WETA-TV
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| WETA-TV | |
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| Washington, D.C. | |
| Branding | WETA |
| Slogan | Be more... (which is PBS' current slogan used since 2002) |
| Channels | Analog: 26 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association |
| First air date | October 2, 1961 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Washington Educational Telecommunications Association |
| Sister station(s) | WETA-FM |
| Former affiliations | NET (1961-1970) |
| Transmitter Power | 2290 kW (analog) 90 kW (digital) |
| Height | 235 m (analog) 254 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 65670 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.weta.org |
WETA-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network television station serving the Washington, D.C. area of the United States. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia. WETA produces many nationally syndicated programs for PBS including The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week, and performance specials such as "The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2006 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor." The station has also been the production partner of filmmaker Ken Burns for more than 20 years.
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[edit] History
In 1952, the FCC allocated 242 channels for non-commercial use across the U.S.. Channel 26 was allocated for use in Washington, DC.
In 1953, the Greater Washington Educational Television Association was formed to develop programming for channel 26.
In 1957, Elizabeth Campbell, thought by many to be the major force in founding WETA was elected president of the association.
In the early days, before it was granted a license for its own channel, the GWETA produced educational programming for WTTG.
Finally, on 2 October 1961, the GWETA was granted a license by the FCC to activate channel 26. Until WETA moved to Howard University in 1964, WETA operated from Yorktown High School.
In 1967, WETA produced Washington Week in Review, its first nationally syndicated program for non-commercial educational stations.
Around 1970, the Greater Washington Educational Television Association changed their name to the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association to reflect the oversight of the new WETA-FM.
In the 1990s, WETA established itself as a leader in developing forms of communication.
In 1992, WETA broadcast the first over-the-air HDTV signal in the U.S. In 1995, WETA launched weta.org, becoming one of the first PBS stations in the country to have a website.
WETA has always been a powerful force in the communities that it serves.
In 1995, WETA acquired CapAccess, an interactive computer network. From that acquisition, WETA helped connect public schools, public libraries and local government agencies to the internet. WETA's community efforts continue to this day.
In 1996, WETA launched its first national educational project, LD Online, a web site that seeks to help children and adults reach their full potential by providing accurate and up-to-date information and advice about learning disabilities and ADHD. It was joined in 2001 by Reading Rockets, a multimedia project offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. In 2003, Reading Rockets spun off Colorín Colorado, a free, web-based, service that provides information, activities, and advice for educators, and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners (ELLs).
In 1997, WETA tested its new full-power HDTV transmitter and began to showcase it to the public in 1999.
In 2002, WETA became one of the first stations to offer digital subchannels, which initially included WETA Prime, WETA Plus, and WETA Kids.
In January 2006, WETA relaunched the subchannels lineup with WETA Create, WETA Family, and WETA World, after the closure of national services PBS You and PBS Kids.
[edit] Digital television
WETA-DT has 4 digital sub-channels. They are:
WETA HD Programs in High Definition Television, typically reruns, not the PBS National Programming Service broadcasts shown on WETA-TV. (digital channel 26.1 / 27.1, Comcast 220, and Cox 726, broadcasting 24 hours)
WETA Create How-to, travel and lifestyle programming. (digital channel 26.2 / 27.2, Comcast 200, and Cox 800, broadcasting 24 hours)
WETA Family Family-friendly programming. (digital channel 26.3 / 27.3, Comcast 201, and Cox 801, broadcasting 24 hours)
WETA World News and public affairs programming and documentaries. (digital channel 26.4 / 27.4, Comcast 202, and Cox 802, broadcasting 24 hours)
[edit] Digital channel logo gallery
 WETA HD |
 WETA Create |
 WETA Family |
 WETA World |
[edit] Local Programming
From the WETA-TV Website:
WETA All Access: A behind-the-scenes look at local landmarks. See where we're taking you this month...
The WETA Guide: Spotlighting special places and happenings in the D.C. area.
Next up for The WETA Guide: Fine Dining
Explore the crème de la crème of Washington area establishments and sample their offerings and atmosphere in this new hour-long production, The WETA Guide to Fine Dining. This show offers a lively, mouth-watering tour as the area's top chefs showcase some of their astonishing creations and explain their philosophies on food.
Next up for WETA All Access: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
This new half-hour television program features an exclusive tour of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which has completed more than 240 missions to outer space. The program follows the center's major achievements in space flight, explores the ins and outs of a space mission, and spotlights the extensive and impressive team behind it all.
[edit] Author, Author!
"Author, Author!" is a videoblog hosted by journalist and critic Bethanne Patrick. This project of WETA.org, the website for WETA-TV, launched in September of 2007. The site showcases authors and books through reviews and video interviews. Visitors are invited to contribute thoughts and ideas to the site through the blog's comments feature.
Past and future blog guests include:
- Geoffrey C. Ward, co-author, with Ken Burns, of The War: An Intimate History, now a PBS documentary, The War
- Mary Gordon, author of Circling My Mother, a memoir
- Frank Warren
- Naomi Wolf
- Richard Russo
[edit] External links
- Official WETA website
- Full history of WETA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WETA
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WETA-TV
- Official LD Online website
- Official Reading Rockets website
- Official Colorín Colorado website
- Author, Author! site
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