East Tennessee PBS
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WETP-TV: Sneedville-Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tennessee-Bristol, Virginia WKOP: Knoxville, Tennessee United States |
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| Branding | East Tennessee PBS |
| Channels |
Digital: WETP: 41 (UHF) WKOP: 17 (UHF) Virtual: WETP: 2 (PSIP) WKOP: 15 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | x.1 PBS x.2 PBS Kids x.3 Create |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | East Tennessee Public Communications Corporation |
| First air date |
WETP-TV: March 15, 1967 WKOP: August 15, 1990 |
| Call letters' meaning |
WETP: East Tennessee Public Television WKOP: Knoxville's Own Public Television |
| Former callsigns |
WETP: WSJK-TV (1967–2002) WKOP: none |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: WETP: 2 (VHF, 1967–2009) WKOP: 15 (UHF, 1990–2008) |
| Former affiliations | NET (1967–1970) |
| Transmitter power |
WETP: 445 kW WKOP: 100 kW |
| Height |
WETP: 566.6 m WKOP: 551.3 m |
| Facility ID |
WETP: 18252 WKOP: 18267 |
| Transmitter coordinates |
WETP: 36°22′51.5″N 83°10′49.8″W / 36.380972°N 83.180500°W WKOP: 35°59′44.4″N 83°57′23.1″W / 35.995667°N 83.956417°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
/ WKOP-TV Profile / WKOP-TV CDBS |
| Website | www.EastTennesseePBS.org |
East Tennessee PBS is a regional state network of the 2 PBS member stations are both serving the Knoxville and Tri-Cities regions of East Tennessee. Both channels share the same schedule:
The network consists of:
WETP-TV was founded on March 15, 1967 as WSJK-TV (Sneedville-Johnson City-Knoxville), the first in a series of four stations that the Tennessee Board of Education would establish over the next 12 years, the others being WLJT-TV in Martin, WTCI-TV in Chattanooga and WCTE-TV in Cookeville. The transmitter was built on Short Mountain near Sneedville not by choice, but by necessity (see below). Studios were located on rented space at the University of Tennessee's communications building in Knoxville with a satellite studio located at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. Reception was spotty at best even in the Tri-Cities area because of the distance the signal had to travel from Short Mountain, as well as the area's rugged terrain. The Tri-Cities wouldn't get a city-grade signal from PBS until WSBN-TV in Norton, Virginia, started in 1971 as a satellite of WBRA-TV in Roanoke.
However, WSJK was constrained by two issues. First, the 1955 legislation authorizing a public television system in the state mandated that these stations serve the school populations in their areas first, before all other considerations. Also, the channel 2 analog signal traveled a very long distance under most conditions, and WSJK was short-spaced to WDCN-TV in Nashville (now WNPT on channel 8; the channel 2 frequency was later occupied by WKRN-TV), WSB-TV in Atlanta and WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sneedville is located about halfway between the Tri-Cities and Knoxville (and just a few miles south of the Virginia state line) and was the only location that could best serve the school populations in the most efficient way, while at the same time protecting WDCN, WSB and WFMY from interference.
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