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WQED (TV) |
| WQED | |
|---|---|
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| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
| Branding | WQED Pittsburgh |
| Slogan | Changes Lives |
| Channels | Analog: 13 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | WQED Multimedia |
| First air date | April 1, 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Quod Erat Demonstrandum |
| Sister station(s) | WQED-FM, WQEX |
| Former affiliations | NET (1954-1970) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 760 kW (digital) 12600 watts (post-transition) |
| Height | 210 m (analog) 213 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 41315 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wqed.org |
WQED (channel 13, digital channel 38) is a PBS television station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established April 1, 1954, it was the first community-sponsored television station in the United States as well as the fifth public TV station. WQED also became the first station to telecast classes to elementary classrooms when Pittsburgh launched the Metropolitan School Service in 1955. WQED has produced many shows for PBS, such as Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (which aired first run episodes from February 19, 1968 to August 31, 2001). Pittsburgh Magazine is also a publication of WQED.
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During its heyday in the 1970's and 1980's, WQED was a vital supplier of programming to the national PBS system. For 15 years, WQED produced the National Geographic Specials for the National Geographic Society. These programs, among others, and the craftspeople who produced them, won numerous Emmy Awards and other accolades, including Peabody Awards.
Over the years, talent like Michael Keaton, who worked behind the scenes on Mister Roger's Neighborhood, emerged from the station and went onto national fame.
During its heyday, WQED also supported a post production office and editing facility in Los Angeles. Known as QED/West, the satellite was the editing center for much of WQED's national programming.
During the beginning of the 1990's, WQED faltered on a national level as the rapidly changing media landscape shifted. The downturn was exacerbated by a scandal in which top executives were discovered to have been augmenting their personal revenues without informing the Board of Directors. This period was chronicled in the 2000 book, Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting by Jerold M. Starr.
The problems continued with a failed attempt to sell WQEX outright in 1999; WQED still owns the station, but has had its non-commercial educational status removed in 2002 and is currently operating it as ShopNBC.
WQED's employees are historically a tight knit group. Longtime sound man and Ohio University professor, John "Bear" Butler, maintains an active e-mail distribution list in which news about the members of WQED's community is updated regularly.
Nostalgia documentaries by Rick Sebak:
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