Network Knowledge

This article is about the Illinois broadcaster. For British Columbia channel, see Knowledge (TV channel).

WMEC / WQEC / WSEC

WMEC: Macomb, Illinois WQEC: Quincy, Illinois WSEC: Jacksonville, Illinois
Branding	Network Knowledge
Slogan	Watch and learn.
Channels	Digital: WMEC: 21 (UHF) WQEC: 34 (UHF) WSEC: 15 (UHF) Virtual: WMEC: 22 (PSIP) WQEC: 27 (PSIP) WSEC: 14 (PSIP)
Translators	W08DP Springfield
Affiliations	PBS
Owner	West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation
First air date	WMEC: October 1, 1984 WQEC: March 1985 WSEC: August 1984
Call letters' meaning	Macomb / Quincy / Springfield Educational Channel
Former callsigns	Analog: WMEC: WIUM-TV (1984–1989) WQEC: None WSEC: WJPT (1984–1989) Digital: WMEC: WMEC-DT (2003–2009) WQEC: WQEC-DT (2003–2009) WSEC: WSEC-DT (2003–2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: WMEC: 22 (1984–2009) WQEC: 27 (1985–2009) WSEC: 14 (1984–2009)
Transmitter power	WMEC: 75 kW WQEC: 58.6 kW WSEC: 75 kW
Height	WMEC: 131 m WQEC: 153 m WSEC: 295 m
Class	Non-commercial educational
Facility ID	WMEC: 70537 WQEC: 71561 WSEC: 70536
Transmitter coordinates	WMEC: 40°23′54″N 90°43′55″W / 40.39833°N 90.73194°W / 40.39833; -90.73194 (WMEC) WQEC: 39°58′41″N 91°18′32″W / 39.97806°N 91.30889°W / 39.97806; -91.30889 (WQEC) WSEC: 39°36′9″N 90°2′47″W / 39.6025°N 90.04639°W / 39.6025; -90.04639 (WSEC)
Website	www.networkknowledge.tv

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.^[ambiguous]

Together, the three stations serve a large portion of western Illinois, as well as parts of Missouri and Iowa.

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 television signal. Virtual channel prefixes are the same as the analog channel was for each station before the digital transition.

Callsign	Old[1]	Ch. (virtual)	Air date	City of License	ERP (kW)	HAAT (m)	Facility ID	Antenna coordinates
WMEC	WIUM-TV	21 (22)	01984-10-01 October 1, 1984	Macomb	75.0	131	70537	40°23′53.2″N 90°43′54.5″W / 40.398111°N 90.731806°W / 40.398111; -90.731806 (WMEC)
WQEC	WQEC	34 (27)	01985-03 March 1985[2]	Quincy	58.6	153	71561	39°58′39.9″N 91°18′32.6″W / 39.97775°N 91.309056°W / 39.97775; -91.309056 (WQEC)
WSEC	WJPT	15 (14)[3]	01984-08 August 1984[4]	Jacksonville	75.0	295	70536	39°36′8.8″N 90°2′47.4″W / 39.602444°N 90.0465°W / 39.602444; -90.0465 (WSEC)

1. ^ WMEC and WSEC were given their current callsigns in 1989.
2. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says WQEC signed on March 11, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on March 9.
3. ^ As of 16 June 2009 (2009 -06-16)^[update], the FCC still shows an analog record for WSEC on channel 14 with 34 kW ERP at 271 meters HAAT.
4. ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says WSEC signed on August 21, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on August 11.

Subchannels

Subchannel	Video	Aspect	Programming
.1	720p[1]	16:9	PBS and local programming
.2	480i	4:3	PBS World (prime time) and other programming
.3	480i	4:3	Create

History

The first station in the state network, 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.

References

1. ^ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wmec#station

External links

• "WSEC to be called Network Knowledge" - from the Herald & Review (Decatur, Illinois)
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WMEC
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WQEC
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSEC
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for W08DP
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WMEC-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WQEC-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WSEC-TV