WYBE

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WYBE is also the callsign of low-power station WYBE-CA of Pinehurst, North Carolina.

WYBE
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Branding	WYBE
Slogan	Real diversity, real public television.
Channels	35 (UHF) analog, 34 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	Ind/Public
Owner	Independence Public Media of Philadelphia, Inc.
Founded	June 10, 1990
Call letters meaning	World You Believe and Embrace
Website	www.wybe.org

WYBE is a public television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that signed on June 10, 1990. One of a group of independent public television stations in the United States not affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service, like most of the other independent public stations, it serves an area with more than one PBS member already in place, and features an array of syndicated programming produced for public television, including foreign-language programming from Deutsche Welle and other sources, and an array of community-based talk shows.

It has never meant to duplicate PBS: WYBE's mission is to represent the underserved with programs cultivated to as many nationalities as possible.

Evidence of this mission includes five different local talk shows that air weekly, each on a different weeknight. Among these programs are Gente (for the Hispanic community), Shades of Opinion (African-American), Asian Outlook, and Global Lens. The station also runs brokered ethnic programs.

WYBE's transmitter and offices are located in the Andorra section of Philadelphia, in the Schuylkill River valley. The channel was previously occupied by WHYY-TV starting in 1957. Their analog Channel 35 had been dormant nearly full-time since WHYY-TV moved its city of license and frequency to Channel 12 in nearby Wilmington, Delaware in 1963.

For seven years (1998-2004), WYBE was led by general manager Sherri Hope Culver, a former employee at NJN. Her tenure was noted for some controversy regarding her management.[1] Frequent turnover of staff has been a problem throughout the station's history, especially surrounding the firing or hiring of a new general manager, which happened quite frequently during the station's early years.

American Public Television and NETA are among the prime sources for shows. Sometimes WYBE made its mark with minor milestones; it was the last station ever to air Wish*a*roo Park on June 5, 2001. On the flip side, WYBE was the first American station to air the Australian series The Shapies, with the initial airing on March 3, 2004. In the moments leading up to The Shapies' U.S. debut, WYBE ran a clip of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

[edit] Address

8200 Ridge Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19128

[edit] Logo Gallery

Current WYBE ID, taken June 26, 2006.

WYBE logo used in April 2006. Being short-lived, WYBE soon switched back to its previous logo (that is used today).

[edit] External links

• WYBE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WYBE