Seven-time Michigan Public Broadcasting Station of the Year, WKAR-TV, is entering a new era of broadcasting where it will combine its strengths with Detroit Public TV (DPTV), a PBS television leader serving the nation’s 11th largest TV market with nearly 3 million viewers in southeast Michigan and Canada.
With the new partnership, announced during a press conference Jan. 11, Michigan State University will not join the FCC Broadcast Incentive Auction and will retain WKAR-TV’s broadcast spectrum.
"After weeks of uncertainty, the announcement that we are out of the auction ensures we will remain on the air," said Prabu David, Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "In addition, the proposed partnership with Detroit Public TV gives us a much bigger audience. If you combine the auction decision with the DPTV collaboration, it amounts to keeping our station and expanding our audience significantly. This is the best possible outcome for WKAR."
The new partnership will allow program development at Detroit Public Television to be brought to the mid-Michigan viewing area and similarly programs that are developed in mid-Michigan will be leveraged in the Detroit market.
“This partnership provided an additional incentive for the university to keep access to all of its spectrum,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said during an interview Jan. 12 with WKAR’s “Current State.” “And all of these sort of details about what’s going to happen are going to be worked out in the framework of a partnership, and the first focus of that will be to take what we’re already doing and we’re already committed to as a university and moving that to a much different level of programming and activity.”
While WKAR will remain a full PBS partner and will continue to deliver PBS and locally produced programming, original programming options will be revised and expanded and the station will provide greater research opportunities with MSU’s colleges of Communication Arts and Sciences, Education and Social Science.
"It has become abundantly clear that status quo will not do. Much like the rest of the media industry, WKAR should redouble its efforts on innovation,” David said. “Yes, Curious Crew and Forte are steps in the right direct. But we need to do more.
“We should seek out opportunities to innovate and extend our work on mobile platforms and take advantage of our game design group in the college to create more interactive content. We have to proactively seek out partnerships with experts on campus to make an impact on STEM education and to become a worldwide leader in edutainment children's programming. We should go after grants and think big. We are a world-grant university. A world-grant university requires a world-class public media operation.”
A goal of the collaboration is to become a national model in providing quality educational content in public television.
“This collaboration will provide opportunities consistent with our land-grant mission for unique partnerships that will lead to much broader outreach and engagement, both in Detroit and statewide, and a significant platform for faculty work and innovation across several MSU colleges,” Simon said.
One of the first initiatives of the partnership will be a 24/7 children’s broadcast and online channel serving not only Detroit and Lansing but also the entire state.
"This partnership provides Detroit Public Television with new opportunities to expand our work in the preschool space and provide parents and educators with more resources in learning," said Rich Homberg, President and CEO of DPTV.
During the “Current State” interview, Simon said DPTV already has funding for the development of content for 24/7 children’s programming.
The collaboration also will focus on these key areas:
- Producing and distributing high-quality programming on multiple platforms;
- Expanding opportunities for community engagement and outreach;
- Establishing initiatives focused on issues of public importance;
- Exploring technological innovations and new means of content distribution;
- Creating experiential learning opportunities for students; and
- Pursuing resources to support public broadcasting initiatives.
Since the announcement of a possible auction of its broadcast spectrum, WKAR has received hundreds of emails and postings on social media supporting the station. More than 300 community members also attended a public forum Jan. 4.
“We at WKAR are truly touched by all the support, which has inspired us to bring more award-winning programs that the community has come to expect and enjoy,” David said.
Simon indicated that there were several factors to consider when looking to partner with DPTV including what would be appropriate 20 years from now in terms of the way in which public television would evolve and how it would contribute to the overall mission of the university.
“(We asked) how do we leverage greater resources both from people who are interested in this new kind of creative programming and still also support people who are supporting existing programming. It’s a world of ‘ands’ not ‘ors,’” she said.
This week, WKAR-TV will mark its 62nd anniversary. The station first went on the air Jan. 15, 1954.
Share via these networks:
