Diemazz

WYBE
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Branding	MiND: Media Independence
Channels	Analog: 35 (UHF) Digital: 34 (UHF)
Affiliations	Non-commercial independent
Owner	Independence Media
First air date	June 10, 1990
Transmitter Power	500 kW (digital)
Height	343 m (both)
Facility ID	28480
Transmitter Coordinates	40°2′30.1″N 75°14′10″W / 40.041694, -75.23611
Website	www.wybe.org

WYBE is also the callsign of low-power station WYBE-CA of Pinehurst, North Carolina.

WYBE is a public television (Non-PBS) station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its first sign on was June 10, 1990. WYBE's transmitter and offices are located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, in the Schuylkill River valley. The channel was previously occupied by WHYY-TV starting in 1957, which later moved its city of license and frequency to Channel 12 in nearby Wilmington, Delaware in 1963. For several years afterward, WHYY continued to operate channel 35, under the call letters WUHY-TV, carrying alternate educational programming on school days; that station closed down in the early-1970s, and the channel 35 frequency remained dormant until WYBE opened in 1990.

The station is owned and operated by Independence Public Media of Philadelphia (also known as Independence Media).

Station history

One of the largest independent public television stations in the United States not affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service, Philadelphia's channel 35 serves a broadcast area of approximately 6 million viewers. The station operates a unique service which celebrates diversity and multi-cultural sharing of ideas. Often, these communities and ideas are not represented on television. Since 1990, WYBE has featured the work of independent filmmakers (Through the Lens, Philadelphia Stories, etc.) and LGBT programming with In the Life, locally produced shows including Out Loud, In Bed with Butch, Under the Pink Carpet, independent documentaries, the production of five local talk shows that aired weekly, each on a different weeknight:Gente (Hispanic), Shades of Opinion (African-American), Asian Outlook, Global Lens and Out Loud (LGBT). The station also features regularly scheduled (often daily) news programs from England, France, China, Korea, Poland and other nations. Culture Trek, a series of specials, followed US teenagers as they pursued projects with local teens in Costa Rica, Ireland, and Jamaica.

For seven years (1998-2004), WYBE was led by General Manager Sherri Hope Culver, formerly of NJN. This period brought a move into a new self-standing facility; a first multiyear Strategic Plan, transitioned from analog to digital television, and a substantial increase in production of original programming. Many of these high-profile productions addressed issues that were typically not seen on television. Many explored issues relating to cultural diversity such as Global Lens, Culture Trek, The Neighbors Project and The Tolerance Project which addressed race, sexual orientation and religion. WYBE has long been associated with independent film. The popular Philadelphia Stories anthology series was begun by Culver, and is now beginning its 7th season. A live M-F talk show included community leaders and celebrities, and included viewers in the conversation (via telephone). This talk series began as Philly Live and was subsequently reorganized as five individual series, each addressing a specific cultural heritage group. Also during this growth period, WYBE was recognized with several national Telly Awards, Emmy nominations and a special screening at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The WYBE World Heritage Council Initiative was a ground-breaking community outreach effort developed by Culver and funded by the William Penn Foundation. It enhanced WYBE’s civic partnerships and service, specifically among the city’s diverse ethnic communities. These innovations and other significant contributions to independent media were featured in a cover story for The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday magazine in November 1998.

American Public Television and NETA were among the prime sources for programs, however, WYBE also acquried programming from foreign suppliers and independent producers and filmmakers. WYBE was also first to air Australian drama, Water Rats, the Gaelic drama, Ros Na Run, and Polish drama, The Name of Love. WYBE is one of eight broadcast television stations in the US to regularly air Korean dramas and Bollywood movies. Nightly news programs include Democracy Now!, Le Journal, German Journal, BBC World News, and the New Tang Dynasty News. In more recent years, the prime time schedule has featured music specials specializing in musical genres rarely seen on broadcast television (world music, bluegrass, and more).

MiND: Media Independence

On May 15, 2008, the WYBE brand was retired. The new channel is known as MiND: Media Independence. Approximately 2/3 of the program schedule is filled with 5-minute programs developed by and with community members; the remaining 1/3 is filled with international news and public affairs programs. MiND's unique approach to public service and community engagement now includes video production training, Boot Camps for members who want to learn to make their own MiND programs, a book called Making MiND Programs that is provided to every MiND member, and more. Many of MiND's programs feature ideas, people, and stories that are not typically seen on television.

Programming Firsts

• WYBE's predecessor, WUHY-TV, was the first station in the world to show Sesame Street, in a week of test broadcasts in July, 1969. A slightly-retooled version of the show had its national premiere on NET four months later, in November, 1969. ([1])

• WYBE today was also known to take risks in being the first in the US to show foreign or independently-produced series, but in some cases, the results were not favorable. For example: WYBE was the first American station to air the Australian children's series The Shapies, with the initial airing on March 3, 2004. In the moments leading up to The Shapies' U.S. debut, WYBE ran a clip of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. However, The Shapies' success in the US was never realized -- the series was never picked up nationally by PBS or a syndicator, and would soon be dropped from WYBE's schedule.

Address

8200 Ridge Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19128

Logo Gallery

WYBE logo, used through 2008.

WYBE logo used briefly in April 2006. The background previously used in WYBE's logo on its website is derived from this logo.

See also

• MiND: Media Independence -- Internet television service from Independence Media

External links

• WYBE
• MiND: Media Independence
• Independence Media non-profit organization site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WYBE
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WYBE-TV

Notes

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