WNIT (TV)

WNIT (channel 34) is a PBS member television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, owned by the Michiana Public Broadcasting Corporation. The station's studios are located at the corner of Lafayette and Jefferson Boulevards in downtown South Bend, and its transmitter is located just off of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway in the southern portion of South Bend.

This article is about the television station in South Bend, Indiana. For the annual college basketball tournament, see Women's National Invitation Tournament.
WNIT
Channels
BrandingPBS Michiana
Programming
Affiliations34.1: PBS
for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
OwnerMichiana Public Broadcasting Corporation
History
FoundedDecember 1972
First air date
February 1974 (1974-02)[1]
Former call signs
WNIT (CP, 1972–1974)[2]
WNIT-TV (1974–1989)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 34 (UHF, 1974–2008)
Digital: 35 (UHF, until 2019)
Call sign meaning
Northern Indiana Television
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID41671
ERP78.3 kW
HAAT332.9 m (1,092 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°36′49.2″N 86°11′20″W
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wnit.org

History

WNIT's antenna and transmitter were purchased from KFIZ-TV in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,[4] after that station went dark in November 1972. The station first signed on the air in February 1974 (the "-TV" suffix was used in the call letters from 1974 to 1989). Prior to the station's launch, PBS programs had been offered to the market's commercial stations on a per-program basis, while Chicago member station WTTW was available over-the-air in the extreme western portions of the market. Channel 34's original studio facilities were located at the Elkhart Area Career Center on California Road in Elkhart.

The WNIT studios in South Bend.

On February 26, 2008, the klystron tube that powered WNIT's transmitter failed,[5] which reduced WNIT's analog signal strength to only 15 percent of its normal 1.38 million-watt effective radiated power. The transmitter's major signal amplifiers subsequently failed on March 25, completely disabling the station's analog signal. With analog broadcasting due to end in the United States in 2009, the station opted to broadcast solely in digital. Most viewers did not lose access to WNIT programming due to the high penetration of cable and satellite television in the area.

On January 11, 2009, a fire severely damaged WNIT's administrative offices in Elkhart; there were no injuries resulting from the fire and the station's broadcast facilities and programming were unaffected. Local program production continued at the Elkhart Area Career Center and the station's administrative offices moved to a temporary location in the Tower Building on West Franklin Street in downtown Elkhart.

This arrangement continued until May 11, 2010, when WNIT moved to CBS affiliate WSBT-TV (channel 22)'s former studio on Lafayette and Jefferson streets in downtown South Bend.[6] On December 17, 2008, WNIT had acquired and taken possession of the 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) facility with the assistance of an in-kind donation by WSBT's owner, Schurz Communications; that station had moved to new facilities in Mishawaka in September 2008.[7]

In December 2020, the station re-branded as PBS Michiana and adopted the current PBS logo.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:[8]

Subchannels of WNIT[9]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
34.1 1080i16:9WNIT-HDMain WNIT programming / PBS
34.2 480iWNIT-SDPBS Michiana WNIT 2
34.3 1080iWNIT-KCPBS Kids
34.4 480iWNIT-WXWeather Michiana WNIT 4
34.5 MLCMichigan Learning Channel
28.2 480i16:9CRIMETrue Crime Network (WSJV-DT2)
28.3 MYSTERYIon Mystery (WSJV-DT3)
28.5 QuestQuest (WSJV-DT5)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

WNIT's analog signal, over UHF channel 34, shut down on March 25, 2008, due to the problems with its analog transmitter. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 35,[10] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 34.

References
  1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says February 14, while the Television and Cable Factbook says February 18.
  2. "FCC History Cards for WNIT".
  3. "Facility Technical Data for WNIT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. "Delay WNIT Opening 'til Jan 6". The South Bend Tribune. 1973-12-23. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  5. Request for Silent STA for analogue WNIT TV 34
  6. Etruth.com
  7. "History". WNIT. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  8. "Channel Guide". WNIT. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  9. RabbitEars TV Query for WNIT
  10. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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