WBGU-TV,
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
27 (
UHF digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
channel 22), is a Public Broadcasting Service (
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
)
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Bowling Green, Ohio
Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan Are ...
, United States. Owned by
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...
, it is
sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
to
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
WBGU (88.1 FM). The two stations share studios at the Tucker Center for Telecommunications on the BGSU campus; WBGU-TV's transmitter is located near
Belmore, Ohio
Belmore is a village in Putnam County, Ohio, United States. The population was 65 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Belmore is located at (41.154203, -83.940993).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all l ...
. (While officially part of the BGSU campus, the Tucker Center is actually located two blocks south of Wooster Street, which marks much of the southern boundary of the campus.) Unlike the radio station, WBGU-TV is not primarily operated by students at the university; however, the station does offer many different student positions that allow students to gain experience. WBGU is one of two PBS member stations in the Toledo television market, alongside
WGTE-TV
WGTE-TV (channel 30) is a PBS member television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is owned by the Public Broadcasting Foundation of Northwest Ohio alongside NPR member WGTE-FM (91.3). The two stations share studios on South Detroit Avenue ...
(channel 30) in Toledo proper. WBGU also serves as the primary PBS member station for the Lima market, as that market does not have a PBS member station of its own.
History
WBGU-TV began broadcasting February 10, 1964, from a transmitter site on the campus. It operated on channel 70 and broadcast exclusively in black and white, as was then the norm, within a radius of the BGSU campus.
To increase the coverage area of WBGU-TV, the Ohio Educational Television Network Commission applied for and received a construction permit in 1971 to build a satellite in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
on channel 57.
In the process, however, what was planned as a separate station, WQOL, turned into a major transmitter upgrade for WBGU-TV. A new, 759,000-watt color transmitter and tower near
Leipsic were activated when WBGU-TV—the last full-power station to broadcast on a channel 70 or above in the United States—moved to channel 57. WBGU-TV would move to channel 27 in 1986, expanding its coverage area and beginning to broadcast in stereo. Channel 27 had originally been proposed for the Lima satellite plan, but protests from the nearby
WGTE-TV
WGTE-TV (channel 30) is a PBS member television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is owned by the Public Broadcasting Foundation of Northwest Ohio alongside NPR member WGTE-FM (91.3). The two stations share studios on South Detroit Avenue ...
in
Toledo, which operated on the adjacent channel 30 at the time and, because of significant territorial overlap, feared confusion between the two channels, prompted state and university officials to settle for the higher channel number.
The station first broadcast from a small studio located in the university's South Hall. After the Moore Musical Arts Center was built in 1979, the university's radio stations and telecommunications department (then the department of radio, television, and film) moved to West Hall, which formerly housed the university's college of music. Sometime after that, WBGU-TV moved to a new building located at 245 Troup Avenue in Bowling Green; the building was renamed the Tucker Center on May 6, 1994.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, WBGU maintained a low-powered repeater in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
on channel 39, W39AA (later to affiliate with
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
'
WFYI), which became full-powered
WFWA
WFWA (channel 39) is a PBS member television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. Owned by Fort Wayne Public Television, Inc., the station maintains studios at the Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Teleplex on the campus of Purdue Universi ...
in 1985.
Today, WBGU-TV broadcasts to nineteen counties in northwestern and west central Ohio including the
markets
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
of Toledo and Lima. With most attic antennas, WBGU's signal can be tuned in as far west as Fort Wayne and as far north as central Lenawee County, Michigan. During tropospheric conditions, it can be seen as far north as
Melvindale, Michigan
Melvindale is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city population was 12,851.
History
Melvindale began as the unincorporated settlement of Oakwood Heights in the northwestern part of Ecorse Township in ...
, away with a very advanced indoor antenna.
![WBGU Van](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/WBGU_Van.jpg)
In Toledo,
Buckeye Broadband
Buckeye Broadband (formerly known as the Buckeye CableSystem from August 1996 until May 2016, and as The CableSystem prior to August 1996) is a cable television, cable and telecommunications company located in Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, owned by ...
carries WBGU-TV on cable channel 57, which is, ironically, the station's previous channel number on the UHF dial. No subchannels are available on Buckeye Broadband.
WBGU turned off its analog transmitter at midnight on December 14, 2008, and relocated its digital signal from channel 56 to channel 27.
In 2019, WBGU-TV won an
regional Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for a training video produced in conjunction with campus police to help counter
active shooter
Active shooter or active killer describes the perpetrator of a type of mass murder marked by rapidity, scale, randomness, and often suicide. The United States Department of Homeland Security defines an ''active shooter'' as "an individual activ ...
threats.
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Spectrum reallocation
WBGU-TV had considering selling off its UHF frequency as part of the
digital spectrum auction, for mobile bandwidth use, but pulled out late in the auction bidding process. The station remained on the air, but relocated to UHF 22 from UHF 27 on December 4, 2018.
Programming
![WBGU-TV Brain Set](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/WBGU-TV_Brain_Set.jpg)
National programming produced by WBGU includes ''The American Woodshop'', distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association.
Each weekday during the academic term of
public schools in the
Great Black Swamp
The Great Black Swamp (also known simply as the Black Swamp) was a glacially fed wetland in northwest Ohio, sections of lower Michigan, and extreme northeast Indiana, United States, that existed from the end of the Wisconsin glaciation until th ...
region, WBGU-TV broadcasts six hours of educational programming provided (and, in some cases, produced) by the Northwest Ohio Educational Technology Foundation. The NWOET is operated at the Tucker Center, but is a non-profit state agency separate from the university.
References
External links
WBGU-TV websiteNorthwest Ohio Educational Technology Foundation
{{Toledo
BGU-TV
PBS member stations
Bowling Green State University
Television channels and stations established in 1964
1964 establishments in Ohio