Programs/Content

Chicago/Midwest Emmys find broadcast home on WYCC

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This year’s Chicago/Midwest Emmy awards will be televised for the first time in 25 years by WYCC PBS Chicago. WYCC plans to cover the November 1 award ceremony with a two-hour live special and additional content streaming online. “We’re looking for this to actually be a very large, beautiful production, rivaling that of a national production,” said Paul Buckner, general manager at WYCC. According to Buckner, the station is working with the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the group that presents the annual regional Emmys, to find a host, presenters and live performers. The station plans to announce the host and performers Sept.

System/Policy

NLRB to resolve contested union election at Baltimore’s WYPR-FM

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A dispute over unionization at Baltimore’s WYPR will be resolved by the National Labor Relations Board. WYPR staff voted July 30 on whether to seek representation from broadcast union SAG-AFTRA. Nine voted in favor and 11 against, with seven votes contested by one of the parties, according to an NLRB official who requested anonymity when commenting on an ongoing proceeding. The NLRB will review the contested votes to determine their eligibility, with the vote recounted only if at least three of the contested votes are determined eligible. SAG-AFTRA can only enter the workplace with a majority vote.

System/Policy

WFYI expands to Terre Haute with rebroadcast deal

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Indianapolis-based WFYI Public Media will expand to the Terre Haute, Ind., market next month through a rebroadcast deal with Indiana State University. Terre Haute–based Indiana State University owns a pair of signals in the city, WISU-FM 89.7 and WZIS-FM 90.7. Under the noncash deal announced Wednesday, the university will move the student station from WISU to WZIS, with the 13,500-watt WISU rebroadcasting WFYI’s news/talk programming starting in mid-September. WZIS, formerly WMHD-FM, was previously owned by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute and aired music programmed by students. Indiana State bought the 1,400-watt station in June for $16,465, according to FCC records.

Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network

Conn. network strikes deal with LocusPoint on proceeds from spectrum auction

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The Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network plans to relinquish the spectrum assigned to WEDW-TV in Bridgeport, one of four stations in its statewide network, in the FCC’s upcoming auction, according to documents filed with the FCC. Under its agreement with spectrum speculator LocusPoint Networks, the pubcaster received an undisclosed cash payout from LocusPoint and will share a portion of its future auction proceeds with the company. Financial details of the contract, approved by the network’s board of trustees in June 2013, have been redacted from FCC records due to a mutual confidentiality agreement. Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc. is among the sole-service public TV licensees identified in a July CPB white paper warning of the creation of a “white area” — the loss of PTV broadcast service — if pubcasters choose to auction off their spectrum. But that won’t happen in this case, according to officials from LocusPoint and CPBN.

Programs/Content

Final NPR newsmag clocks will take effect Nov. 17

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NPR has released the final versions of the new clocks for its newsmagazines and set a date of Nov. 17 for their implementation. The network unveiled proposed clocks in July after more than a year of work that involved staff and representatives from member stations. The clocks are the second-by-second scheduling of what happens when during the newsmagazines, including newscasts, music beds and funding credits. They also affect when stations can insert their own local content.