WVIZ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WVIZ | |
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| Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Branding | WVIZ/PBS Ideastream |
| Slogan | Where You Belong |
| Channels | 25 (UHF) analog, 26 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | Ideastream |
| Founded | February 7, 1965 |
| Call letters meaning | viz is abbreviation for videlicet, the Latin word meaning "namely" |
| Former affiliations | NET (1965–1970) |
| Website | www.wviz.org |
WVIZ is a public television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was the 100th public television station to sign on in America. Its founder was Betty Cope, a former producer at fellow Cleveland station WEWS, who recognized the value of non-commercial television for the schools. After a long struggle to clear all the hurdles, WVIZ signed on Sunday, February 7, 1965 just in time for the start of the Cleveland school year's second semester. Original studios were located in Cleveland's Max Hayes Trade School.
The first voice heard on WVIZ was that of Alan R. Stephenson, Ph.D. He was the first director of WVIZ's educational services department. Stephenson's duties included casting, setting budgets, and acting as executive producer for dozens of instructional television productions.
WVIZ's first affiliation was with National Educational Television (NET), which led to PBS in 1970. While other PBS stations established themselves with prime-time series, WVIZ remained committed first and foremost to the schools.
When PBS began feeding programs via satellite in 1979, WVIZ hired its first executive producer, Milton Hoffman. He oversaw a few WVIZ productions before resigning in 1982. The next executive producer was Dennis Goulden, formerly of WKYC. Goulden was responsible for the creation of a number of programs and series, and he credits GM Betty Cope with their creation because Goulden says she let him experiment. Series were developed such as Kovels On Collecting, Producers Showcase, Mediscene, Dimension and CookSmart, and he discovered Larry Elder (now a nationally syndicated host) and gave him a talk show. There were specials, too. There was a Paul Meincke hosted special on the Tenth Anniversary of Busing in Cleveland; an hour special on Margaret Bourke White, plus others. Mediscene was a medical series hosted by a wonderful ex-nurse, now deceased, M. R. Berger. CookSmart was hosted by Susie Heller, and guests included Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. Dimension was modeled along the lines of CBS's Sunday Morning and aired monthly. Kovels On Collecting was a well-traveled showcasing of the wonderfully talented Ralph and Terry Kovel. Goulden said Betty Cope made it all possible. Goulden lasted approximately four years. WVIZ replaced Goulden quickly in mid-1988 with Mark Rosenberger.
On June 1, 1993, after 28 years at the helm, WVIZ president Betty Cope stepped down. Her post went to Jerrold Wareham, the former GM at Greater Dayton Public Television (operating WPTD in Dayton and WPTO in Oxford, Ohio). Wareham effectively rid WVIZ of its ITV schedule, filling the daytime hours with PBS Kids series such as Barney & Friends. Wareham also modified the station name to WVIZ/PBS in December 1999. This was to play the name game with their closest PBS affiliates, WNEO/WEAO in Portage County (they adopted the nickname PBS 45 & 49 in late 1998).
In December 2001, WVIZ/PBS merged with Cleveland NPR station 90.3 WCPN to establish a unified source for public broadcasting and lectures. The new company name is ideastream.
WVIZ also operates two translators in northeastern Ohio—W63CT in Eastlake, and W64AK in Conneaut.
[edit] Digital TV
WVIZ's digital transmitter is temporarily located atop its previous studio building in suburban Parma, and is operating at a very low power level. WVIZ hopes to put a full-power antenna into service at its main North Royalton transmitter facility the in spring or summer of 2007, once transmitter tower issues are resolved. [1]
WVIZ-DT has two digital sub-channels. They are:
- WVIZ-DT channel 25-1, the PBS HD Channel, features a mix of new and library HD and widescreen programs, including PBS’ most renowned signature series: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, NATURE, NOVA, and MASTERPIECE THEATRE. New HD and widescreen programs will simulcast with their analog national PBS premiere broadcast, and will repeat on the PBS HD channel during the week following their premiere.
- WVIZ-DT channel 25-2, the Ohio Channel, features broadcasts of the Ohio legislature and supreme court as well as other programming of interest to Ohioans.
[edit] External links
- WVIZ home page
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WVIZ
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W63CT
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W64AK
| Local television stations
WKYC 3 (NBC) - WEWS 5 (ABC) - WJW 8 (Fox) - WDLI 17 (TBN) - WOIO 19 (CBS) - WVPX 23 (ION) - WVIZ 25 (PBS) - WAOH 29 / W35AX 35 (A1) - WIVN 29 / WIVM 52 (A1) - W32AR 32 (TBN) - WRAP 32 (Corner) - |
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| See also: Broadcast television stations in the Detroit/Windsor, Toledo, Columbus, Ohio, Youngstown, Wheeling/Steubenville, Erie and London markets | |||
| PBS Member Stations in the state of Ohio | |
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WPTD 16 / WPTO 14 (Dayton / Oxford) - WOUB 20 / WOUC 44 (Athens / Cambridge) - WVIZ 25 (Cleveland) - WBGU 27 (Bowling Green) - WGTE 30 (Toledo) - WOSU 34 / WPBO 42 (Columbus / Portsmouth) - WNEO 45 / WEAO 49 (Youngstown / Akron) - WCET 48 (Cincinnati) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, MyNetworkTV, CW and Other stations in Ohio | |
