WCET,

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 ...

48 (

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 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 ...

channel 17), 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 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 ea ...

licensed to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, United States. The station is owned by the Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation, a subsidiary of Public Media Connect. WCET was the first licensed

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

station in the United States. Its studios are located in the

Crosley Crosley was a small, independent American manufacturer of subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 1939 to 1952, int ...

Telecommunications Center on Central Parkway in Cincinnati, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street in the CUF section of Cincinnati.

Master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swi ...

operations are based at the studios of sister PBS member station WPTD in

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

. On cable, the station is available on channel 13 on most systems in the market.

History

The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) assigned channel 48 to WCET in 1951. A corporate charter and construction permit were granted in 1953. WCET began broadcasting on July 26, 1954, from a converted closet on the third floor of

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

. The first day of programming began with ''Tel-A-Story'', a half-hour reading program by the Cincinnati library. On March 11, 1955, the FCC granted WCET the first non-commercial educational broadcast license in the country. WCET remained at Music Hall until 1959, when it moved to the former WLWT studios on Chickasaw Street. WCET-TV logo, 1994

Originally, WCET was funded through local school levies. However, a failed levy in 1966 forced the station to seek other sources of funding. In 1968, WCET held its inaugural ''Action Auction'', raising $31,000 in two days. In 1976, the station moved to its present studio location at the Crosley Telecommunications Center, which it now shares with the market's two main public radio stations, WVXU-FM and WGUC-FM. In 1981, Warner Cable agreed to carry four additional channels of instructional programming provided by WCET. In the late 1990s, like PBS-member stations in many larger television markets, WCET partnered with the for-profit company Lakeshore Learning Materials to operate a retail store. WCET took a 25% share in the Channel 48 Store of Knowledge, proceeds from which went towards the station's

endowment fund A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

. The store sold merchandise related to PBS shows at the Kenwood Towne Centre from November 23, 1996, until the chain's bankruptcy and liquidation in 2001. The

Discovery Channel Store Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, a similarly-themed retail outlet, opened in its place the following September. Once simply branded "Channel 48" and later as "WCET48", the station simplified its name to "CET" on September 16, 2003, moving away from its call sign and channel number, in part to indicate its increasing focus on online services. It began an IP-based on-demand video service via its website, CETconnect. On May 8, 2009, the Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation and Greater Dayton Public Television (licensee of that market's PBS station WPTD) formed the umbrella non-profit organization Public Media Connect. Both WCET and WPTD operate as subsidiaries of PMC, with separate branding and fundraising efforts. The merger resulted in the July 2010 transfer of WCET's

master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swi ...

operations to WPTD's facilities in Dayton, in an attempt to reduce costs for WCET. WCET and the Think^TV channels were off the air (and not available through any other providers) from just after 4 p.m. on July 5 until 11:40 a.m. on July 9, 2019 due to the failure of a

multiplexer In electronics, a multiplexer (or mux; spelled sometimes as multiplexor), also known as a data selector, is a device that selects between several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input to a single output line. The sel ...

in the master control power supply at Think^TV in downtown Dayton.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed: CET Create and CET Arts are also available on the

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...

tiers of local cable provider

Charter Spectrum Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these ser ...

. "CETWorld", affiliated with PBS World (now branded simply as

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

), was carried on channel 48.2 from 2003 to January 5, 2009, and on 48.3 from September 24 of that year to February 1, 2010. During this time, it was also carried by Spectrum's predecessor, Time Warner Cable. World programming continues to be carried on Think^TV World, a subchannel of sister station WPTO. On February 1, 2010, CETWorld was replaced with CET Arts on digital subchannel 48.3. CET launched CET Arts, the first local 24-hour cultural service of its kind on February 1, 2010. CET Arts showcases drama, visual arts, dance and music programming ranging from symphonic to bluegrass. On March 4, 2012 at 6:49 p.m., CET aired its first live high definition pledge break from its studio, around the concert program ''Under the Streetlamp''.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WCET signed on its digital signal on

channel 34 on December 4, 2002; it began broadcasting in high definition 24 hours a day on October 1, 2005. The station discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over

channel 48, at 12:01 a.m. after a brief playing of the original sign-off tape on May 1, 2009.List of Digital Full-Power Stations
/ref> The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34,CDBS Print
/ref> using PSIP to display WCET's

as 48 on digital television receivers.

Original programming

The following television series were previously or are currently produced by WCET: *''Action Auction'' – televised station fundraiser *'' Congressional Outlook'' – national public affairs program hosted by Patrick Tyler; joint venture with

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

*''Focus 48'' – local public affairs program *''Showcase with Barbara Kellar'' – local arts and cultural series airing on CET Arts *''

It's Academic ''It's Academic'' is the name for a number of televised academic student quiz shows for high school students through the United States and internationally. ''It's Academic'' programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV Chicago, WRC-TV ( ...

'' (1960s–1980s) – local version, in partnership with WLWT *'' Lilias, Yoga and You'' (1972–1999)

Notable people

* John Knoepfleproducer and director; later a poet, translator, and educator

References

External links

CETConnect
– official website of WCET-TV * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wcet (Tv) CET (TV) PBS member stations Television channels and stations established in 1954 1954 establishments in Ohio