UNC-TV:  Learning for a Lifetime            
     -by Diane Jowers

 
(Posted September 1, 2002) A good idea, launched by televising a basketball game in the 1950s, has grown to become North Carolina’s only statewide broadcasting system, UNC-TV.  The “Learning for a Lifetime” network has approximately 200 employees, and Tom Howe (photo, top right) is the director and general manager. 
     
UNC-TV is headquartered in Research Triangle Park near Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh.  The network is operated by The University of North Carolina, reaches 99% of the state’s TV homes, and has 2,000,000 viewers weekly.  UNC-TV is clearly focused on its mission to educate, inform, and enrich, and much of its local programming does all three.

  
The Woodwright’s Shop, now in its 21^st season, is much more than a “how-to” carpentry program.  While sharing his skills, Roy Underhill also provides history lessons and homespun comedy.  North Carolina NOW, UNC-TV's newsmagazine, presents public affairs from an entertaining local perspective each weeknight.
     
Carolina Preserves features diverse North Carolinians, from boat builders to gospel singers, who are preserving their state’s culture.  The program, which was developed from a book of watercolors and personal reflections by William Mangum, won NETA’s 2001 Best of Show award.

     
Other shows that attract artistic/creative viewers include Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel, One Stroke Painting with Donna Dewberry, and Almanac Gardener. NETA distributes UNC-TV's Glass with Vicki Payne, PAINT! PAINT! PAINT!, hosted by Sloan Payne-Rutter (Vicki’s daughter), and For Your Home, a home improvement program that they co-host.  Some programs, such as “Focus On . . . Air Quality in North Carolina” and Legislative Week in Review, address environmental and governmental issues and reflect concerns in specific regions of the state.
      
An outstanding example of UNC-TV’s efforts to address social issues is “Something in Common.”  The documentary on diversity in North Carolina’s public schools is the winner of a regional Emmy Award for its music and a School Bell Award from the North Carolina Association of Educators and Public Schools of North Carolina.  UNC-TV, one of five national partners in the Television Race Initiative, is proud of this program and its potential as a catalyst for improving race relations and education.

The network’s educational programming and outreach projects are evidence of how seriously it takes its “Learning for a Lifetime” slogan.  The UNC-TV Kids Club offers family enrollment for a year’s worth of educational experiences, activities, celebrity events/trips, and website access.  The Ready To Learn project provides workshops and materials for integrating PBS children’s programs into a learning environment; the Ready to Earn project offers college credit and GED courses. 
      
While providing entertainment and educational opportunities throughout the year, UNC-TV is always working to retain and increase the support that makes its services possible.  FESTIVAL, the network’s on-air fundraising campaign, is held from late February through late March.   This year’s line-up of music legends, culinary marathons, informative specials, and "how-to" extravaganzas brought in $3.7 million.

      
Like all public television stations, UNC-TV is striving to fund improvements to existing services and meet technological goals.  Eight of the network’s 11 transmitters (WUNC-DT Chapel Hill, WUND-DT Columbia, WUNG-DT Concord/Charlotte, WUNK-DT Greenville, WUNE-DT Linville, WUNE-DT Lumberton, WUNP-DT Roanoke, and WUNL-DT Winston-Salem) have been converted and are broadcasting digital services; the other three (WUNJ-TV Wilmington, WUNM-TV Jacksonville, WUNF-TV Ashville) will be converted to digital format next year. 
      
“UNC-TV’s unique blend of public and private support has made it possible for us to meet the challenges, whether economic or technological, of providing television and Internet services that educate, inform, and enrich the people of North Carolina.  For that, we are grateful to our members, our underwriters, the North Carolina General Assembly, and the University of North Carolina president and board of governors,” said Howe. 

     
No one watching that basketball game a half century ago would have believed that the little station near Chapel Hill would become a statewide network using every technological advance available to fulfill its mission.  

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