Network Knowledge
Encyclopedia
Network Knowledge is a group of three Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) stations in central and western Illinois
. Until October 13, 2004, it used the brand name Convocom. It is operated by the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation.
Network Knowledge also provides Educational television
outreach through a network of volunteers, schools, hospitals and corporate partners in communities throughout central and western Illinois.
Together, the three stations serve a large portion of western Illinois, as well as parts of Missouri
and Iowa
.
Special programming has included
signal. Virtual channel
prefixes are the same as the analog channel was for each station before the digital transition.
, WJPT, signed on in August 1984 under the ownership of Convocom, a consortium of several educational institutions in west central Illinois. Before then, west-central Illinois was one of the few areas of the country without a PBS station. The only part of this region that got even a grade B signal from PBS was Decatur
, which was covered by WILL-TV in Urbana
.
WJPT was originally supposed to sign on in 1979 as Springfield
's PBS member station, using the tower of defunct ABC
affiliate
WJJY-TV
, near Bluffs, Illinois
. The transmitter broadcast at 4.5 million watts from a height of 1,610 feet, which would have made WJPT one of the most powerful stations in the PBS system. However, the tower collapsed in a massive 1978 ice storm. Convocom was able to raise enough money to build an 800-foot (244 m) tower west of Waverly
. However, it only broadcast at 34,000 watts. As a result, despite nominally being the PBS member station for the western side of the Champaign/Springfield/Decatur market, it was practically unviewable over the air in Springfield.
In October 1984, WIUM-TV in Macomb signed on as a satellite of WJPT. It was followed by WQEC in Quincy in 1985.
In 1989 call letters were changed in an effort to create consistency between the three broadcast outlets, WJPT became WSEC, while WIUM became WMEC (WQEC remained unchanged). Convocom also changed its formal name to the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation. A 1,400 watt translator was built at Springfield in 1998. Originally broadcasting on channel 65 as W65BV, it moved to VHF channel 8 in 2001 and became W08DP where it still broadcasts in analog. Although PBS reckons WMEC as the primary station, the station is headquartered in Chatham
, near Springfield.
In 1997 WMEC's transmitter site was moved from WIU's Horn Campus WIUM-FM tower to a newly constructed tower to the southeast — south of Colchester, Illinois
. In 2002 WSEC's transmitter site was moved to a 976' tower in Franklin
. Also in March 2002, master control was moved from Peoria
to Chatham with the completion of a fully digital master control facility and interconnection system. In 2004, the network adopted the brand name of Network Knowledge.
The interconnection system is composed of digital microwave (90mbs) and fiber. It extends from Chatham through Franklin (WSEC's transmitter site) to Golden
where it splits and sends a fiber signal to Quincy for WQEC and a microwave signal to Macomb for WMEC. There are also linkages to studios in Quincy at WGEM
(NBC
affiliate) and at Western Illinois University
(WIU) in Macomb.
}
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) stations in central and western Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Until October 13, 2004, it used the brand name Convocom. It is operated by the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation.
Network Knowledge also provides Educational television
Educational television
Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
outreach through a network of volunteers, schools, hospitals and corporate partners in communities throughout central and western Illinois.
Together, the three stations serve a large portion of western Illinois, as well as parts of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
.
Local programs
Network Knowledge produces a number of regularly scheduled programs each month, including:- Cardia (monthly; hosted by Mark McDonald & Dr. Gregory Mishkel; produced by Mark McDonald)
- CapitolView (weekly; hosted by Bernie Schoenburg and John Patterson (rotating); produced by Scott Troehler)
- Illinois Stories (3x/week; produced & hosted by Mark McDonald)
- InLife: Stories from Western Illinois (monthly; hosted by Becky Cramblit; produced by Scott Troehler & Becky Cramblit)
- Lawmakers (monthly; hosted by Mark McDonald; produced by Scott Troehler)
Special programming has included
- Expedition United Kingdom (2005)(hosted by Becky Cramblit, produced by Scott Troehler)
- Expedition Scotland (2006)(hosted by Becky Cramblit, produced by Scott Troehler)
- Expedition United Kingdom (2007)(hosted by Becky Cramblit, produced by Scott Troehler)
- Building Stories (hosted by Dave Leonatti with Anthony Rubano, produced by Scott Troehler)
- Making Conversation; Downtown Springfield Inc. Annual Awards; Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala
Channels
Network Knowledge has 3 full-power television stations, each of which provide the same 3 digital subchannels.Stations
All numbers given are for the digital televisionDigital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
signal. Virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
prefixes are the same as the analog channel was for each station before the digital transition.
| Callsign | Ch. (virtual) |
Air date | City of License City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... |
ERP Effective radiated power In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains... (kW) |
HAAT Height above average terrain Height above average terrain is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is actually much more important than effective radiated power in determining the range of broadcasts... (m) |
Facility ID Facility ID The facility ID number or FIN is a unique positive integer assigned by the United States Federal Communications Commission to each domestic and international broadcast station in its Common Database System . Licensees are required to provide the relevant station's FIN when filing reports and... |
Antenna coordinates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMEC | WIUM-TV | 21 (22) | Macomb Macomb, Illinois Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois southwest of Galesburg. The population was 18,588 at the 2000 census. Macomb is the home of Western Illinois University.- Geography :... |
75.0 | 131 | 70537 | 40°23′53.2"N 90°43′54.5"W | |
| WQEC | WQEC | 34 (27) | Quincy Quincy, Illinois Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a... |
58.6 | 153 | 71561 | 39°58′39.9"N 91°18′32.6"W | |
| WSEC | WJPT | 15 (14) | Jacksonville Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County.... |
75.0 | 295 | 70536 | 39°36′8.8"N 90°2′47.4"W |
Subchannels
| Subchannel | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| .1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
PBS Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia.... and local programming |
| .2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | PBS World PBS World PBS World is a 24-hour United States over-the-air digital subchannel showing public TV non-fiction, science, nature, news, public affairs and documentaries... (prime time) and other programming |
| .3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Create Create (TV channel) Create is a digital television public television network in the United States. The network was created after the closure of PBS YOU in 2006. Create is a public television network, and runs mainly how-to, DIY, and other non-commercial educational television shows from the libraries of Public... |
History
The first station in the state networkState network
A State Network in the United States broadcasting industry is a term which refers to a miniature television network serving an entire state or multiple states...
, WJPT, signed on in August 1984 under the ownership of Convocom, a consortium of several educational institutions in west central Illinois. Before then, west-central Illinois was one of the few areas of the country without a PBS station. The only part of this region that got even a grade B signal from PBS was Decatur
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
, which was covered by WILL-TV in Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
.
WJPT was originally supposed to sign on in 1979 as Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
's PBS member station, using the tower of defunct ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
WJJY-TV
WJJY-TV
WJJY-TV was a short-lived television station station based in Jacksonville, Illinois that was on the air from 1969 to 1971. It was the ABC television affiliate for Quincy, Illinois, and also reached Springfield as well.-History:...
, near Bluffs, Illinois
Bluffs, Illinois
Bluffs is a village in Scott County, Illinois, United States. The population was 748 at the 2000 census. It was briefly the location of the WJJY TV Mast, the tallest structure built to that date in Illinois....
. The transmitter broadcast at 4.5 million watts from a height of 1,610 feet, which would have made WJPT one of the most powerful stations in the PBS system. However, the tower collapsed in a massive 1978 ice storm. Convocom was able to raise enough money to build an 800-foot (244 m) tower west of Waverly
Waverly, Illinois
Waverly is a small city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,346 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. However, it only broadcast at 34,000 watts. As a result, despite nominally being the PBS member station for the western side of the Champaign/Springfield/Decatur market, it was practically unviewable over the air in Springfield.
In October 1984, WIUM-TV in Macomb signed on as a satellite of WJPT. It was followed by WQEC in Quincy in 1985.
In 1989 call letters were changed in an effort to create consistency between the three broadcast outlets, WJPT became WSEC, while WIUM became WMEC (WQEC remained unchanged). Convocom also changed its formal name to the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation. A 1,400 watt translator was built at Springfield in 1998. Originally broadcasting on channel 65 as W65BV, it moved to VHF channel 8 in 2001 and became W08DP where it still broadcasts in analog. Although PBS reckons WMEC as the primary station, the station is headquartered in Chatham
Chatham, Illinois
Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,500 as of the 2010 census. The village lies along the original alignment of historic U.S...
, near Springfield.
In 1997 WMEC's transmitter site was moved from WIU's Horn Campus WIUM-FM tower to a newly constructed tower to the southeast — south of Colchester, Illinois
Colchester, Illinois
Colchester is a city in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,493 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the provincial town of Colchester, England.-Geography:Colchester is located at ....
. In 2002 WSEC's transmitter site was moved to a 976' tower in Franklin
Franklin, Illinois
Franklin is a village in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 586 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Franklin is located at ....
. Also in March 2002, master control was moved from Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
to Chatham with the completion of a fully digital master control facility and interconnection system. In 2004, the network adopted the brand name of Network Knowledge.
The interconnection system is composed of digital microwave (90mbs) and fiber. It extends from Chatham through Franklin (WSEC's transmitter site) to Golden
Golden, Illinois
Golden is a village in Adams County, Illinois, United States. The population was 629 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Golden is located at ....
where it splits and sends a fiber signal to Quincy for WQEC and a microwave signal to Macomb for WMEC. There are also linkages to studios in Quincy at WGEM
WGEM-TV
WGEM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Tri-States area of Western Illinois, Northeastern Missouri, and extreme Southeastern Iowa that is licensed to Quincy, Illinois. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter east of the city on Cannonball...
(NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate) and at Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
(WIU) in Macomb.
External links
- "WSEC to be called Network Knowledge" - from the Herald & ReviewHerald & ReviewThe Herald & Review is an American newspaper based in Decatur, Illinois.-History:On July 13, 1937, 17 of the paper's editorial employees walked out and went on strike, forcing suspension of the paper, Decatur's only daily newspaper at the time....
(Decatur, IllinoisDecatur, IllinoisDecatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
)
}