WGVU-TV

WGVU-TV and WGVK
Channels for WGVU-TV
Channels for WGVK
BrandingPBS WGVU Public Media
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerGrand Valley State University
WGVU-FM, WGVS-FM
History
First air date
  • WGVU-TV: December 17, 1972 (1972-12-17)
  • WGVK: October 1, 1984 (1984-10-01)
Former call signs
  • WGVU-TV: WGVC (1972–1987)
Former channel numbers
  • WGVU-TV: Analog: 35 (UHF, 1972–2009)
  • WGVK: Analog: 52 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Call sign meaning
  • WGVU-TV: Grand Valley State University
  • WGVK: "WGVU Kalamazoo"
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID
  • WGVU-TV: 24784
  • WGVK: 24783
ERP
  • WGVU-TV: 41.5 kW
  • WGVK: 10 kW
HAAT
  • WGVU-TV: 259.9 m (853 ft)
  • WGVK: 169 m (554 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wgvu.org/television/

WGVU-TV (channel 35) and WGVK (channel 52) are PBS member television stations licensed respectively to Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan. The stations are owned by Grand Valley State University and maintain studios in the Meijer Public Broadcast Center, located in the Eberhard Center on the GVSU Robert C. Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids. WGVU's transmitter is located near the GVSU main campus in Allendale, while WGVK's transmitter is in Kalamazoo's Westwood neighborhood.

Channel 35 was the first to begin broadcasting as WGVC-TV on December 17, 1972. Owned by what was then Grand Valley State College, it represented a partnership between the educational institution and a community group that had been seeking to establish a public TV station for the area for five years. Kalamazoo was on the periphery of the WGVC-TV service area, and WGVK was established in 1984 to provide a higher-quality signal to southern portions of the region. The Grand Rapids station changed call signs in 1987 when Grand Valley State attained university status, and the studios moved from studios on the GVSU campus in Allendale to downtown Grand Rapids in 1988. In the 1990s, WGVU–WGVK navigated cuts in state and federal support for public broadcasting but increased its profile in program distribution. In the 2000s and 2010s, it produced several award-winning documentaries and converted to digital broadcasting.

WGVU-TV and WGVK are funded by local viewers as well as by appropriations from Grand Valley State University and grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The station produces a range of arts and cultural programming focusing on West Michigan.