WILL-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 302 m (991 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 40°2′18″N 88°40′10″W / 40.03833°N 88.66944°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | will |
WILL-TV (channel 12) is a PBS member television station licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region. Owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as part of Illinois Public Media, it is sister to NPR member stations WILL (580 AM) and WILL-FM (90.9). The three stations share studios at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university's campus; WILL-TV's transmitter is located on East 1700th Road North, five miles (8 km) west of Monticello.
History
Commercial television operation in the United States was first authorized in 1941. However, by 1948, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined that insufficient channels had been created to provide for national interference-free coverage, and there was also a need to set aside allocations for use by non-commercial educational stations. In order to give itself time to review options, a "freeze" on new TV station construction was announced, which would last until 1952. Meanwhile, in May 1951, the Illinois General Assembly included funding for a University of Illinois TV program-production unit.[2]
In 1952, the FCC announced a new TV allocation plan, which included a reservation for an educational station in Urbana on VHF channel 12. At this time the FCC also announced the creation of 70
In November 1953, the university filed an application to build the new station. After a bill that would have forced the university to withdraw its application was narrowly defeated in the legislature, the Illinois Broadcasters Association funded a taxpayer's lawsuit filed by
Because the station's initial application listed a main studio location in
WILL-TV inaugurated broadcasting on August 1, 1955, from makeshift studios underneath the west stands of
WILL-TV became an affiliate of PBS upon the network's formation.[8] The station added Saturday programming in 1974, four years after joining PBS.[7]
Programming
In addition to PBS network and local programming, WILL-TV carries
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WILL-HD | Main WILL-TV programming / PBS |
12.2 | 480i | Kids | PBS Kids | |
12.3 | Create |
|
Analog-to-digital conversion
WILL-TV shut down its analog signal on
See also
- Prairie Fire – a 15+ season running television news magazine and documentary program produced by WILL-TV
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WILL-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b "Part II: Final TV Report: 528. The Urbana Educational Reservation" (Sixth Report and Order, adopted April 11, 1952, released April 14, 1952), Broadcasting, April 14, 1952, pages 61-62.
- ^ "Ill. TV Hassle", Broadcasting, March 24, 1952, page 72.
- ^ "Far Reaching Decision", Daily Illini, June 1, 1957, page 6.
- ^ "UI Will Let Bids For TV Location Upon FCC OK", Daily Illini, January 19, 1955, page 3.
- ^ History Cards for WILL-TV, fcc.gov. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ a b "The History of WILL". Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois. July 30, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
- ^ a b "WILL Illinois Public Media", American Archive of Public Broadcasting. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ^ Digital TV Market Listing for WILL (rabbitears.info)
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
External links
- Illinois Public Media's WILL AM-FM-TV website
- "Division of Broadcasting", Alumni News (College of Communications: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), 1977-78: Fiftieth Anniversary (special issue), pages 24–29: historical overview of radio and TV broadcasting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign up to 1977
- FCC History Cards for WILL-TV (covering 1953-1979)