WYES-TV
FCC | |
Facility ID | 25090 |
---|---|
ERP | |
HAAT | 306 m (1,004 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°57′14″N 89°56′58″W / 29.95389°N 89.94944°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WYES-TV (channel 12) is a
WYES-TV is the only independently owned
History
WYES-TV traces its history to 1953, when a group of civic leaders led by Marion Abramson formed the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Association. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had assigned the VHF channel 8 allocation in the New Orleans market for non-commercial use, and the group quickly snapped up the license.
After numerous fits and starts, the station first signed on the air on April 1, 1957. It was the 12th educational television station to sign on in the United States and the second in Louisiana as well as New Orleans' third television station (behind
On June 8 of that year at 8 p.m., the station swapped channel positions with then-ABC affiliate WVUE and moved to channel 12,[4] where the station remains today as its virtual channel. This was done in order for WVUE to be able to have a stronger broadcast signal which did not interfere with Jackson, Mississippi CBS affiliate WJTV, which also broadcasts on channel 12.[5]
On July 8, 1984,
Hurricane Katrina
Due to massive flooding caused by the levee failures that occurred during Hurricane Katrina's landfall on August 29, 2005, WYES' Navarre Avenue studios, where the station had been based for nearly its entire existence, sustained severe damage from flood waters of up to five feet (1.5 m).[8] The Navarre neighborhood is located in a low-lying area that sustained particularly severe damage due to flooding. The station's transmitters were spared serious damage, but the storm damaged a backup generator that provided emergency power to the transmitter facility, keeping the station off the air for almost four months.
Following Katrina, WYES partnered with local
In May 2011, WYES began construction of a new 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) broadcast facility located behind the original building that cost $7 million to build. Funding for its construction came from multiple sources, including funds raised during since-aborted plans for an unrelated facility, to have been known as the "Teleplex", that was planned to be built in the 1990s on the campus of the University of New Orleans. The facility was constructed in two phases: with a building that houses the station's technical equipment being built first, followed by another complex that would replace the original facility, which would house other operations.[8] The station moved its fundraising operations back to the original Navarre Avenue facility in 2012, with the rest of the station's operations following suit later that year.[9]
Original programming
WYES is best known outside of New Orleans as the home of the famous Louisiana chef and storyteller Justin Wilson, whose show originated from WYES-TV's studios. It is also known as the home for another famous Louisiana chef, Paul Prudhomme. WYES has been the originator of nationally syndicated cooking shows hosted by Kevin Belton, as well as Kitchen Queens: New Orleans, a series dedicated to the pioneering chef Leah Chase that spotlights women chefs at their New Orleans area restaurants.[10]
In 1984, WYES premiered Informed Sources, a program devoted to in-depth discussion of the news by local journalists; it is still running today.[11] Informed Sources was inspired by a former WYES show entitled City Desk, which ran from 1971 to 1978.[12]
The 1985 documentary miniseries Spaceflight was co-produced by WYES. The Steven Banks Show, a short-lived PBS sitcom, was filmed at the WYES studios in 1994.
Since 1997 during Mardi Gras, WYES has televised coverage of the Rex ball hosted by Peggy Scott Laborde and Errol Laborde, including the "Meeting of the Courts" with the Mistick Krewe of Comus—an event considered the symbolic end of Carnival season.[13]
Notable people
- Fredrick Barton – film critic
- Mel Leavitt – journalist
- Paul Prudhomme – host
- Andrea Roane – news anchor
- Al Shea – theatre critic
- Justin Wilson – host
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
12.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
WYES-HD | Main WYES-TV programming / PBS |
12.2 | 480i | 4:3 |
WYESSD1 | World
|
12.3 | WYESSD2 | Create | ||
12.4 | WYESSD3 | PBS Kids |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WYES-TV shut down its analog signal, over
References
- ^ a b "Channel Substitution/Community of License Change". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
- ^ "FCC History Cards for WYES-TV" (PDF).
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WYES-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "New Orleans stations to trade channels" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 25, 1970. p. 50.
- The Times-Picayune, June 10, 1970.
- ^ a b "New Orleans PDP station WLAE ends PBS membership". Current. August 2, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
- ^ The Times-Picayune. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
- ^ a b "WYES-TV (finally) breaks ground on new headquarters". The Times-Picayune. June 23, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ WYES contact information
- ^ Bergeron, Judy (May 14, 2020). "Girl power: New Orleans' diverse female chefs reign on new series 'Kitchen Queens'". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ "WYES Informed Sources Archive". Louisiana Digital Library. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ "Informed Sources".
- ^ Singletary, Kimberley (February 12, 2021). "Mardi Gras memories: The 2020 meeting of the Rex and Comus courts will be broadcast again". NOLA.com. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WYES
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.