call our Membership Services office at (517) 432-9527.
Programming
WKAR gets its programs from several sources: PBS, local production, and other
program services which market programs to stations for individual sale.
WKAR's programs are aired live, with a "network feed" (meaning
the program is seen by viewers as it is coming down over the satellite), or
tape-delayed (which means the program is fed to stations in advance and broadcast
at the station's convenience).
Located only a few miles east of Michigan's state capitol, WKAR-TV is the
flagship station for Michigan Public Broadcasting (MPB) television programs.
Programs distributed statewide on a weekly or monthly basis include "Off
the Record," "Michigan At Risk",
as well as specials like the governor's annual "State
of the State" address.
Locally, WKAR-TV produces weekly and monthly programming for the mid-Michigan
community like "QuizBusters" and "Off
the Record".
Broadcasting rights vary from program to program. In most cases, WKAR can
broadcast a program up to four times in a seven-day period, and some contracts
indicate that a program can be broadcast a given number of times over a specific
time period, such as two or three years.
The Community We Serve
WKAR presently serves at least 32 counties, thanks to additional cable coverage
beyond our 60-mile on-air radius. WKAR has more
than 16,000 active members who support the station by making annual pledges.
More than 2,000 volunteer positions are filled each year by community individuals
who participate in such events as membership campaigns, Auction, special events,
and assisting with organizational tasks.
History
WKAR-TV went on the air in January 1954, as an educational television station
licensed to Michigan State University. It is the second-oldest educational
television station in the United States, the oldest east of the Mississippi.
(It was the third station on the air, but the second, in Los Angeles, went
off-air soon after it went on. Houston is the oldest.)
WKAR's first channel number was "60."
From 1959-1972, WKAR operated on Channel 10 as WMSB (Michigan State Broadcasting).
It was a shared-time arrangement, in which public television programs were
aired at certain hours, while NBC programs were the bulk of the schedule (70
percent, and all of prime time).
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, and the subsequent development of PBS
in 1969 were motivating factors in bringing back the original call letters
-- WKAR-TV -- and the new channel, 23.
Funding
In 1972, WKAR became responsible for raising a portion of its budget from
the community it serves. At that time, 90-95 percent of the funding came from
the university.
Today, WKAR receives its funding as follows:
Community Support (membership, Auction) -- 58%
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Grant -- 21%
Michigan State University -- 15%
Miscellaneous -- 6%
WKAR-TV is not supported through the sale of advertising. Instead, some generous
businesses provide underwriting dollars. They receive an on-air acknowledgment
for this, but regulations do not permit specific and aggressive sales messages,
so WKAR's programming is commercial-free.
A Part of Michigan State University
WKAR-TV is part of the Division of Broadcasting Services
at Michigan State University. WKAR
Radio, also located here in the Communication Arts Building, is also
part of this division; as is Interactive Video
Services,
the "on-campus" arm of the station.
ITV provides a wide range of video support services for faculty and academic
units. Classes taught live in ITV's five multimedia classrooms may be distributed
via cable tv to the campus and local communities. Two-way interactive television
connection with other cities is possible through ITV's compressed video system
using telephone data lines. Courses can be distributed by satellite throughout
the nation using an uplink transmitter.
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