WTVP

WTVP
Peoria, Illinois
City of license Peoria, Illinois
Slogan Public Television for Central Illinois
Channels Digital: 46 (UHF)
Virtual: 47 (PSIP)
Subchannels 47.1 PBS
47.2 PBS World
47.3 Create
Affiliations PBS
Owner Illinois Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation
First air date June 27, 1971
Call letters' meaning TV Peoria
Former callsigns Analog:
WTVP (1971–2009)
Digital:
WTVP-DT (2002–2009)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
47 (1971–2009)
Transmitter power 190 kW
Height 216 m
Class Non-commercial educational
Facility ID 28311
Website www.wtvp.org

WTVP is the PBS station for Peoria, Bloomington, and Galesburg, Illinois. It operates on TV digital channel 46 and uses virtual channels starting with 47 to reflect its previous analog channel number. WTVP has 3 digital subchannels: WTVP HD, WTVP World, and WTVP Create. Its studio is located in Peoria and its broadcast tower is located in East Peoria. The station serves a radius of 50 miles (80 km) with viewers in 20 counties.

Contents

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Governance

WTVP has had a long history of cooperation with Bradley University and Bradley's public radio station WCBU, but WTVP is independently owned by the Illinois Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation, an Illinois non-profit organization whose main purpose is to run the TV station. IVPTC is governed by a board of trustees, all of whom serve voluntarily. Each IVPTC trustee is nominated by the Board's nominating committee and approved by a vote of the full Board. The full Board of Trustees meetings are open to the public. Permanent seats were reserved by its original charter for one voting representative from each of the following institutions: Bradley University, Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria Public Schools, Peoria Public Library, Pekin Public Schools, and Illinois Central College.

History

Under the original FCC analog television channel allocations, 59 was channel reserved for public television use in Peoria; but when WTVP was established, it chose 47, the other, lower open channel in Peoria. The FCC later moved the official public television reservation to 47 to open 59 to commercial use, and channel 59 was eventually used by WAOE in 1999.

A Bradley University academic dean, Phil Weinberg, founded WTVP and is credited with pursuing the idea for the station in the late 1960s.

The callsign WTVP was used by channel 17 in Decatur, Illinois until that station changed its callsign to WAND in 1966, a few years before channel 47 came on the air and chose WTVP for its own callsign.

Weinberg served as the organization's first President. From 1971, Elwin Basquin served as the station's first paid manager and retired as General Manager in 1996. Chet Tomczyk succeeded Basquin as general manager and became President & CEO.

From its first broadcast in 1971 until 2003, the WTVP studio and offices were in Jobst Hall on the campus of Bradley University.

As a result of a fund-raising campaign beginning in 1999 entitled Funds for Forty-Seven, WTVP raised the resources toward its conversion to digital broadcasting. To accommodate for its anticipated digital broadcasting capacity, the station began to plan for a new facility in 2000. Once the Board of Trustees approved a search for an appropriate site to construct a new studio, the station explored many possibilities. 101 State Street, the former location of the O'Neill Transportation depot across the railroad tracks from the Post Office in downtown Peoria, was identified as a potential location and, through the generosity of the property's owner, William J. O'Neill, was made affordable to the station. A 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) facility was designed by PSA and Clark Engineering. After a competitive bid process, CORE Construction was selected as general contractor. The facility was designed to give the station the ability to offer more and better productions of interest, services to the public, and community interaction.

At the end of 2007 and early 2008, the station faced long-term debt pressures, which were widely reported by other local media and later resolved in an agreement with its bank, and with the help of thousands of special contributions resulting from a campaign called Save Our Station.[1]

Local programming

The station broadcasts PBS programming and other national content, but also has produced many original programs for local audiences. Projects include documentaries such as a Peoria historical documentary entitled Main Street Memories and its first high definition program, entitled Grand View Drive. In addition, WTVP has produced local public affairs programming such as At Issue and Interesting People.

WTVP has collaborated widely with other non-profits in the Central Illinois region. Since constructing and moving to the Peoria downtown/riverfront studio facility in June, 2003, WTVP's 101 State Street location has become a frequent space for events, open houses, tours, dinners, productions, and art exhibitions.

Awards and recognitions

In 2005, the station earned the ArtsPartner of the Year Award in recognition of its efforts to promote culture in Central Illinois, acknowledging its investment in local arts production such as a series of broadcasts with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and its short-form programs produced and broadcast by the station at no charge to many local arts organizations that year.

WTVP patrons Glen and Polly Barton received the PBS Leadership Award in 2003. The O'Neill Family, represented by P. Joseph O'Neill, received the PBS Leadership Award in 2006.[2]

Since its inception, WTVP has received national recognition in the form of PBS Development Awards and Certificates of Achievement for its fund-raising innovations and achievements.

External links

References