WOSU-TV

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WOSU-TV / WPBO
WOSU: Columbus, Ohio WPBO: Portsmouth, Ohio
Slogan	WOSU Public Media Management - Tom Rieland, General Manager, Edwin Clay, TV Manager station_branding = WOSU TV
Channels	Analog: WOSU: 34 (UHF) WPBO: 42 (UHF) Digital: WOSU: 38 (UHF) WPBO: 43 (UHF)
Translators	W31AA Newark W47AB Mansfield
Affiliations	PBS
Owner	The Ohio State University
First air date	WOSU: February 20, 1956 WPBO: October 1973
Call letters’ meaning	WOSU: Ohio State University WPBO: Public Broadcasting in Southern Ohio
Former affiliations	NET (1956-1970)
Transmitter Power	WOSU: 1170 kW (analog) 250 kW (digital) WPBO: 525 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital)
Height	WOSU: 329 m (analog) 291 m (digital) WPBO: 382 m (both)
Facility ID	WOSU: 66185 WPBO: 66190
Transmitter Coordinates	WOSU: 40°9′32.7″N, 82°55′22.7″W WPBO: 38°45′41.7″N, 83°3′40.8″W
Website	www.wosu.org

WOSU-TV (channel 34) is an American television station located in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service. The station's signal covers most of central Ohio. It is owned by Ohio State University, and operates full-time satellite WPBO-TV in Portsmouth, Ohio. WPBO-TV broadcasts on analog 42 and digital 43, serving extreme southern Ohio and the western edge of the Huntington-Charleston, West Virginia market area.

WOSU-TV first broadcast on February 20, 1956. In 1959, a grant from the Ford Foundation allowed the station to purchase the first video tape recorder in Ohio. WOSU-TV began broadcasting in color in 1968, telecasting the football game between Ohio State and Michigan. The color telecast help to popularize the UHF band in Columbus, an otherwise all-VHF market at the time.

In 1972, the station moved from its old studios at 2470 North Star Rd. to a new facility, the Fawcett Center for Tomorrow, on the banks of the Olentangy River near (now on) the campus of OSU. WPBO-TV began broadcasting as a full-powered relay station in October 1973. Both stations began broadcasting in stereo in 1986; WOSU-TV was the first in Columbus to do so. In September 2006, WOSU opened a digital media center in partnership with the COSI Columbus science museum; the WOSU@COSI project is considered a national model for public broadcast partnerships. The production facility includes broadcast studios, edit suites, a conference suite, offices, the WOSU mediaLab and digital exhibits. WOSU raised $5.6 million to build and equip the all-digital facility. The Fawcett Center continues to house WOSU's primary radio complex, business and administration offices and television master control. WOSU also possesses an extensive archive of films and public programming video materials.

WOSU is known for its quality local programming, including several documentaries such as Many Happy Returns - Lazarus Department Store, about the closing of the long-time department store in downtown Columbus and the Pride of the Buckeyes documentary about the OSU marching band. They have also produced The Birth of Ohio Stadium, Echoes on the Oval, The Columbus WWII Roadshow and Honor Flight. In 2008, WOSU TV was nominated for a record 14 regional emmy awards. Among the current productions -- Columbus On The Record (weekly news and public affairs program), ArtZine (arts TV magazine focused on downtown arts scene and iMix - Ohio State (focused on interesting research projects at Ohio State). The station is planning a four-year project called Columbus Neighborhoods, featuring a series of six documentaries, along with radio programs, educational segments, community days and a dynamic web site. The series will focus on the core historical Columbus neighborhoods including Short North, Franklinton, and German Village. The culmination of the series will be in 2012 to celebrate the bicentennial of Columbus.

[edit] Digital Television

WOSU Digital transmits multiple programs and services. Offered are:

WOSU.HD — High-definition or Digital Widescreen programming featuring arts, culture, and nature.

WOSU.PLUS — Programming that is on a one-day delay of primetime PBS programming as well as daytime children’s programs, airing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day;

WOSU.Ohio — Programming from The Ohio Channel, produced by the Ohio Public Broadcasting stations.

[edit] Repeaters

In addition to WPBO, the station has two repeaters: W31AA in Newark, and W47AB in Mansfield. Located within the Cleveland DMA, the Mansfield translator serves north central Ohio.

[edit] Fund raising

Throughout most of the 1980's and the 1990's, WOSU had three different titles for its triannual pledge drives: Festival (held every March), Summer Celebration (held every July) and Explore 34 (held every December).

WOSU also had its own televised auction special, "Auction 34!", later renamed to "GO Auction!" around 2005. It was usually held every Tuesday-Saturday of the last week of April and the first week of May. Usually, the highest "Big Board" item sold was a Honda motorcycle.

[edit] External links

• WOSU Public Media
• WOSU-TV Broadcast Schedule
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOSU-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPBO
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W31AA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W47AB
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WOSU-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WPBO-TV