WTIU celebrates 40th anniversary on campus

In a small, dark room in the middle of campus, Jay Kincaid sat at his station. Lights flickered, the wall in front of him was covered in monitors and technicians around him flicked switches and adjusted machines in an intricate game called live TV.

Kincaid, the senior director at local PBS affiliate WTIU, was running the live broadcast of Tuesday’s pledge drive as part of WTIU’s 40th anniversary celebration.

Under his direction, a team of highly trained students and professionals produced short segments urging local residents to become members at the non-for-profit station, located in Studio 6 in the Radio and TV Center.

The station, which broadcasts four different channels and reaches more than 20 Indiana counties, produces several of its own programs each week and distributes specials around the country.

And after 40 years, Radio and Television Services Director Perry Metz said WTIU is one of the standout affiliates around the country.

“There is a great motivation when you operate on a shoestring,” Metz said. “But we manage to produce three or four specials a year and our own shows every week.”

The station is coming off a years-long initiative to upgrade to High Definition Television, which is an effort that cost the station $6.5 million. Metz called the upgrade “absolutely necessary” in a world of digital cable and satellite TV.

The station now broadcasts its HDTV channel in addition to a world channel, a family channel and a Spanish-language channel, TIU Espanol.

As the pledge drive wore on Tuesday, volunteers filtered in and out of Studio 6.
Student-cameramen were surrounded by the sets for “The Friday Zone,” WTIU’s children’s show, and “The Weekly Special,” WTIU’s Thursday-night news broadcast, as they waited for the next break while an Eric Clapton concert went out on the
airwaves.

 “We could not do what we do without the students,” Metz said. “And they end up graduating with a few years of real experience. We’ve had people freelance for NBC at the Olympics, and a couple headed over to the NBA network.”

WTIU employees and students also produce video for the scoreboards at IU football and basketball games, while some freelance for ESPN or the Big Ten Network when they’re in town for a game.

WTIU employs a combination of professionals, such as producers and directors, as well as 75 to 100 students at a time, Metz said.

But it’s not just about providing a place for students to learn. WTIU Station Manager Phil Meyer said the station is about “partnerships.”

“A community only exists through its relationships,” Meyer said. “We contribute on the academic side of things, but we also serve our community and our underwriters.”

That contribution has earned PBS affiliates a decent share of the television market. While cable channels such as ESPN have .8-1.2 percent of the population at any given time, Meyer said PBS consistently has two to three percent of the market – more than CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC combined.