WQED Multimedia

WQED Multimedia is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit corporation that owns and operates two public broadcasting stations:

Television station WQED (TV) (channel 13 analog/38 digital)
Radio station WQED-FM (89.3 FM)

The company's headquarters and production facility is located at 4802 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

From 1970 to 2009, the company also owned and published Pittsburgh Magazine.

History

^[1]

First airing on April 1, 1954, WQED is the first-ever community-sponsored educational television station in the country^[2] . In 1959, the soon-to-be-empire signed on WQEX-TV for the purpose of classroom instructional content. The network made breakthroughs in the industry by providing specialized educational television starting in the year 1963, through WQEX. For the first time, a station utilized management training and vocational education in Pittsburgh and this grabbed the attention of other channels in no time. Stations in South Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Virginia and the District of Columbia soon put these methods into practice^[3] . And in 1973, Classical WQED-FM 89.3 launched, making it the region's only 24-hour classical music radio station.

WQED has partnered with countless local community organizations to improve arts, education, culture, community health, economics and important local issues through civic journalism. Constantly making efforts to get the community involved, WQED drives the mission of creating an educated and informed viewer.

Air Content

^[4] WQED Revolves around a schedule that includes seven locally-produced television programs that air Mondays-Saturday evenings.^[5] They are:

-Experience
-Horizons
-It’s Pittsburgh and a lot of other stuff
-Pittsburgh 360
-4802
-Filmmakers Corner
-QED Cooks^[6]

WQED also produces frequent specials that focus on local issues and topics, documentaries and town hall meetings. Notable mention: Pittsburgh History Series, which includes a set of 30-plus documentaries that illustrate why the southwest Pennsylvania region is so special and unique.^[7] It has generated tens of thousands of DVD and VHS sales across the country.

Today, WQED spans across a wide variety of marketplaces, reaching southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Maryland.

WQED-HD
WQED
The Create Channel
WQED: The Neighborhood Channel
Classical WQED-FM 89.3/ Pittsburgh
WQEJ-FM 89.7/ Johnstown
WQED Education Department
WQED Interactive ^[8]

Pursuit to Sell WQEX

^[9] In 1996, WQED tried to sell another PBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, WQEX-TV (Channel 16). However, The FCC denied WQED's request. The network pleaded financial hardship.^[10]

WQED's Most Special Neighbor

^[11]

Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood hosted his namesake show, that was taped in at WQED in Pittsburgh, for over 3 decades on PBS, teaching lifelong lessons to children using storytelling and enforcing them to use their imagination.^[12] Born Fred McFeeley Rogers, everyone's favorite cardigan-wearing friend was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1928 ^[13] .Throughout his life, other than the host of his program, Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, songwriter and pianist. After graduating from Rollins College in Florida in 1951,^[14] Rogers moved to New York City to pursue a career with NBC as a Floor Manager. He then returned to his roots in Pittsburgh in 1953 and started his work with WQED. Rogers first created "The Children's Corner" for WQED, which then led to the development of a 15-min version of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for television in Canada, but he soon then returned to Pittsburgh. In 1968, Mister Rogers' Television debuted on National Educational Television and ran until 2001^[15] . The program reaches over 8 million households on over 300 PBS stations. Roger's pioneering program was one of the first to encourage children's self-esteem, self-control, cooperation, ability to confront and deal with problems, appreciate diversity and other critical life values and behaviors.^[16]

In 1987, Rogers took a trip to the former Soviet Union to appear on a children's television program^[17] . The children were particularly smitten with Daniel Striped Tiger, one of Roger's most well-known puppets^[18] . Rogers has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Throughout his career, Rogers won countless awards, which include a handful of Emmys and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. He died in 2003 after retiring two years earlier. Rogers was married to his wife Joanna, and together they had two sons, James and Joseph, and a grandson Alexander.^[19]

References

1. "Educational TV in Organization and Individual Development," Donald V. Taverner. Training & Development Journal, August 1, 1966.

3. "FCC Denies WQED's Plans to sell WQEX, Doug Halonen. Electronic Media, July 29, 1996.

4. "A Rose for Fred," Margaret Mary Kimmel. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Services to Children, Summer/Fall 2003.

5, 6, 7. "Fred McFeeley Rogers," Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition.