WGSF Television

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

This report outlined considerations to implement the reception or distribution of Instructional Television programs in the Newark, Ohio City School District.

Newark Public Schools
Department of Instruction

Audio-Visual Services
February 5,1959


FROM: R. G. Powell, Audio-Visual Services


THROUGH: Forest Moran, Director of Instruction


THROUGH: Thomas B. Southard, Superintendent of Schools


TO: Officers and Members, Newark Board of Education


SUBJECT: Educational Television Status Report


PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to report on the progress of research that has been undertaken by various members of the staff of the Newark Public Schools concerning the possible applications and potentials that educational television offers to the Newark Public Schools.


(Note: Parts of the above listed document will be here excerpted to provide a sense of the scope of the original plan for television utilization in the Newark Public Schools.
The entire document contains eighteen (18) pages, including estimated construction and operating costs.)




(Excerpt)


THE NEWARK PLAN:


After much discussion and planning, a workable system for Newark has taken form. The basic plan has been reviewed by many persons associated with education and the telecasting industry and has gone through many revisions. It is presented here in the phases that we see it developing.


PHASE I: A building, perhaps of geodesic design, would be constructed on the high school campus to house the television facilities. It is believed that the building, itself, could be constructed in such a way as to make it unique to television application to school systems. Equipment would be purchased to allow us to connect to the co-axial cable system that is being installed in the three little schools, the science building, and the Hub,to distribute films, film-strips, slides, audio signals only, and live programs. At the same time, the persons assigned to the staff could be working with the studio equipment in preparation to presenting certain parts of our curriculum to classes throughout the school system


PHASE II: Co-axial cable would connect the television center with every school in the city, enabling each school to to receive as many as twelve different programs at one time.
.

PHASE III: Since the initial purchase of equipment would be along broadcast quality lines,this same equipment could be used for open-circuit telecasting. A transmitter would be purchased and an antenna erected, and certain programs would be transmitted to the public living within a certain radius of the center.


(End excerpt)


(Ed. NOTES: - A new campus-style high school was under design and/or construction at the time of the publication of this document in1959. The reference to the "three little schools" was the working designator for Newark High Buildings later known as 'C' 'D' and 'E' buildings.

Much of the 1959 'Newark Plan' was in fact accomplished, although in reverse order: (a) A television broadcast station was built on Horn's Hill, remote from the Newark High School campus, and operated from March 18, 1963 through June 30, 1976 (See Phase III above) (b) Co-axial cable (CATV) connected the television center with every school in the city of Newark (Phase II.) (c) It may be of interest to note that, by 1990, many other parts of the system proposed as Phase I in 1959 did in fact exist!


(1) - The TV Center was located in 'D' Building on the Newark High School Campus.

(2) - Live programs were broadcast from the TV Center's studio, not only to the High School Campus, but to the entire Newark School System, and the community at large, via the community-wide CATV system, on CATV Channel 19.
(3) - The TV Center staff scheduled, and distributed upon demand, video programs made possible through a State of Ohio network. The Newark Public Schools were a charter member of the Central Ohio ETV Foundation, a consortium that provided Instructional Television (ITV) programs from national sources.

(4) - The daily school announcements were provided to all teaching stations at Newark High School via television receivers in each classroom, and also by audio over the campus-wide Public Address system.
(5 - Audio only signals could be directed to selected buildings and classrooms, providing students with radio broadcasting experience.

(6) - Pick-up points throughout the high school campus also enabled and were used for telecasting from the Performing Arts Center (NHS Auditorium), the Jim Allen Gymnasium, and the new Library/classroom Building.
(7) - Several of the Elementary and Middle schools were operating their own closed circuit (CCTV) systems, in addition to the building-wide CATV distribution.

8) - Students and teachers in those buildings had received training in television production, telecast their own daily school announcements, and often participated in a weekly school report to the community (via CATV Channel 19) - Schools In Action.
(9 - The monthly Board of Education meetings were video-taped, and telecast to the community. Upon occasion, the Board meetings were aired "Live."

(10) - The TV Center utilized automation and other technology not envisioned in 1959 to maintain a full-time presence on the community-wide CATV channel 19, which included school announcements, program schedules, and telecasts of school activities.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

The first day of programming on the new WGSF Television station was March 18,1963. The following photo copy of the actual Program Log, signed by WGSF Chief Engineer, Robert Brooks, is shown in the Photo Album. (Open a separate page in your browser, and switch back and forth for best results)

Program Log

The entry "Hours 164" refers to the total operation of the transmitter up to that time, which included various tests and alignment prior to actual programming.

A poster identifying the channel and call letters ( WGSF, Channel 28, Newark, Ohio was shown during the interval between programs, while Mr.Brooks switched away from the WOSU-TV signal. A videcon camera borrowed from the ETV station in Toledo was set in the studio. The video source is indicated as "LS" or Live studio origination.
See: The First Day
for photos of Mr. Brooks, the camera in the studio, and the transmitter switching control panel.

Programming oriented toward children aired from 4:00 until 6:00 PM.

The first locally produced program was aired at 7:00 PM. Produced and narrated by Newark School's Superintendent Dr. Thomas Southard, utilized teachers who had taken a course on "Teaching By Television" at The Ohio State University.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

It was a classic case of "good news, bad news."

The good news: The key word in the early 1970's was "Upgrade." as in, "Upgrade all Ohio Public Broadcast Television stations to become fully capable of both transmitting and originating color television programs."

See: The Statewide Plan

See: The Stations

Each of the stations was invited to submit a list of equipment necessary to at least play back film and video tape in color. While all stations, including WGSF, could now transmit network originated programs in color, several still lacked the facilities for full color capability. In some cases, this meant adding a color-capable camera for an existing film chain, or colorizing a video tape machine. For WGSF, however this meant almost a quarter of a million dollars worth of "upgrade!"
It didn't take long for us to dig out the equipment catalogs and put together a list. The Newark School District Board of Education - licensee of the WGSF station - filled out the application for funding, and submitted it to the State.
So far,so good. We, at the station, were elated!

Now the bad news: The other applicants were on solid financial footing; only minor modifications and clarifications would be needed in their case.
Not so with WGSF. The Newark Board of Education was asked to prepare financial projections for continued long-term support for the station, including provisions for operation and maintenance of the equipment, free as it was. This was no small matter.
The typical color video tape machine contained parts that had to be replaced after a few hundred hours of operation; these "headwheel" assemblies were expensive. While the knowledge necessary to maintain this color equipment could be acquired by diligent study on the part of the Engineer/Technicians, adequate, quality test equipment had always been lacking at WGSF.
Further, would The Board be able to attract and employ capable technicians when experienced technicians typically moved to better paying jobs in the larger markets.
In short, the Ohio ETV Network Commission wanted assurance that the expenditure of a vast chunk of money was a worthwhile investment for the State of Ohio.

See: Photo of Newark Advocate news article in the WGSF Photo Album.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

Several companies had applied for a cable television (CATV) franchise in Newark over the years, but none had been granted.
Pressure on the Newark City Council really built up in the early 1970’s. It seemed more and more likely that this time the push would result in the granting of a CATV franchise.
I followed the development of the Cable CATV Rules and Regulations closely, as did many others in the educational and broadcast communities. Also like many community interest groups, I recognized the potential of utilizing one of those channels as an adjunct to the WGSF broadcast capability. I openly championed access to the Community channels as stipulated in the Rules and Regulations, suggesting that they decide in favor of a company that offered access channels. This did not endear me to some of the parties involved in the debates and discussions concerning the granting of a franchise for CATV service in Newark.
A lot of money was at stake, and the participants - the companies and law makers - were feeling the pressure.
Some of the applicants felt that I was favoring one company over another, and speaking out where I had no right to do so. My point, however, was, “If you grant a cable franchise, please include stipulations that include a Community Access channel for the Newark City Schools.” Some applicants seemed to dodge that portion of the rules and regulations in their presentations to the Newark City Council. Others seemed to dangle various enhancements that in all likelihood would never be implemented.
The television service community was also very concerned about the impact a CATV franchise would have upon their occupations. Even though most realized that the CATV movement was sweeping the country, and that the granting of a franchise was likely, it still didn’t sit well. Television antennas, supporting towers, installation and service made up a large part of their business. There was also concern that the CATV company would even restrict access to the receivers in the homes.
I had enjoyed a good, working relationship with these technicians, but many now were thinking that I was a traitor to their cause. Again, I affirmed that I had no real input into the selection of a franchisee. I was simply speaking out to make all parties aware of the new Rules and Regulations, especially the requirements for the community access channels.
I will never know whether my efforts made any impact on the choice of a company to receive the CATV franchise. As written, though, the franchise specified criteria for granting access to community channels on the system.
The next step was to meet that criteria for an educational channel.

Link: http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/

The launch of the Soviet earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957, surprised the world. A second orbital satellite, Sputnik 2, on November 3, 1957, stunned the American scientific and educational community, especially since this satellite was large enough to carry a dog into space. Subsequent failures of the much vaunted,and televised, American Vanguard project stuck in people's minds and deepened American dismay over the country's position in the Space Race.
Coupled with the need to provide education to the ever burgeoning "Baby Boom" school population, the nation responded with increased funding for science and technology. Television technology was one of the solutions proposed, building upon the recent assignment of UFH television channels in even the smaller communities across the nation. Instructional/Educational program production was also encouraged and funded.
While some funding proposals focused upon broadcast facilities, including state-operated systems, still other funds were made available directly to the schools. Reception and distribution equipment enabled the schools to receive instructional (ITV) and enrichment programming (ETV) for utilization in the classroom and lecture hall.
Later, as video recording technology developed to the point where consumer/educator grade television recording and playback equipment was practical and affordable, funding was made available for this technology. While many schools used some of the available funding to purchase such equipment, including television cameras and other related hardware, the technology often overwhelmed the "Audio/Visual/Media" personnel at the schools. Unless someone was available on-staff with the expertise and the time to work with the television equipment, this "great technological leap forward" often languished.
Many school administrators, and forward-thinking visionaries, revisited this bonanza of television "origination" equipment when the CATV franchise laws were made public. People were eager to activate those "Public/Community" channels.
I (Leland Hubbell, former Manager of the WGSF PBS station, and now of the Newark School District TV Center) of was one of those people!
While the Cable Companies were favorably inclined toward granting access to the Community Access channels for qualified applicants, they quickly learned from experience that many applicants were not able to bring their hopes and dreams to fruition. Dedicated channels devoid of programming served no one. It would take more than “talking points” to become wired into the CATV system and occupy one of those channels. Still, my goal was to take the school system into cablecasting.