WGSF Television

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.

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

The first systems to communicate over long distances with electrical signals utilized wire or cable. The telegraph, teleprinter, and later, telephone, required a physical connection to the "wire" to send or receive those communications. It also meant that the "wire" owner not only could restrict service, but could charge for the connection.
When it was discovered that radio frequency waves could also carry those same electrical signals, but without the wired connection, it was naturally called "wireless" communication.
The transmission of sound (voice and music) programs intended for reception by the general public came to be called broadcasting, from the term used of the scattering of seed. Anyone within the signal range of the transmitting, or broadcasting, station, with the appropriate reception device (receiver) could listen in. And they did. Radio broadcasting quickly caught on with the public in the 1920's, '30's, and '40's.
Methods of also broadcasting pictures were rapidly developing at the start of WWII. Put on hold during the war years, television quickly became popular after the war. Television broadcasting was much more involved and expensive than radio, however, and was generally limited to large population areas. Many small towns and cities found that they could not afford to operate a television broadcast station, nor were they always able to receive adequate (or any) signals, especially if they were in a location, such as a valley, that blocked the VHF signals, or rendered them so weak as to be unusable.
Those broadcast signals might be quite adequate at some higher elevation, however - if you happened to have an antenna located there. Re-enter wire and cable communications. Set up an antenna in a favorable reception location, connect a cable to it, and run the cable to your home down in the valley. Or to many homes in the valley, for that matter. Just keep stringing that cable. Community Antenna Television (CATV) was born.
Again, the owner of the system could not only place restrictions on who could use the service, but could charge for it. Money could be, and was, made in CATV service. Competition to construct CATV systems was quite keen, so much so that regulation soon followed. As with many public utilities, franchises could be granted - or denied. It quickly became necessary for Federal Government as well as local oversight of CATV service, especially because the broadcast signals carried on the CATV systems were under Federal Communications Commission oversight.
Programming from existing television broadcast stations was not the only issue, however, as the final legislation was developed in the 1970's. A community, or a CATV system owner, for that matter, could insert television broadcasts that originated from even the simplest television source. These signals could take the form of a program schedule guide, a local "Bulletin Board" service, or the origination and broadcast of local community sports, educational, governmental, religious or other programming. Rules were formulated to require franchisees to provide channels for certain local community programs. Educational institutions and governmental bodies could then access the entire cable (CATV) audience without the expense of operating a large broadcast transmitter system.
The local competition was quite vigorous in the early 1970's and a CATV franchise was operating in the Newark community by the time WGSF ceased broadcasting in 1976. Now, the Newark City School District had to establish a television origination operation that could be placed on one of those Educational CATV channels stipulated in the franchise.