The Times from Munster, Indiana • 69

Ma Home Sewipeper oftht Calumet Region Sunday, February 24, 1980 gazine 5-1 i 'J 9 'I 'fvi4 5rlfe DeYeen I'erry raid the news uhilvjolm Koulml hum the 7p-h vnmrru. 1 .1 III 1 4 I 'I 1 1 ilA 1 till Wxtpr Y-'v Story Donald Potter Pictures bv James Bis 4 i V'i i "AV- WW 1 Jg" -f i '7f Ti il Hob Ah arc, check the hire tor national nr hs. TVjw satellite dish receiver towers high above Lake Central High School. i .1 I 1 1 o. wr i a fcifri'i nffat F- -sys iTTr- ll? Job" prepares for inteniew Hith Ina Filns.

fell -n-felH Ti A ill'' John Byers operate the master control panel. AA A' Vehlbcrg mid Robert Admit reiev promotions. Manning the control booth i a major endeaor. Northwest Indiana's Only TV Station Little Known and "Jack Parry Outdoors" were brought back and a new show, a news Interview program called "Fifty Forum," was Introduced. Backed by its new schedule of local shows, In mid-November the station staged a three-day "membership and awareness" drive.

With pleas by local celebrities on the air, the showing of special programs and the broadcast of the Downtown Hammond Christmas Parade, Channel 50 hoped to collect many thousands of dollars in donations and hundreds of members. About 250 viewers made the necessary pledges to become members March 15, Jage said. "Sound-off," in which people in our shopping malls will be filmed saying whatever is on their monds, is to premiere April 7, Tara Missal, program manager, said. "Community Focus," a bi-weekly show for nonprofit groups to explain themselves, is scheduled to begin that same week. Before April, Jage hopes to stretch the station's twice a day newscasts to 15 minutes each with weather and sports reports and hatch a weekly news interview program with a panel quizzing newsmakers.

Entitled "Reporters," it would he a local version of "Meet the Press." produced with Its own equipment for the first time In more than a year. Shortage of funds and equipment breakdowns had forced the station to stop local programming in March, 1978. Transmitter troubles knocked the station off the air for weeks at a time in 1978 and 1979. Things began looking up last spring. Winning a $260,000 federal the school board bought color cameras and other studio equipment so productions could be resumed.

After starting the newscast, two old shows "High School Scoreboard" during the three days. "Nov. 1 we had about 500 members. Now, we are over the 750 mark," he said. "I think it's encouraging that we picked up one-half as many members as we had originally.

But 500 is not a hell of a lot of members in the first place." The $7,000 in donations promised was enough to pay for the special network programming shown that weekend, which enabled Channel 50 to subscribe to an exclusive category of Public Broadcasting Service shows. Renting WGN's equipment, Channel 50 will broadcast the boys' basketball from Gary on Central School Corp. One million people in seven Indiana counties and northeastern Illinois are capable of receiving the station's broadcast signal. To dale, however, only a little more than 750 of them are donating members, Robert Adams, the station's development director, said. The station produced 18 hours of local programming in January, which is an increase from the eight hours a month Lou Iaconetli, general manager, estimated the station averaged.

When "Northwest Indiana Newsbrief" premiered last June 25, Channel 50 reintroduced a local show ST. JOHN "Channel 50. Where's that?" That's a question John Jage, station manager, sometimes hears when setting up interviews for his news crew. "Many people Just don't realize they have a television station in their own midst," Jage, who was appointed station manager at the beginning of the year, said. Alter 15 years in existence, lack of public awareness still plagues Channels.

Channel 50, WCAE-TV, is northwest Indiana's public and only television station. It's licensed to the Lake --f----A-'---.