The Lima News from Lima, Ohio • 12

ww ywy i wpm nnwr ri 1 1 a 1 V- Tk 1 v- j' I i -i'-v TYtr nrT -Ynrr I 4. mu T- v. PAGE LIMA NEWS 1 w. Hsbnary 2Sri97l 5... New WBGU duced shows the station will give special interest to regional and state news, she said.

The Regional Community Review, a half-hour live program to debut on March 30, is one such activity. Using a magazine and newspaper format the show will begin with the Front Page, a brief news report of news of interest to minority audiences. Other portions of the show will include the Want Ads, a listing of available jobs in Northwest Ohio; Around Town, a community bulletin board announcing special events and club meetings; Sports Page, coverage of significant high school events and sports figures, and the Consumer Page, a segment in which information concerning all phases of consumer problems will bie presented. The program also will include entertainment, culture and features, as well as a citizens opinion forum, Mrs. Gordon said.

Update, another daily news show, also will be presented, but tiie show will be centered on discussion of issues of interest to Ohioans and especially Northwestern Ofneani. Mrs. Gordon said. We wont carry accident reports or things like that. We feel people get enough local spot news on the radio and in newspapers so what we want to do is provide them with more in-depth informa By DANEE FRY News Staff Writer 1 Regional news a fleeting Northwestern Ohio and in-depth analyses 0) statewide Issues will be the primary night broadcasting concern when WBGU-TV in Bowling Green expands its coverage in mid-March, according to Dr.

Duane Tucker, station general manager. One of Ohio's, nine public television stations, WBGU will serve 19 counties including Allen Counjy from 8:40 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and frpm 5 to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

It i hopes to increase its broadcasting schedule to include 5 td 11 p.m. programming on Saturday, Tucker said. The station, which has functioned as Channel 70 with on-campus broadcasts to Bowling Green State University and night broadcasts in a 1S-mile radius since 1964, is a non-commercial or educational facility affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service and the Ohio ETV Network. As soon as testing and licensing procedures are completed, the station will hook up with a new color capable transmitter located in Putnam County between Deshler and Leipsic and begin its increased coverage. Total cost for construction of the tower plus transmitter building, purchase of the land and installation of a micro-wave cable link between the station and Leipsic was $585,000.

With the additional power, WBGU will change from Channel 70 to Channel 57 on the UHF dial and will cover a 55-mile radius of the transmitter site to serve a population of approximately 1.5 million persons. Counties receiving coverage include Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Lucas, Marim, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandbt. Programming available to Limalanders at first will be primarily PBS or network broadcasts, according to Tucker. The current schedule calls for in-school educational television broadcasting by the Northwest Ohio Education Television Foundation between the hours of 8:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

These programs are aimed at youths in grades kindergarten through 12 and are designed to be adaptable to the classroom situation. Currently there are 30 school districts participating as members of the in-school service broadcast through WBGU, but officials say there are a number interested districts who are' awaiting the power boost before committing themselves to the program. From 3:30 to 11 p.m. weekdays WBGU will broadcast evening or public programs, but approximately three and a half hours of programming in the early evening still will be devoted to childrens broadcasts. Sesame Street, Misterogers Neighborhood and the Electric Company are broadcast daily in the after-school hours to catch interested youngsters unable to view the programs during the day, Mrs.

Joan Gordon, WBGU public relations director, explained. "We also broadcast them at those times so the parents cari get an idea of what types of programs their children are viewing so that they can see what were doing, she said. A number of cultural shows such as "Masterpiece Theater, Bode Beat, Evening At Pops, Soul and Western Gvilization also will be broadcast each week with many of the programs rerun at other times to permit those who missed the first broadcast an opportunity to still enjoy the program, Mrs. Gordon said. But through locally-pro budget which provides the majority of funds for salaries and operating expenses.

Although WBGU functions as an independent group the staffs managers officially are responsible to the BGSU provosts office. Another $129,000 from the State Department of Education is used for the in-school educational programming operation which includes 30 hours a week of broadcasting. The PBC also, provides a community service grant in varying amounts to all member stations and WBGUs share is $33,000, Tucker said. Production contracts' with such governmental agencies as the State Department of Education and the Bureau 'of Vocational Rehabilitation also provide some $80,000 a year, he said. In addition, underwriting by commercial institutions for specific program productions is sought.

Dr. Tucker said. Well be increasing our solicitation of additional funds from the private sector when our power boost goes into effect so that we can provide additional locally produced regional programming, Tucker said. We eventually want ta reach a $900,000 yearly budget and convert entirely to color but that goal is still a few years off, he said. All PBS shows broadcast on WBGU are free to the station.

Both Lima Cablevision and Cypress Cablevision companies will carry WBGU in their systems and both indicated that WGTE, Channel 30 in Toledo, will be dropped because of difficulties with signal pickup and programming duplication. In an attempt to gain information on the type of programming desired in the Northwest region, an organization known as the Public Advisory Council on Television has been formed to assist WBGU staff members in planning. PACT membership includes representatives from all counties to be served by the station. We hope to have some suggestions in hand by June so that we can plan for the next fiscal year, Dr. Tucker said.

But the earliest we could get the new programs on the air would be late sum- news staff run through rehearsal for the live broadcast of Ohio This Week, a staff issue discussion show. ON THE AIR Regional news and in-depth analyses will be the prime focus when the WBGU television station goes to its higher power in mid-March. Here members of the the WBGU-FM radio station daily broadcasts. The group presents an hour of news at 9 a.m., 30 minutes at noon, 10 minutes at 2 p.m., 30 minutes of local and an hour and a half of network news beginning at 4 p.m. WBGUs expansion is a part of a state plan of the Ohio Educational Television Network to provide coverage for the entire state, Mrs.

Gordon said. When we applied for our new tower, two sites were available Bryan and Leipsic but we were assigned the Leipsic site by the FCC because of its central, location. It was felt the station could serve a greater area and a large amount not covered by other PBS systems with a Leipsic tower, she said. Currently there are eight other PBS stations located in Cincinnati, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio State University in Columbus, Newark, Ohio University in Athens, Geveland, Toledo, and Day-ton, and plans are being drawn for construction of stations in Alliance, Portsmouth, Cambridge and Akron. mer or early fall so for a while at least well be going pretty much with what weve had.

He said the station did hope to expand Saturday and Sunday programming next fall but the amount would depend upon the new budget. Undoubtedly wed like to do more sports programming and more cultural affairs programming, he said. And wed like to do some panel discussions such as a mayors forum. Well use both our mobile unit, which is still black and white and in-studio productions in color, but we dont anticipate any problem getting people to the studio for taping. So far everyone has been more than cooperative, he said.

In addition to the television newscasts, the WBGU news department also now handles Dale Neitzel, technical several directors whose main responsibility is to monitor live broadcasts and make sure the proper camera angles are achieved, (News Photos by Danee Fry) tion on important issuer, she said. Ohio This Week, another locally produced show, will follow a similar format but issues of interest to the state in general will be discussed, she said. Current financing for WBGU which is operated by a staff of 24 professionals supplemented by 50 university students who work on a part-time basis, comes primarily from five sources, Dr. Tucker said. The university contributes $344,000 of the current $586,000 broadcasts, teachers manuals for all series shown, services of a coordinator to work with the teachers in planning lessons, a consulting engineer to keep equipment functioning properly and a monthly newsletter detailing upcoming events as well as other announcements to subscribers.

Some of the programs such as Images and Things and Inside Out are state-owned, while others such as Getting It Together are locally produced and still others are secured from various videotape lending libraries, according to Miss Wisner. One service available, which is unique in Ohio, is our News 6 program, a weekly newscast written and produced by sixth graders, Miss Wisner said. Under current format, the school districts subscribing to in-school broadcasts select a sixth grade class. Tom Domer, a production director for WBGU, spends a day in the classroom instructing the students on how to write and produce a newscast. Two weeks later the entire class visits the studio for actual taping by selected members of the class and the following Monday, Wednesday and Thursday the program Is aired.

Each week a different member school district is selected for the project, according to Miss Wisner. Telecast Available REACHING SKYWARD This color transmitter will enable WBGU to broadcast to 19 counties in Northwestern Ohio. The tower, located in Putnam County, cost $585,000 for construction. CONCENTRATION NEEDED director at WBGU-TV, is one of School By DANEE FRY News Staff Writer One advantage of WBGU-TVs expanded coverage to include Limalanders is the possibility of local schools being able to subscribe to the in-school educational television format offered by the Bowling Green station. DONNA WISNER Coordinator TOP MAN Dr.

Duane tucker, general manager of WBGU, said weekend program expansion is a prime goal of the station. RECORDING Bob Nowak, telecine director, is responsible for taping shows broadcast on WBGU for replay at other times in the program schedule. The Northwest 'Ohio Educational Television Foundation, through WBGU-TV, currently broadcasts instructional programs in art, language arts, math, music, science and health, and social studies to more than 30,000 students. With the new power boast, it could serve as many as 139,000 students, according to Donna Wisner, field service coordinator for the NOETF. Some 30 school districts currently subscribe to the in-school service.

Of those, Kenton public schools, Dcl-phos, Leipsic, Pandora-Gil-boa and Sts. Peter and Paul in Ottawa are members of the service. A total of 48 programs, 19 of which are geared for junior and senior high school students with the remainder for the elementary leVcl, currently are aired weekly between the hours of 8:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Although most of our subscribers are located in the northern part of our coverage area, we have a lot of school systems south of Findlay waiting for our power' boost to see what programs are available and what type of signal they'll be able to pick up, Miss Wisner explained.

Among those systems in the southern portion of the broadcast area are the Lima schools. All of the six local school systems indicate interest in the in-school service but said they were waiting to see the program schedule and signal strength before acting on the possibility. Robert Thompson, superintendent at Bath Local School, summed up most local administrators opinions on the subject. We have thought about using the in-school services because we think educational television is an excellent idea. However, we want to wait and see the program schedule and signal before committing ourselves, he said.

Local superintendents said it would be a major cost item to join the system because receivers, antennas and recording equipment would be needed for max imum use. Recording equipment is a necessity to fit programming into the classroom schedule, William Bassitt, executive coordinator at Lima Central Catholic, explained. With it, we could tape any program we wanted and play it back at a convenient class time. None of the local schools are planning to join the system this year but they did say the possibility of future membership will remain a consideration. Cost for the service is 2S cents per pupil to the station plus the cost of receivers, antennas and recording equipment.

Services 'covered by the, station's fees include the Broadcasting Service programming originates from this facility, MAIN BUILDING Housing for the offices and equipment for WBGU-TV is located in Bowling Green near Bowling Green State University. AH local shows as well as the Public 'rt. ll 9 1 4.