WGSF Television

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.