WETA and Public Broadcasting
Campbell was intrigued by the power of television since the 1940s, believing that it could be used for educational purposes. In 1952, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized Channel 26 to be designated for educational television, and in 1953, the Greater Washington Educational Television Association (GWETA) was created. Campbell joined the GWETA in 1956 initially as vice chairman, and became president a year later. While she was the GWETA president, Campbell worked hard to raise funds for a local educational TV station in Washington, DC. In 1961, an application was sent to the FCC to open WETA, and on October 2, the station finally went on the air.
The station initially was on the air only during daytime hours on weekdays, but it was soon on the air 86 hours a week, including weekends in 1966. WETA-TV today is on the air 24 hours a day and is the third largest public television station in the United States. In 1966, Campbell helped expand WETA into the radio market, with a WETA radio station going on the air in 1970 at 90.9 FM, which plays mostly classical music, and NPR news programming.
Read more about this topic: Elizabeth Campbell (television)
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