WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educational Broadcasting Corporation and later as WNET.org), it is a

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to the area's secondary PBS member,

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

–licensed WLIW (channel 21), and two class A stations which share spectrum with WNET: WNDT-CD (channel 14) and

WMBQ-CD WMBQ-CD (channel 46) is a class A low–power, First Nations Experience- affiliated television station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by WNET, the station is sister to the city's two PBS member stations, Newark-licensed WNET (channel 13), ...

(channel 46); through an

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

agreement, The WNET Group also operates New Jersey's PBS state network NJ PBS and the website NJ Spotlight. WNET and WLIW share studios at One Worldwide Plaza in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

with an auxiliary street-level studio in the Lincoln Center complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side; WNET's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.

History

Independent station (1948–1962)

WNET commenced broadcasting on May 15, 1948, from a transmitter located atop First Mountain in West Orange, New Jersey, as WATV, a commercial television station owned by Atlantic Television, a subsidiary of Bremer Broadcasting Corporation. Frank V. Bremer, the CEO, also owned two North Jersey radio stations,

WAAT Waat is a village in the northeastern part of South Sudan. It is located in Nyirol County, Jonglei State Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties ...

(970 AM) and WAAT-FM (94.7 MHz). The three stations were based in the Mosque Theatre at 1020 Broad Street in Newark. WATV was the first of three new stations in the New York City television market to sign on the air during 1948, and was also the first

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

. One unusual daytime program, ''Daywatch,'' consisted of a camera focused on a

teletypewriter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...

printing wire service news stories, interspersed with cutaways to mechanical toys against a light music soundtrack. Another early series by the station was ''

Stairway to Stardom ''Stairway to Stardom'' is a public-access television series that aired in New York City from 1979 to the early 1990s. It was described by NPR as "an amateur talent show many see as a low-rent precursor to ''American Idol''. Taped "in what appeare ...

'' (1950–1951), one of the first TV series with an African-American host. WATV's transmitter was moved to the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

in November 1953. On October 6, 1957, Bremer Broadcasting announced it had sold its stations for $3.5 million to National Telefilm Associates (NTA), an early distributor of motion pictures for television, joining its NTA Film Network. On May 7, 1958, channel 13's call sign was changed to WNTA-TV to reflect the new ownership; the radio stations also adopted these call letters. NTA's cash resources enabled WNTA to produce a schedule of programming with greater emphasis on the people and events of New Jersey, compared to the other commercial television stations. NTA also sought to make channel 13 the center of a new commercial network, though during its run the NTA Film Network offered only one night of "in-pattern" network programming, Friday nights in 1957–58, and for most purposes WNTA served as the New York showcase for nationally syndicated programming and produced several such entries, notably the anthology drama series ''Play of the Week''; the talk show ''

Open End ''The David Susskind Show'' is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind which was broadcast from 1958 to 1986. The program began locally in New York City in 1958 as ''Open End,'' which referred to the fact that the program was open ...

'', hosted by David Susskind;

children's show Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

The Magic Clown ''The Magic Clown'' is an NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, it was renamed ''Bonomo, The Magic Clown'' and was broadcast on ...

''; and a popular dance program emceed by Clay Cole. The station continued to lag behind New York's other independent stations—

WNEW-TV WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship ...

(channel 5),

WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW (ch ...

(channel 9) and

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...

(channel 11)—in terms of audience size, and NTA incurred a large debt load. National Telefilm Associates put the WNTA stations up for sale in February 1961.

Transition (1961–1962)

At least three prospective purchasers expressed interest in WNTA. The most prominent was the New York City-based group Educational Television for the Metropolitan Area (ETMA), a consortium of businesspeople, cultural leaders and educators who intended to turn channel 13 into New York City's educational station. By this time, it was obvious that the non-commercial frequency that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally allocated to the city,

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

channel 25, would not be nearly adequate enough to cover a market that stretched from Fairfield County, Connecticut in the north to

Ocean County, New Jersey Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.All-Channel Receiver Act passed in 1961, most viewers could not view UHF stations except with an expensive converter; only a few manufacturers made sets with built-in UHF tuning. Even for those who could access UHF stations, reception was marginal even under the best conditions. With assistance from the University of the State of New York, ETMA had attempted to purchase channel 13 and convert it into a non-commercial station in 1957, when Bremer Broadcasting first put the station on the block; this bid was later withdrawn. This time ETMA was competing with NTA founding president

Ely Landau Ely Abraham Landau (January 20, 1920 – November 4, 1993) was an American producer and production executive best remembered for films of plays in the American Film Theatre series. Landau began working in television as a director and producer i ...

, who had formed a syndicate to buy the station after resigning from NTA; and David Susskind, who received financial backing from

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. ETMA's initial bid of $4 million was rejected by NTA, but the citizens' group remained persistent. With the support and guidance of National Educational Television (NET), ETMA later received an endorsement from newly appointed FCC chairman

Newton N. Minow Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. He is famous for his speech referring to television as a " vast wasteland". While still maintaining a law practice, Mi ...

, who established public hearings to discuss the fate of channel 13. The pendulum quickly shifted in favor of channel 13 going non-commercial, and the commercial suitors withdrew their interest. On June 29, 1961, ETMA agreed to purchase WNTA for $6.2 million. About $2 million of that amount came from five of the city's six remaining commercial

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

stations (WPIX was the lone holdout), all of whom were pleased to see a competitor eliminated. In addition, CBS later donated a facility in Manhattan to ETMA and NET to use as a studio. The FCC approved the transfer in October, and converted channel 13's commercial license to non-commercial. The outgoing New Jersey governor,

Robert B. Meyner Robert Baumle Meyner (July 3, 1908 – May 27, 1990) was an American Democratic Party politician and attorney who served as the 44th governor of New Jersey from 1954 to 1962. Before being elected governor, Meyner represented Warren County in th ...

, addressing state lawmakers' concerns over continued programming specific to New Jersey, and fearing the FCC would move the channel 13 allocation to New York City, petitioned the United States courts of appeals on September 6, 1961, to block the sale of WNTA-TV. The court ruled in the state's favor two months later. The unsettled deal almost caused National Telefilm Associates to reconsider its decision to sell the station altogether, and NTA made plans to go forward: WNTA-TV made a play to acquire broadcast rights for the New York Mets baseball team for its inaugural 1962 season. Faced with either consummating the transaction or seeing it cancelled, ETMA settled their differences with New Jersey officials on December 4, 1961. After a few last-minute issues arose to cause further delays, the transfer became final on December 22. Later that evening, WNTA-TV signed off for the final time. ETMA and NET then went to work converting the station, which they said would return with its new educational format within three months. Ten months later, channel 13 was ready to be reborn under new call letters, WNDT (for "New Dimensions in Television"). With Edward R. Murrow—then director of the United States Information Agency—as host of the maiden broadcast, ETMA—now the Educational Broadcasting Corporation—flipped the switch on September 16, 1962. The return of channel 13 as WNDT gave the New York City market its first educational station, and with a dial position on the coveted VHF band (in many other cities, including large ones, educational stations had to make do with UHF frequencies). New York's non-commercial UHF channel, on the other hand, signed on as WNYE-TV four-and-a-half years later in April 1967. Richard Heffner was appointed as WNDT's first general manager, serving in that position in its first year; Heffner continued to appear on channel 13 as producer and host of the public affairs program '' The Open Mind'' until his death in December 2013.

Educational/public television station (1962–present)

During the transition, and after the inaugural broadcast, WNDT faced an immediate crisis. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was concerned about the use of teachers—some of whom were union-certified performers—on non-commercial television, and how they would be compensated should their work be distributed nationally. AFTRA called a strike on the morning of WNDT's debut. Engineers and technicians who were members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) refused to cross the AFTRA picket line, leaving the station's management and other non-union employees to produce the three-hour inaugural broadcast. Immediately afterwards, channel 13 went off the air again, as the strike continued for nearly two weeks. The striking workers returned WNDT to the air after ten days and on September 28, the labor dispute was settled. However, the station's financial resources were drained, requiring an infusion of cash from the Ford Foundation to help keep the station running. NET originally wanted to merge its operations with WNDT, which would have given the station a direct line of funding as well as make channel 13 NET's flagship station. The Ford Foundation, which supported both groups, stopped the proposed mergers on at least two different occasions in 1962 and 1965. Events that began in 1967 led the Ford Foundation to change its stance and push for a WNDT-NET merger. The newly formed Corporation for Public Broadcasting (created by an act of the United States Congress) initially supported NET's network role, while providing government funding for programming. But that move was followed two years later by the establishment of the Public Broadcasting Service as the CPB's own distribution system—which was a direct threat to NET's territory. It has been intimated that the CPB's creation was an attempt to curb NET's production of controversial documentaries and replace it with a less controversial, government-friendly broadcaster, less hostile in particular to the Johnson, and later the Nixon administrations (NET ignored the demand and continued with the production of the critically acclaimed documentaries). At one point, President Nixon, frustrated with NET's documentaries criticizing his administration, especially its handling of the Vietnam War, almost managed to cut NET's $20 million funding grant in half. This led both the Ford Foundation and the CPB to threaten NET with funding withdrawal in early 1970, unless it merged its operations with WNDT. Not long after, the Ford Foundation brokered the merger of WNDT and NET, which took effect on June 29, 1970. Channel 13's call sign was changed to the present WNET on October 1, 1970. NET ceased network operations three days later, with PBS taking over the following day. The station continued to produce some shows for the national PBS schedule with the NET branding until early 1972, when they began to be identified as "WNET/13" programs; a formal consolidation of the corporation's separate national and local production facilities occurred later that year. Following the merger, David Loxton established the TV Lab in 1972 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts. TV Lab provided artists with equipment to produce video pieces through an artist-in-residence program. The Independent Documentary Fund and Video Tape Review series were both produces of TV Lab. TV Lab ended in 1984 when the CPB withdrew funds. Since 1979, the station has been known on-air as "Thirteen." It continued to include Newark in its legal IDs (though logos for national productions read "New York") until the late 1990s. Since then, it has identified mostly as "New York," though it is still legally licensed to Newark. Even after becoming a noncommercial station, channel 13 retained its original studios and offices at the Mosque Theater in Newark. The station eventually moved to the Gateway Center office building, also in Newark. In 1982, more than 20 years after becoming the New York area's flagship public television station, WNET moved its operations to the Hudson Hotel at 237 West 58th Street in Manhattan, while retaining the Gateway Center studios for a few more years. In 1987, Channel 13 celebrated its silver anniversary with a series of rebroadcasts of older programs titled ''

Thirteen Revisited ''Thirteen Revisited'' is a 1987 anthology series presented by WNET in celebration of its silver anniversary. Each program is a repeat of an older WNET-produced program from the '60s and the '70s, with a select few from the '80s. Programs * Septem ...

''. In 1998, WNET moved to 450 West 33rd Street, straddling the railroad tracks going into Pennsylvania Station. Channel 13's transmitter facilities, including a newly installed digital transmission system, were destroyed in the

terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. Gerard (Rod) Coppola, channel 13's head transmitter engineer, was among those who died when the north tower collapsed. His remains were discovered on December 25, 2001. For the next ten months, WNYE-TV, headquartered in Brooklyn, became WNET's surrogate transmitter and airwave: for those without cable, repeats of WNET's prime time schedule were broadcast on WNYE until Channel 13 could re-establish transmission facilities back at the Empire State Building. Some time later, in February 2003, WNET completed its merger with Long Island PBS broadcaster WLIW (licensed to Garden City and based in Plainview), combining the two stations into one operation. While most of the two stations' operations have been merged, they still have separate studio facilities, separate governing boards, and conduct separate fundraising efforts. OneWorldwidePlaza

During 2009, WNET's parent company, WNET.org, sustained financial difficulties, and in January, the company pared its workforce from 500 employees to 415, due to severe problems with its budget and fundraising. In October, WNET announced that its studios at 450 West 33rd Street would soon be up for sale, as it no longer needed the extra space. In November, WNET announced that all WNET.org employees would take an unpaid furlough for three to five days between Christmas and New Year's Day, with a skeleton crew of engineers remaining during that time to keep the stations on the air; however, they, too, would have to go on furloughs at the start of 2010. In 2011, WNET moved its studios and offices to Worldwide Plaza. WNET has been broadcasting digital-only since June 12, 2009. On July 1, 2011, WNET took over the programming of New Jersey Network's television stations, which were relaunched as NJTV (now NJ PBS). The network features increased coverage of news and issues pertinent to New Jersey, as well as programming from the WNET and PBS libraries. The transfer of programming to WNET was part of Governor Chris Christie's plan for the New Jersey government's exit from public broadcasting. As part of the deal, WNET airs NJTV's nightly statewide newscast, ''NJ Today'' (which was renamed ''NJTV News'' on November 4, 2013), to meet its local programming obligations since it still operates on a frequency allocated to Newark. Previously, it had aired NJN's newscast, ''

NJN News NJN News was a half-hour daily broadcast television news program by the New Jersey Network which also aired in New York City on WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television ...

'', which it co-produced with NJN from 1978 to 1981 (the program continued to air on WNET even after NJN took full control over its production). In 2014, the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center were built at the southwest corner of 66th and Broadway; this facility houses two television studios. The space can also accommodate lectures, screenings and concerts. The facility is named in honor of James S. Tisch and his wife, Merryl H. Tisch, whose $15 million gift was, at that time, the single largest donation from individuals in WNET's history. On May 9, 2017, it was announced that WNET would resume broadcasting from Lower Manhattan at One World Trade Center by the end of the year. In 2019, WNET acquired New Jersey news website NJ Spotlight. The following year, it merged NJ Spotlight with NJTV's newsroom, with the NJTV newscasts becoming ''NJ Spotlight News.'' NJ Spotlight would merge with NJTV News in 2020. On March 25, 2021, WNET.org was reorganized as The WNET Group.

Original productions

Notable general-audience programs produced by WNET

WNET has produced, created and/or presented a number of PBS shows. This includes, but is not limited to: * ''Africa'' (2001) * ''The African-American Journey'' (2002–2005) * ''Aging Out'' (2005) * ''Amato: A Love Affair with Opera'' (2001) * '' Amanpour & Company'' (2018–present) * '' American Masters'' (1983–present) * ''Assignment America'' (1974–1975) * ''Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore'' (2000) * ''Bill Moyers Reports: Earth On Edge'' (2001) * ''

Black Journal ''Black Journal'' ( it, Gran bollito, lit=Large bollito) is a 1977 Italian black comedy film directed by Mauro Bolognini. It is loosely based on real-life serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli, who killed three women between 1939 and 1940, and turne ...

'' * '' Center of the Storm'' (2002) * ''Changing Stages'' (2001) * ''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

'' (1991–2017) * ''Chasing the Dream'' (2014–present) * '' Colonial House'' (2004) * ''Cucina Amore'' (1999–2002) * ''Dickens'' (2003) * ''DNA'' (2003) * ''Echoes From the White House'' (2001) * ''

EGG, the Arts Show ''EGG, the arts show'' is an American nonfiction television program that aired on PBS from January 13, 2000 to April 8, 2005. ''EGG'' documented both the famous and the unusual aspects and projects of classical and modern arts; its narrator was E ...

'' (2000–2003) * ''Extreme Oil'' (2004) * '' Firing Line'' (2018–present) * ''Freedom: A History of Us'' (2003) * '' Frontier House'' (2002) * ''

The Great American Dream Machine ''The Great American Dream Machine'' was a weekly satirical variety television series, produced in New York City by WNET and broadcast on PBS from 1971 to 1972. The program was hosted by humorist and commentator Marshall Efron. Other notable cast ...

'' (1971–1972) * ''Great Food'' (2001) * '' Great Performances'' (1972–present) * ''Heroes of Ground Zero'' (2002) * ''In Search of Ancient Ireland'' (2002) * ''Innovation: Life, Inspired'' (2004) * ''Justice and the Generals'' (2002) * '' Live from Lincoln Center'' (1976–present) * ''Local News'' (2001) * ''

Lord of the Universe ''Lord of the Universe'' is a 1974 American documentary film about Prem Rawat (at the time known as Guru Maharaj Ji) at an event in November 1973 at the Houston Astrodome called "Millennium '73". ''Lord of the Universe'' was first broadcast on ...

'' * '' MasterChef USA'' (2000–2001) * ''The Mind'' * '' Monarchy'' * ''Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home'' (1998) * '' Nature'' (1982–present) * '' New York: A Documentary Film'' (1999–2003; co-produced with WGBH-TV) * '' NOW'' (2002–2010) * '' NYC-ARTS'' (2012; formerly known as ''Sunday Arts'') * ''On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying'' (2000) * '' The Open Mind'' (1956–present) * ''Our Genes Our Choices'' (2003) * ''Reagan Needs Help'' (1979–present) * '' Realidades'' (1975–1977) * ''Red Gold: The Epic Story of Blood'' (2002) * ''

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was an American weekly television news-magazine program which aired on PBS. History and content Premiering in 1997, ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was devoted to news of religion and spirituality, along with ...

'' (1997–2017) * ''Reel New York'' * ''The Rise and Fall of

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

'' (2002) * '' Savage Earth'' (1998) * ''Savage Seas'' (1999; co-produced with

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

) * ''The Secret Life of the Brain'' (2002) * '' Secrets of the Dead'' (2000–present) * ''

Simon Schama's Power of Art ''Simon Schama's Power of Art'' is an eight-part BBC TV mini-series examining the works of eight artists, the context surrounding one of their works and the message they intended to convey with these. It was written, created, narrated, and presen ...

'' (Schama hosted ''The Story of the Jews'' and ''A History of Britain'' with the BBC) * '' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (TV series) (2003) * ''

Slavery and the Making of America ''Slavery and the Making of America'' is a 2004 Public Broadcasting Service, PBS four-part documentary series on African American slaves and their contributions to the United States. Famous African Americans such as Colonel Tye and historical fig ...

'' (2004) * ''

Sound and Fury "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of the second sentence of one of the most famous soliloquies in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth''. It takes place in the beginning of the fifth scene of Act 5, during the time when th ...

'' (2000) * '' Soul!'' (1968–1973) * ''

Space Racers ''Space Racers'' is an American CGI STEM-focused educational animated television series featuring the cadets of the Stardust Space Academy. The show began as a web series on March 22, 2011 entitled Space Race, then debuted as a television series ...

''** (2014–present) * '' Srebrenica: A Cry from the Grave'' (1999) * ''

Stage on Screen ''Stage on Screen'' was a series broadcast on public television PBS affiliate Thirteen WNET New York, which presents American theatrical productions that consist of cinematic and made-for-TV adaptations, live broadcasts, and documentaries that rel ...

'' (2001) * ''

The Story of English ''The Story of English'' is an Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy Award-winning nine-part television series, produced in 1986, detailing the development of the English language. ''The Story of English'' is also a companion book, also produced in 1986. ...

'' * ''

Sunday Arts Sunday Arts is a weekly program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Australia every Sunday. It gives a broad view of the various artists working in Australia today ranging from theatre, music, visual art, film, literature, to ind ...

'' * '' Tavis Smiley'' (2004–2017) * ''Taxi Dreams'' (2001) * ''That Money Show'' (2000–2001) * ''Thomas Hampson: I Hear America Singing'' (1997) * '' Verna: U.S.O. Girl'' * The ''A Walk Through...'' series of historical walking tours of New York City: ''A Walk Through Central Park'', ''A Walk Through Greenwich Village'', ''A Walk Through the Bronx'', ''A Walk Through Brooklyn'', ''A Walk Through Queens'', and ''A Walk Through Staten Island'' * ''

Warrior Challenge ''Warrior Challenge'' was a 2003 PBS reality television series. The show, produced by WNET in association with Channel 5 in Britain, premiered May 6, 2003 and lasted four episodes. The show involved volunteer American and British military person ...

'' (2003) * ''Who Cares: Chronic Illness in America'' (2001) * ''Who's Dancin' Now?'' (2001) * ''

Wide Angle Wide angle may refer to: * Wide-angle lens, type of camera lens * Wide Angle (TV series), ''Wide Angle'' (TV series), television series * ''Wide Angle'', 1999 album by Hybrid * ''Wide Angles'', 2003 album by Michael Brecker * Wide-angle X-ray scatt ...

'' (2002–present) * '' Wild TV'' (2002) * ''

Woman Alive! ''Woman Alive!'' was a feminist television show resulting from a collaboration between ''Ms. Magazine'' and American public television. It consisted of one pilot episode (1974) and two series (1975 and 1977). Background In 1974, ''Ms. Magazine' ...

'' (1974-1977) * ''

Worldfocus ''Worldfocus'' was an American newscast focused on international news and reporting. The newscast was originally anchored by Martin Savidge and later hosted by Daljit Dhaliwal. It was produced by WNET New York and distributed to U.S. public telev ...

'' (2008–2010)

Notable children's programs produced by WNET

* '' Angelina Ballerina''* (2005–2009 and original series broadcast 2002–2003; produced with HIT Entertainment) * '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'' (2009–2011) * '' Barney & Friends''* (1992–2010; produced with HIT Entertainment) (Original series) * '' Bob the Builder''* (2005–2018; produced with HIT Entertainment) * '' Cyberchase'' (2002–present; produced with

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

seasons 1–5, season 4 with Flying Minds Entertainment, seasons 6–present with PiP Animation Services and Title Entertainment) * ''

Franny's Feet ''Franny's Feet'' is a children's animated television series created by Cathy Moss and Susin Nielsen. The show was produced by Decode Entertainment (now WildBrain) with the participation of Family Channel and in association with Channel Five ...

'' (2004–2011; produced with Decode Entertainment and C.O.R.E. Toons for season 3) * '' Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks'' (2003–2008; produced with Entara Ltd., Mike Young Productions, and

Crest Communications Crest Animation Studios Ltd. (formerly ''Crest Communications'') () was an Indian animation studio. It was founded by Shyam Raja Ramanna in 1990 under the name Crest Communications, and it first went public in 1995. In 2000, it acquired Rich An ...

) * '' Noddy'' (1998–2000; produced with BBC Worldwide Americas, Catalyst Entertainment Inc., and Enid Blyton Ltd.) * '' Shining Time Station'' (1989–1993) * ''

Thomas and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

''* (2004–2017; produced with HiT Entertainment) *indicates a program that was originally presented by

Connecticut Public Television Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...

. WNET has also produced programming for public television stations distributed outside of the PBS system, including: * ''Planet H2O'' * ''In the Mix: The New Normal'', a co-production with '' In the Mix'' * ''What's Up in Factories'' * ''What's Up in Finance'' * ''What's Up in Technology''

Other programming

WNET was also one of the original co-producing entities of the '' PBS NewsHour'', along with Washington, D.C. PBS member station WETA-TV and MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. The show debuted in 1975 as a local news-analysis program, ''The Robert MacNeil Report''. Jim Lehrer, a frequent guest on MacNeil's show, became co-host the following year, when the show was picked up by other PBS stations. WNET produced weekend editions of ''PBS NewsHour'' alongside WETA-TV for the weekday editions until 2022 when WETA assumed production for the weekend edition in addition to the weekday editions.

Criticism and controversy

Misuse of federal grants

In 2010 the office of the

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establishe ...

, filed a lawsuit asserting that the WNET subsidiary, the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, misused grant money worth $13 million, donated by the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts between September 2001 and January 2008. The suit asserted that WNET had used grant money that was given for the production of programs including '' American Masters'', '' Great Performances'' and '' Cyberchase'' for other purposes. WNET settled the lawsuit in June 2010 by paying back the United States government $950,000, pledging to instate a program to ensure they honored all future federal grant requirements and agreeing to not receive $1,015,046 in

federal grant In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purp ...

money that was about to be awarded, WNET Vice President and General Counsel, Robert Feinberg, said to '' The New York Times'': "This is not a scenario we want to repeat and we have no intention of repeating it."

Board member influence on programming

In November 2012, WNET was scheduled to air

Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...

's film '' Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream'' produced by Independent Lens. The film compared the wealth gap between the New York residents of Park Avenue in the Bronx and the wealthy residents of an exclusive Manhattan apartment block at 740 Park Avenue, including David Koch, a billionaire businessman and political activist. At the time Koch was a board member of WNET and was planning on making "a seven-figure donation—maybe more" to WNET. A furor erupted when ''The New Yorker'' revealed in May 2013 that to appease Koch, the president of WNET, Neal Shapiro, called Koch offering him the opportunity to screen Gibney's film before broadcast and rebut it after it aired with a written statement. Shapiro said to ''The New Yorker'' that he "just called David Koch. He's on our board. He's the biggest main character. No one else, just David Koch. Because he's a trustee. It's a courtesy. I can't remember doing anything like this efore. WNET replaced the film's introduction by Stanley Tucci with a new introduction calling the film "controversial" and "provocative". Immediately after the broadcast, they aired a statement from Koch Industries criticizing the film as "disappointing and divisive", although a Koch spokesperson said David Koch had only watched the trailer. WNET followed the statement with an on-air round-table discussion where the moderator repeatedly mentioned that Koch's philanthropic contributions totaled a billion dollars. Gibney was not invited to appear at the round-table and was quoted as saying, "Why is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors? And why did the station allow Koch to offer a critique of a film he hadn't even seen? Money. Money talks. They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no opportunity to defend it." Koch did not make the large donation to WNET and resigned from their board on May 16, 2013.

Ethical issues with funding

In September 2013, WNET launched a series called ''The Pension Peril'', examining the economic sustainability of public

pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

and promoting cuts to their funding. On December 18, 2013, Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of WNET was quoted in a press release saying "this is the type of complex public policy story that only public television covers in an in-depth and ongoing way. WNET is poised to lead and further the dialogue about this challenging situation all across public media, on PBS, public radio, and online". On February 12, 2014 PandoDaily reported that the sole sponsor of ''The Pension Peril'' was former Enron trader

John D. Arnold John Douglas Arnold (born 1974) is an American philanthropist, former Enron executive and founder of Arnold Ventures LLC, formerly the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. In 2007, Arnold became the youngest billionaire in the U.S. His firm, Centa ...

who had financially backed efforts to cut public employee pension benefits. Stephen Segaller, WNET's vice president for programming told ''The New York Times'' on February 13, 2014, that he had "absolute conviction" that the

Laura and John Arnold Foundation Arnold Ventures LLC (formerly known as The Laura and John Arnold Foundation) is focused on evidence-based giving in a wide range of categories including: criminal justice, education, health care, and public finance. The organization was founded by ...

was an admissible funder and the funding did not violate PBS' "perception" rule. On February 14, Segaller told ''The New York Times'' that WNET had reversed course after discussing with PBS "both the facts and the optics. We all take very, very seriously any suggestion that there's a perception problem about the integrity of our work or the sources of our funding, and we came to the conclusion that it's better to err on the side of caution". WNET and PBS issued a joint statement saying the series would go on hiatus and WNET would return the $3.5 million grant it had received from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Segaller said in the statement, "We made a mistake, pure and simple". PBS

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

, Michael Getler, commented that PandoDaily's article "shines a light, once again, on what seems to me to be ethical compromises in funding arrangements and lack of real transparency for viewers caused, in part, by the complicated funding demands needed to support public broadcasting, and in part by managers who make some questionable decisions". Getler added that WNET "went seriously wrong" and that their "decision to accept a grant of $3.5 million from the Arnold Foundation, with a stated interest in 'public employee benefits reform', flunks PBS's own 'perception test', which is part of the service's Funding Standards and Practices."

Neglecting public mission and mandate

In late 2014, WNET programming chief Stephen Segaller received widespread criticism for proposing to push the multi award-winning documentary strands ''Independent Lens'' and '' POV'' out of a prime time slot and onto a secondary station, WLIW (Channel 21). Over 2,000 documentarians signed a petition, stating that WNET's action would lead to the shows being marginalized by PBS affiliates nationwide and have a severe effect on cutting edge documentary filmmaking. Among the prominent opponents of rescheduling ''POV'' and ''Independent Lens'' were filmmakers Alex Gibney and

Laura Poitras Laura Poitras (; born February 2, 1964) is an American director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Citizenfour'', about Edwa ...

, who had campaigned against a similar move by WNET in 2012. TV producer

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...

wrote an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

in ''The New York Times'' accusing WNET and PBS of a ratings-chase that "could devastate independent documentary film making". He criticized the broadcaster for "threatening, for the second time in four years, to downgrade documentaries, which are at the heart of its public mission." Many of the subjects ''POV'' and ''Independent Lens'' covered — like the Koch brothers' influence on American politics in Alex Gibney's film, ''Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream'' — have been controversial, leading the Indie Caucus, a group of Independent filmmakers to speculate if the provocative subjects they explored might also be relegating them to the more obscure TV schedule. Segaller said it was "preposterous" to suggest that WNET had a censorship agenda when both programs had run for more than a decade. "One disputatious moment in a many-year history does not a conspiracy make," he declared. In April 2015, WNET relented and restored both strands to their original slots.

Inaccuracy and improper influence

In June 2015, a media furor forced WNET to postpone the third season of ''

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is compiled with ...

'' when the

Sony Pictures hack On November 24, 2014, a hacker group identifying itself as "Guardians of Peace" leaked a release of confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). The data included personal information about Sony Pictures employees ...

revealed via hacked emails that a subject of the series, Ben Affleck, had lobbied for material relating to a relative owning slaves be removed from the show. Those edits, which violated PBS ethics standards, brought strong criticism from the media to WNET and the producers of the show. PBS issued a statement saying "the series co-producers violated PBS standards by failing to shield the creative and editorial process from improper influence, and by failing to inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck's efforts to affect program content". The statement promised the episode would be withdrawn from distribution and that the series would employ "an independent genealogist to review all versions of program episodes for factual accuracy". After the suspension of the series, '' Adweek'' commented: "The network clearly understands that its integrity has been thrown into question by this controversy. Even if they understood where the producers of the show were coming from when they decided to entertain the request, PBS and the veracity of all that's included in their documentaries, requires decisive action that conveys just how serious this infraction was". The series returned to the air in January 2016.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Out-of-market carriage

WNET is carried in all of

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, Optimum TV and Verizon Fios. It is also carried on cable in

Abaco Abaco is a variant Italian form of the Biblical name " Habakkuk" (but normally Abacùc or Abacucco). Abaco may refer to: People * Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675–1742), Italian composer and violinist * Joseph Abaco (1710–1805), Belgian comp ...

in the Bahamas.

References

External links

Official website

WNET logos and screenshots from the 1950s to the present day

WNET records
at the

University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...

Episodes of the 1975 "Assignment America" series from Thirteen WNET, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
{{PBSTV Mass media in Newark, New Jersey NET NET PBS member stations Television channels and stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in New Jersey Peabody Award winners