WYBE

This article is for the television station in Philadelphia. For the television station in Pinehurst, North Carolina, see WYBE-CA.

WYBE

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Branding	MiND: Media Independence
Channels	Digital: 35 (UHF) Virtual: 35 (PSIP)
Translators	WFME-TV 66.4, West Milford, New Jersey/New York
Affiliations	Non-commercial educational independent
Owner	Independence Media
First air date	June 10, 1990 for Philadelphia region; December, 2010 for New York City region
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 35 (1990-2009) Digital: 34 (1998-2009)
Height	343 m
Facility ID	28480
Transmitter coordinates	40°2′30.1″N 75°14′10″W / 40.041694°N 75.23611°W / 40.041694; -75.23611
Website	www.mindtv.org

WYBE, channel 35, is an independent, non-commercial educational (NCE) public television station located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Owned and operated by Independence Public Media of Philadelphia (also known as Independence Media), WYBE's transmitter and offices are located at 8200 Ridge Avenue in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The station's MiND: Media Independence service is additionally carried in the New York City media market by religious station WFME-TV over their 66.4 digital subchannel (and reciprocates by carrying WFME-DT over their 35.66 subchannel), and is also available online at www.mindtv.org.

WYBE broadcasts a wide array of programming, such as those featuring independent filmmakers (Through the Lens, Philadelphia Stories, etc.); international programming from countries such as India, Japan, France, China, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany; programming for the LGBT community (Gay USA); and public affairs and current events programming (Democracy Now, GRITtv).

History

Channel 35 in Philadelphia 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 1975, and the channel 35 frequency remained dormant until WYBE opened on June 1, 1990.

From 1998 until 2004, the organization was led by Sherri Hope Culver, formerly of the New Jersey Network (NJN). During this period, WYBE moved into a new facility; shifted from analog to digital television, and focused on original productions, such as Culture Trek (a series of three specials, followed US teenagers as they pursued projects with local teens in Costa Rica, Ireland, and Jamaica), The Neighbors Project, The Tolerance Project (which addressed race, sexual orientation and religion) The station also featured a nightly talk show, Philly Live, which was later restructured into five different talk shows: Gente (Hispanic), Shades of Opinion (African-American), Asian Outlook, Global Lens and Out Loud (LGBT). Most of WYBE's programs are syndicated programs from American Public Television and NETA.^{[clarification needed]} Several of these programs won national Telly Awards, Emmy nominations and a special screening at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The WYBE World Heritage Council Initiative supports Philadelphia's diverse ethnic communities, funded by the William Penn Foundation.

Since 2005, WYBE was led by Howard Blumenthal, who also served simultaneously as Executive Director of NJN from 2009-2010.

MiND: Media Independence

On May 15, 2008, the station was relaunched as 'MiND: Media Independence, which emphasised on short-form programs, often with a "public media for the public good" perspective. MiND became the first broadcast station in the US whose program stream was simultaneously available online and on broadcast television worldwide, in a form of an internet simulcast of its broadcast signal, and a library of programs available on-demand. Some MiND programs are also available on the MHz Worldview network, which is seen on selected television stations and cable systems, as well as on satellite and the internet.

MiND is among the largest public television stations unaffiliated with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Digital television

Digital Subchannels

Channel	Name	Programming
35.1	MiND	Main community-oriented programming
35.2	NHK World	Public television from Japan (in English)
35.3	France24	France24
35.4	RT	Russia Today
35.66	WFME-TV	Simulcast of programming from Family Radio's station in the New York area

The station formerly operated their digital signal at only 25% power until March 2010, when WYBE's power was increased fully to their FCC-authorized ERP power.

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 National Educational Television (NET) four months later, in November 1969. ([1])

• WYBE was also first to air Australian drama, Water Rats, the Australian children's series, The Shapies and the Irish drama, Ros na Rún.

See also

• MiND: Media Independence

Notes

External links

• 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