Jason Elliot Benda's Home Page Department of Frivolity and Diversions, Broadcasting Office

Jason Elliot Benda's Useless Files: Television

Here's a list of PBS stations that I know. Like the newspaper list, I compiled these from memory; all these PBS stations I had heard of before compiling the list.

WGBH 2, Boston. The mother of all PBS TV stations. I had to look up the channel number; I'm even more impresssed now that I know it: Two. The list of things they produce is huge. They even produce errors, or at least their web site does (particularly if I help it along a bit -- hee hee).

WNET 13, New York. There is a Billy Joel song, Pressure, where he sings, "All your life is Channel Thirteen/Sesame Street, what does it mean?" Here's the aforementioned Channel 13. They produce lots of stuff, too.

WTTW 11, Chicago. The big PBS outlet here in my home market. They produce some original stuff here in Chicago; the most famous is probably "The Frugal Gourmet". I'm not sure why the web domain is a .com rather than a .org.

KCET 28, Los Angeles. I don't know what they produce; it took me long enough to confirm on their web site that I had the channel number right (which I did: 28).

WHYY 12, Philadelphia. I believe they produce "Hometime".

KPBS 15, San Diego. I've been to San Diego, which is the only reason I know of this station.

KCTS 9, Seattle. Producers of "Bill Nye The Science Guy" and supplier of the Red Dwarf mouse pad I use on my computer. They aired part of a Red Dwarf marathon (Series VI, I think) the night I left Seattle in 1996.

KQED 9, San Francisco. I had to look up the channel number for this station. When I did, I learned that the station is not in Pittsburgh, as I had thought, but in San Francisco. Oops. I don't know what they produce. I guess I also don't know the Pittsburgh station.

WQED 13, Pittsburgh. I had to look up the channel number for this station, once it dawned on me that the Pittsburgh station was not KQED, as I had thought (which is in San Francisco), but WQED. Oops. I don't know what they produce, either, if anything.

WYCC 20, Chicago. A station I used to watch regularly (I also used to get their program guide, before they decided it would be a good idea to solicit money for it), WYCC is now the flagship station for the IHSA TV network as well as airing City Colleges of Chicago programming.

WILL 12, Urbana. The PBS outlet for Urbana (and most of the state of Illinois).

Yeah, so? You got a problem with PBS? Okay, fine; here are a few non-PBS stations I know of for one reason or another. Again, I compiled these from memory; all these stations I had heard of before compiling the list.

WICS 20, Springfield. In the tradition of liking things from far away, particularly in broadcast media, here is Springfield's chief TV station. It was always a highlight of my trips to the Illinois State Fair to visit the WICS booth over by the Farm Expo. I still have a (very worn) blue WICS TV 20 T-shirt from those old times. I managed to pick up WICS here in Naperville once, over the cable system when WYCC-20 Chicago's carrier dropped. An interesting side note: Jerome Ritchey, the Jerome half of WLRW radio's Jerome and Melissa morning show from the mid 90s, is now the meteorologist on the 5pm newscast on WICS. Click here for his bio from the WICS web site.

WWOR 9, Secaucus. WWOR (formerly WOR) used to be carried on cable systems all over the country. It was on WWOR that the nation could watch the Mets, but I used to enjoy watching the news. It was on the WWOR news that I first heard the Jane Dornacker story back in 1986. After WWOR was no longer carried on my cable system, but was at my grandparents' in Lemont, the station aired a show called "Nine Broadcast Plaza" (which is also the station's address in Secaucus). The slogan was, "Ten to One. You'll Love It." I was fascinated by the show, I suppose mostly because it was live daytime TV on a local level, but local for a place I was not and had never been (and still have never been).

Got a bone to pick? Click the bone to mail me directly, or "HIDE ME! HIDE ME!" to let me know incognito.
Lost? Click the magic 9 ball to go back to the front page of JEBHP 9.
This page last modified 21:05 04Mar01.

	WGBH 2, Boston. The mother of all PBS TV stations. I had to look up the channel number; I'm even more impresssed now that I know it: Two. The list of things they produce is huge. They even produce errors, or at least their web site does (particularly if I help it along a bit -- hee hee).
	WNET 13, New York. There is a Billy Joel song, Pressure, where he sings, "All your life is Channel Thirteen/Sesame Street, what does it mean?" Here's the aforementioned Channel 13. They produce lots of stuff, too.
	WTTW 11, Chicago. The big PBS outlet here in my home market. They produce some original stuff here in Chicago; the most famous is probably "The Frugal Gourmet". I'm not sure why the web domain is a `.com` rather than a `.org`.
	KCET 28, Los Angeles. I don't know what they produce; it took me long enough to confirm on their web site that I had the channel number right (which I did: 28).
	WHYY 12, Philadelphia. I believe they produce "Hometime".
	KPBS 15, San Diego. I've been to San Diego, which is the only reason I know of this station.
	KCTS 9, Seattle. Producers of "Bill Nye The Science Guy" and supplier of the Red Dwarf mouse pad I use on my computer. They aired part of a Red Dwarf marathon (Series VI, I think) the night I left Seattle in 1996.
	KQED 9, San Francisco. I had to look up the channel number for this station. When I did, I learned that the station is not in Pittsburgh, as I had thought, but in San Francisco. Oops. I don't know what they produce. I guess I also don't know the Pittsburgh station.
	WQED 13, Pittsburgh. I had to look up the channel number for this station, once it dawned on me that the Pittsburgh station was not KQED, as I had thought (which is in San Francisco), but WQED. Oops. I don't know what they produce, either, if anything.
	WYCC 20, Chicago. A station I used to watch regularly (I also used to get their program guide, before they decided it would be a good idea to solicit money for it), WYCC is now the flagship station for the IHSA TV network as well as airing City Colleges of Chicago programming.
	WILL 12, Urbana. The PBS outlet for Urbana (and most of the state of Illinois).

	WICS 20, Springfield. In the tradition of liking things from far away, particularly in broadcast media, here is Springfield's chief TV station. It was always a highlight of my trips to the Illinois State Fair to visit the WICS booth over by the Farm Expo. I still have a (very worn) blue WICS TV 20 T-shirt from those old times. I managed to pick up WICS here in Naperville once, over the cable system when WYCC-20 Chicago's carrier dropped. An interesting side note: Jerome Ritchey, the Jerome half of WLRW radio's Jerome and Melissa morning show from the mid 90s, is now the meteorologist on the 5pm newscast on WICS. Click here for his bio from the WICS web site.
	WWOR 9, Secaucus. WWOR (formerly WOR) used to be carried on cable systems all over the country. It was on WWOR that the nation could watch the Mets, but I used to enjoy watching the news. It was on the WWOR news that I first heard the Jane Dornacker story back in 1986. After WWOR was no longer carried on my cable system, but was at my grandparents' in Lemont, the station aired a show called "Nine Broadcast Plaza" (which is also the station's address in Secaucus). The slogan was, "Ten to One. You'll Love It." I was fascinated by the show, I suppose mostly because it was live daytime TV on a local level, but local for a place I was not and had never been (and still have never been).