WTIU,
virtual channel 30 (
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 ...
digital channel 33), is a Public Broadcasting Service (
PBS)
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 serving
Indianapolis,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
, United States that is
licensed to
Bloomington. Owned by
Indiana University, it is a
sister station to National Public Radio (
NPR) member
WFIU (103.7 FM). The two stations share studios on the Indiana University campus on East 7th Street in Bloomington; WTIU's transmitter is located on Sare Road on the city's southeast side.
On
cable, WTIU is available on
Comcast Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the com ...
channel 5 in Bloomington in
AT&T U-verse channel 30 in Indianapolis in
standard definition, and in
high definition on Xfinity
digital channel 1022 in Bloomington and AT&T U-verse channel 1030 in Indianapolis.
The station also serves as the default PBS member station for the
Terre Haute market, despite having
WVUT (channel 22) in Vincennes from the
Vincennes University. It is carried by most cable providers in west-central Indiana.
History
In late 1968, after receiving support from University president Herman B. Wells, Indiana University applied for a
license from the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate an
educational television station. The station first signed on the air on March 3, 1969 as a member station of
National Educational Television (NET); the first program ever broadcast on WTIU was ''
The Friendly Giant'', a Canadian-produced children's show. WTIU became a member of PBS when NET was reorganized on October 6, 1970.
Channel 30 originally maintained a very small staff of only three employees, and initially broadcast on Mondays through Saturdays for five hours a day during the afternoon hours. As the station was unable to afford equipment to allow programming to be transmitted in
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
, much of the programming broadcast by WTIU was aired in
black and white in the early years. Through PBS' Program Differentiation Plan, the network's programming was eventually divided between it and three other PBS members in the Indianapolis market –
WFYI (channel 20),
Muncie-based
WIPB
WIPB, virtual channel 49 (UHF digital channel 19), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Muncie, Indiana, United States. Owned by Ball State University, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NP ...
(channel 49) and by 1992, WTBU (channel 69, now
Daystar owned-and-operated station
WDTI
WDTI, virtual channel 69 (UHF digital channel 23), is a Daystar owned-and-operated television station licensed to Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by the Indianapolis Community Television subsidiary of Word of God Fel ...
).
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed:
In 2009, WTIU upgraded the station's primary digital channel to allow the transmission of programming in
high definition, originally maintaining a schedule separate from that of WTIU's main channel. The station also launched a secondary service on digital subchannel 30.2, branded as "TIU-2," which primarily aired educational programming and college
telecourses; the subchannel was converted into "TIU World," serving as an affiliate of PBS World in 2010. At the same time, WTIU added two additional subchannels, respectively carrying programming from the lifestyle and how-to service Create (branded as "TIU Create"), safety and emergency network Echo (branded as "TIU Echo") and the respectively carrying programming from the children's service PBS Kids (branded as "TIU Kids").
Analog-to-digital conversion
WTIU began operating its digital signal in 2007, broadcasting on UHF channel 14. WTIU shut down its analog signal, over
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 30, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 14.
Through the use of
PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 30.
Programming
WTIU's flagship original production is the
public and cultural affairs program ''The Weekly Special'', in production since 2005. ''The Friday Zone'', in production since 1999, is a children's program syndicated on seven PBS stations across Indiana. WTIU also regularly produces
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
, typically focusing on local or regional topics. Documentary series produced by the station have included ''Our Town'' (which focus on a single community's culture and history) and ''The Spirit of
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe:
*Monroe County, Alabama
* Monroe County, Arkansas
* Monroe County, Florida
*Monroe County, Georgia
* Monroe County, Illinois
* Monroe County, Indi ...
'' (which focuses on the people and places of interest in Monroe County). WTIU also produces news updates in the form of twice-daily five-minute ''NewsBreak'' segments as well as the half-hour weekly newsmagazine ''Indiana Newsdesk''. In 1973, WTIU collaborated with the IU Opera Theater to produce a telecast of the opera ''
Myshkin'', which earned the station a
Peabody Award.
References
External links
Official website''The Weekly Special'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wtiu
Indiana University
Television channels and stations established in 1969
TIU
1969 establishments in Indiana