Historic Charlotte

WTVI’s mission is to provide quality, educational,
informative and entertaining programs
and communication services, reflecting
the values and cultures of its regional public
television audience. One of the best examples
of how WTVI fulfills this mission is the Ready
to Learn service.
The Ready to Learn service combines PBS’s
award-winning children’s television programming
with a variety of community outreach
efforts to help build children’s learning skills.
WTVI’s Ready to Learn service currently
serves 6,300 at-risk children in 175 sites
located throughout the station’s 13-county
viewing area.
Ready to Learn provides free community
workshops, books, curriculum materials and
resources for area parents, teachers and daycare
providers. The workshops are designed
to train adults to teach children the basic
skills that will help them enter school ready to
learn and succeed throughout life.
Other landmark local programs originated
by WTVI include Carolina Business Review, a
weekly report of local and regional business
news; Spotlight, a local performing arts series
featuring well-known Charlotte pianist and
composer Loonis McGlohon; and Southern
Piedmont Report, a review of state legislative
activity affecting the area.
Other notable locally-produced programs
include Healthwise, a call-in show featuring
doctors who discuss the latest in health trends;
Final Edition, a weekly summary of local news;
For Pet’s Sake, where local veterinarians answer
questions from viewers regarding pet care; and
Charlotte Tonight, a new weekly public affairs
show with a focus on current news makers.
WTVI operates with an annual budget of
more than $4 million and nearly 57% of this
amount comes from the private sector, including
memberships and program underwriting.
Mecklenburg County provides 29% of the budget
and the remainder comes from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a
Ready to Learn grant.
As it moves into its fourth decade of distinguished
service to the region, WTVI is gearing
up for the next big revolution in broadcast
technology—digital and high definition transmission.
WTVI is out front locally as commercial
and public television stations begin to
comply with a federal mandate that all stations
must convert to digital technology by 2003.
Mecklenburg County commissioners have
approved a $10 million investment for the digital
makeover, which will provide a vastly
improved image on the screen as well as much
greater production capability. Ultimately, the
new technology will increase WTVI’s capacity
to four channels. With this in mind, plans are
underway for a 24-hour children’s service, PBS
University, as well as collaborations with major
area non-profit organizations.
As this vision becomes a reality, WTVI will
continue to adhere to its guiding principle:
that the station’s work inspire, inform, educate,
entertain, or help unify the community.
✧
Above: As part of its comunity outreach,
WTVI has strongly supported programs to
improve Charlotte neighborhoods. Hal
Bouton, left, president and CEO of WTVI,
presents a check from WTVI to leaders of
one local community program.
Below: WTVI’s renovated and expanded
studios on Commonwealth Avenue were
dedicated in 1990.
THE MARKETPLACE
139