History
WKAR-TV went on the air in January 1954 broadcasting on channel 60. It's call letters are the same as WKAR Radio (which first went on the air in 1922 with the call letters being assigned randomly, and do not reflect the university's early agricultural roots). Both WKAR Radio and WKAR-TV are licensed to Michigan State University. It is the second-oldest educational television station in the United States, and the oldest east of the Mississippi River. It was the third station on the air, but the second, in Los Angeles, went dark not long after it went on. KUHT in Houston is the oldest.
Despite MSU's long history in broadcasting, WKAR-TV struggled for viewers because television sets at that time were not required to have UHF tuning capability. Viewers needed an expensive converter to watch channel 60, and the picture was marginal at best even with one. With this in mind, MSU unsuccessfully tried to persuade the FCC to redesignate channel 10, the only other VHF channel allocated to the Lansing area, for noncommercial use.
Eventually, MSU cut a deal with Jackson Telecasters to share channel 10. So in 1959, WKAR-TV changed its call sign to WMSB (for Michigan State Broadcasting) and moved to channel 10. It shared the frequency with Jackson Telecasters' new station, NBC affiliate WILX-TV. The two broadcasters maintained separate studios and offices and shared the same transmitting facilities in Onondaga. WMSB was on the air for 30 percent of the broadcast day, but WILX had all of prime time. WMSB would often give its time to WILX in case of breaking news, or if NBC aired sports or special events during WMSB's time.
In 1972, WKAR-TV resumed full-time broadcasting on channel 23. This was made possible by the All Channels Act of 1961 (requiring all TV sets sold in the United States to receive UHF channels starting in 1964), the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and the subsequent development of PBS in 1969. The channel 23 dedication show was simulcast on both channels 10 (WMSB) and 23 (WKAR-TV), after which WMSB went silent and WILX began broadcasting on channel 10 full time.
In 1981, WKAR-TV moved from the Quonset hut it had occupied since the station first signed-on to the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. The Breslin Student Events Center occupies the former studio location today.
WKAR-TV serves as the flagship station for Michigan Public Broadcasting (MPB) television programs. Programs distributed statewide on a weekly or monthly basis include "QuizBusters", "Off the Record, "BackStage Pass" as well as specials like the Governor of Michigan's annual "State of the State" address.
WKAR-TV also held a yearly phone-in auction spanning over several days, where viewers could bid on items which were donated by local businesses and volunteers. When it was first held in 1977, it was the first of its kind in mid-Michigan. In 2007, citing a poorer economy, and the fact that they can raise more money by putting their resources into other developmental activities, the fundraising event ceased at the conclusion of the 30th WKAR-TV Auction.
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