WCET (channel 48) is a PBS member television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation, On March 11, 1955, the FCC granted WCET the first non-commercial educational broadcast license in the country. WCET remained at Music Hall until 1959, when it moved to the former WLWT studios on Chickasaw Street.

In 1981, Warner Cable agreed to carry four additional channels of instructional programming provided by WCET. until the chain's bankruptcy and liquidation in 2001. The Discovery Channel Store, a similarly themed retail outlet, opened in its place the following September.

Once simply branded "Channel 48" and later as "WCET48", the station simplified its name to "CET" on September 16, 2003, moving away from its call sign and channel number, in part to indicate its increasing focus on online services. It began an IP-based on-demand video service via its website, CETconnect.

On May 8, 2009, the Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation and Greater Dayton Public Television (licensee of that market's PBS station WPTD) formed the umbrella non-profit organization Public Media Connect. Both WCET and WPTD operate as subsidiaries of PMC, with separate branding and fundraising efforts. The merger resulted in the July 2010 transfer of WCET's master control operations to WPTD's facilities in Dayton, in an attempt to reduce costs for WCET.

WCET and the Think<sup>TV</sup> channels were off the air (and not available through any other providers) from just after 4 p.m. on July 5 until 11:40&nbsp;a.m. on July 9, 2019, due to the failure of a multiplexer in the master control power supply at Think<sup>TV</sup> in downtown Dayton.

Original programming

The following television series were previously or are currently produced by WCET:

  • Action Auction – televised station fundraiser
  • Congressional Outlook – national public affairs program hosted by Patrick Tyler; joint venture with Congressional Quarterly
  • Focus 48 – local public affairs program
  • It's Academic (1960s–1980s) – local version, in partnership with WLWT
  • Lilias, Yoga and You (1972–1999)
  • Showcase with Barbara Kellar – local arts and cultural series airing on CET Arts

Most original WCET footage prior to 1990 was not archived and has been lost.

Notable people

  • John Knoepfleproducer and director; later a poet, translator, and educator

Technical information

thumb|right|WCET headquarters on Central Parkway in [[downtown Cincinnati.]]

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

{| class="wikitable"

|+Subchannels of WCET

! scope = "col" | Channel

! scope = "col" | Res.

! scope = "col" | Short name

! scope = "col" | Programming

|-

! scope = "row" | 48.1

| 1080i || CETHD || PBS

|-

! scope = "row" | 48.2

| rowspan=2| 480i || Create || CET Create

|-

! scope = "row" | 48.3

| Art || CET Arts

|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6; border-top: 2px solid #003399;"

! scope = "row" | 54.1

| 720p || KET || KET / PBS (WCVN-TV)

|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6;"

! scope = "row" | 54.3

| 480i || KETKY || Kentucky Channel (WCVN-TV)

|}

CET Create and CET Arts are also available on the digital cable tiers of local cable provider Charter Spectrum. "CETWorld", affiliated with PBS World (now branded simply as World), was carried on channel 48.2 from 2003 to January 5, 2009, and on 48.3 from September 24 of that year to February 1, 2010. During this time, it was also carried by Spectrum's predecessor, Time Warner Cable. World programming continues to be carried on Think<sup>TV</sup> World, a subchannel of sister station WPTO.

On February 1, 2010, CETWorld was replaced with CET Arts on digital subchannel 48.3. CET Arts showcases drama, visual arts, dance and music programming ranging from symphonic to bluegrass.

On March 4, 2012, at 6:49&nbsp;p.m., CET aired its first live high definition pledge break from its studio, around the concert program Under the Streetlamp.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WCET signed on its digital signal on UHF channel 34 on December 4, 2002; it began broadcasting in high definition 24 hours a day on October 1, 2005. The station ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 48, at 12:01&nbsp;a.m. after a brief playing of the original sign-off tape on May 1, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34, using virtual channel 48.

See also

  • Cincinnati Public Radio Inc.

References

Further reading

  • CETConnect – official website of WCET-TV