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Convocom
The West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation was incorporated on February 9, 1976. Its membership was a consortium of Educational Institutions in West-Central Illinois. Bradley University in Peoria, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Blackhawk Community College in Moline, and Sangamon State University in Springfield. Its mission was "to establish an educational television network, provide educational content, create local and public affairs programming to serve the residents and businesses of west-central Illinois". Bylaws for the corporation were approved on January 13, 1984.
The brand name Convocom was adopted in 1978 for the corporation and its offices were established on West Bradley Avenue in Peoria.
After World War II, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted the National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB). NAEB was created to establish broadcast allocations of AM and FM radio and TV channels for non-commercial educational programming. The Rockefeller Foundation funded two-week seminars in 1949 (Allerton I) and 1950 (Allerton II); these seminars consisted of 22 educational broadcasters from across the United States. The meetings established the foundation for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The NAEB was based in Urbana, Illinois, from 1951 until 1961, when it moved to Washington, D.C.
The University of Illinois applied for a television license soon after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its freeze on new licenses (July 1, 1952). Educational television was a new concept at the time, and most of Illinois' commercial broadcasters opposed the prospect of the University of Illinois owning a television station. A bill that would have forced the University to withdraw its application for the television license was narrowly defeated in the Illinois legislature. Afterward, the Illinois Broadcasters Association (ILBA) funded a taxpayer's lawsuit filed by Evanston restaurant owner Stephen Turkovich, that claimed financial support for the station violated provisions of the state's 1955 Finance Act and the Illinois Constitution did not allow the University of Illinois to operate a television station. The case went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the University of Illinois' application for the television license. Because of this, educational broadcasting in downstate Illinois was delayed for fifteen years, while other states proceeded with development.
In 1970, the west-central region of Illinois was one of the few areas in the United States without a PBS station. Commercial broadcast television networks and their local affiliates in the west-central Illinois region provided some educational programming for children in the 1950s and 1960s, but this content disappeared by 1970. Parts of the region were served from WILL-TV in Urbana, WTVP in Peoria, and Iowa Public Television outlet KIIN-TV in Iowa City. Cable television systems in north-central Illinois and Macomb carried Iowa Public Television or Peoria's WTVP, while WILL-TV was piped in by cable systems in Springfield. When WTVP signed on from Peoria in 1971, Quincy, the second-largest city in west-central Illinois, was one of the few portions of the nation without access to public television.
A number of meetings were held with civic organizations, businesses, elected public representatives, and private and public educational institutions from 1970 to 1976. The outcome of these discussions was the establishment of the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation, incorporated on February 9, 1976. It was a consortium of Bradley University in Peoria, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Blackhawk Community College in Moline, and Sangamon State University in Springfield. Its mission was "to establish an educational television network, provide educational content, create local and public affairs programming to serve the residents and businesses of west-central Illinois". Bylaws for the corporation were approved on January 13, 1984.
The brand name Convocom was adopted in 1978 for the corporation and its offices were established on West Bradley Avenue in Peoria. George Hall was appointed as the first president that same year. He had previously served as general manager for North Carolina State University's educational television station.
Initial engineering design and FCC application filings were performed in 1977 and 1978 by Gary Breed and Don Markley of D.L. Markley and Associates, in Peoria, a well-known broadcast engineering consulting firm. Breed was a faculty member of Bradley University's Engineering department and Markley, president and owner of the firm, grew up in Ipava, Illinois.
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Convocom
The West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation was incorporated on February 9, 1976. Its membership was a consortium of Educational Institutions in West-Central Illinois. Bradley University in Peoria, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Blackhawk Community College in Moline, and Sangamon State University in Springfield. Its mission was "to establish an educational television network, provide educational content, create local and public affairs programming to serve the residents and businesses of west-central Illinois". Bylaws for the corporation were approved on January 13, 1984.
The brand name Convocom was adopted in 1978 for the corporation and its offices were established on West Bradley Avenue in Peoria.
After World War II, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted the National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB). NAEB was created to establish broadcast allocations of AM and FM radio and TV channels for non-commercial educational programming. The Rockefeller Foundation funded two-week seminars in 1949 (Allerton I) and 1950 (Allerton II); these seminars consisted of 22 educational broadcasters from across the United States. The meetings established the foundation for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The NAEB was based in Urbana, Illinois, from 1951 until 1961, when it moved to Washington, D.C.
The University of Illinois applied for a television license soon after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its freeze on new licenses (July 1, 1952). Educational television was a new concept at the time, and most of Illinois' commercial broadcasters opposed the prospect of the University of Illinois owning a television station. A bill that would have forced the University to withdraw its application for the television license was narrowly defeated in the Illinois legislature. Afterward, the Illinois Broadcasters Association (ILBA) funded a taxpayer's lawsuit filed by Evanston restaurant owner Stephen Turkovich, that claimed financial support for the station violated provisions of the state's 1955 Finance Act and the Illinois Constitution did not allow the University of Illinois to operate a television station. The case went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the University of Illinois' application for the television license. Because of this, educational broadcasting in downstate Illinois was delayed for fifteen years, while other states proceeded with development.
In 1970, the west-central region of Illinois was one of the few areas in the United States without a PBS station. Commercial broadcast television networks and their local affiliates in the west-central Illinois region provided some educational programming for children in the 1950s and 1960s, but this content disappeared by 1970. Parts of the region were served from WILL-TV in Urbana, WTVP in Peoria, and Iowa Public Television outlet KIIN-TV in Iowa City. Cable television systems in north-central Illinois and Macomb carried Iowa Public Television or Peoria's WTVP, while WILL-TV was piped in by cable systems in Springfield. When WTVP signed on from Peoria in 1971, Quincy, the second-largest city in west-central Illinois, was one of the few portions of the nation without access to public television.
A number of meetings were held with civic organizations, businesses, elected public representatives, and private and public educational institutions from 1970 to 1976. The outcome of these discussions was the establishment of the West Central Illinois Educational Telecommunications Corporation, incorporated on February 9, 1976. It was a consortium of Bradley University in Peoria, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Blackhawk Community College in Moline, and Sangamon State University in Springfield. Its mission was "to establish an educational television network, provide educational content, create local and public affairs programming to serve the residents and businesses of west-central Illinois". Bylaws for the corporation were approved on January 13, 1984.
The brand name Convocom was adopted in 1978 for the corporation and its offices were established on West Bradley Avenue in Peoria. George Hall was appointed as the first president that same year. He had previously served as general manager for North Carolina State University's educational television station.
Initial engineering design and FCC application filings were performed in 1977 and 1978 by Gary Breed and Don Markley of D.L. Markley and Associates, in Peoria, a well-known broadcast engineering consulting firm. Breed was a faculty member of Bradley University's Engineering department and Markley, president and owner of the firm, grew up in Ipava, Illinois.