Establishing An Educational Consortium
In 1970, the west-central region of Illinois was one of the few areas in the United States without a PBS station. Parts of this region were served from PBS stations: WILL-TV in Urbana; WTVP in Peoria; and KIIN in West Branch, Iowa. Cable television networks in north-central Illinois and Macomb carried Iowa Public Television or WTVP PBS programming to their residents.
A number of meetings were held with civic organizations, businesses, elected public representatives, private and public educational institutions from 1970 to 1976. The outcome of these discussions was the establishment of The West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation incorporated in the State of Illinois on February 9, 1976. The corporation was composed of these Illinois educational institutions serving the region: Bradley University in Peoria, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Blackhawk Community College in Moline, and Sangamon State University in Springfield. Its mission was "to establish an educational television network, provide educational content, create local and public affairs programming to serve the residents and businesses of west-central Illinois". Bylaws for the corporation were approved on January 13, 1984.
The brand name Convocom was adopted in 1978 for the corporation and offices were established in Peoria.
George Hall was appointed as first president that same year. He had previously served as general manager for North Carolina State University's educational television station.
Initial engineering design and FCC application filings were performed in 1978 by Gary Breed and Don Markley of D.L. Markley and Associates, in Peoria, a well known broadcast engineering consulting firm. Breed was a faculty member of Bradley University's Engineering department and Markley, president and owner of the firm, grew up in Ipava, Illinois.
The original television network design for Convocom would encompass 5 broadcast transmitters at: Quad Cities, Peoria, Macomb, Quincy and Springfield/Jacksonville. The master control would be located at Convocom headquarters in Peoria (at or near WTVP, Bradley University) with 3 microwave interconnections (links). A northern link to WQPT in Quad Cities; a western link to WIUM-TV in Macomb and WQEC in Quincy; and a southern link from Peoria to WJPT in Springfield/Jacksonville region.
The D. L. Markley design was a balance of engineering, economics, and the education institutions' service to the largely rural west-central Illinois region. Larger urban areas in the region were considered crucial for ongoing community support and sufficient financial support (grants, fund raising) to cover operational costs of the non-commercial educational network.
West Central Illinois Educational TV Network as presented to regional representatives, educational institutions, civic and community organizations in 1977 and 1978:
| Station | City of license | NTSC Channels TV / RF |
First air date | Call letters' meaning |
ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Convocom educational member | Transmitter Site Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTVP | Peoria | 47 (UHF) |
June 27, 1971 | Tele Vision Peoria |
190 kW | 216 m | 28311 | Bradley University | 40°37′44″N 89°34′12″W / 40.62889°N 89.57°W / 40.62889; -89.57 (WTVP) |
| WQPT | Moline | 24 (UHF) |
November 2, 1983 | Quad Cities Public Television |
80 kW | 269 m | 5468 | Black Hawk College | 41°18′44.5″N 90°22′46.2″W / 41.312361°N 90.3795°W / 41.312361; -90.3795 (WQPT) |
| WJPT1 | Jacksonville | 14 (UHF) |
1979 1 | Jacksonville Public Television |
490 m | Sangamon State University | 39°45′31″N 90°31′8″W / 39.75861°N 90.51889°W / 39.75861; -90.51889 (WJPT) | ||
| WIUM-TV | Macomb | 22 (UHF) |
October 1, 1984 | Western Illinois University Macomb |
75 kW | 148 m | Western Illinois University | 40°25′40″N 90°40′58″W / 40.42778°N 90.68278°W / 40.42778; -90.68278 (WIUM) | |
| WQEC2 | Quincy | 27 (UHF) |
March 9, 1985 | Quincy Educational Consortium |
58.6 kW | 153 m | 39°58′39.9″N 91°18′32.6″W / 39.97775°N 91.309056°W / 39.97775; -91.309056 (WQEC) |
Notes:
- 1. WJPT planned to use the 1,610 foot (491 m) WJJY-TV tower at Bluffs, IL. That tower collapsed on March 26, 1978 (Easter Sunday) in an ice storm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_catastrophic_collapses_of_radio_masts_and_towers. A new 800 foot (243 m) tower site west of Waverly was selected and began broadcasting August 11, 1984.
- 2. WQEC was added since the new WJPT tower at Waverly would not provide coverage to the Quincy/Hannibal market.
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