With a renewed commitment to providing locally-driven programming, Ball State University’s public television station WIPB-TV is now Ball State PBS.
The station will retain its call letters but will present a new look and feel to viewers. Ball State PBS will continue to offer viewers their favorite nationally-syndicated programs.
“First and foremost, we’re still your PBS station,” said Dan Lutz, associate vice president for Information Technology, who serves as the station’s general manager. “We will continue our mission to serve viewers in East Central Indiana with programming and services of the highest quality, using media to educate, inspire, entertain and express a diversity of perspectives.”
Access to the station’s streaming service, WIPB Passport, remains available as Ball State PBS Passport, and the station is continuing its WIPB Member Card program with many benefits to viewers and supporters.
Lutz said Ball State PBS serves as a powerful and vibrant connection to Ball State and to all of East Central Indiana with a renewed emphasis on local content.
The PBS affiliate has forged a meaningful, symbiotic relationship with Ball State University students and faculty with programs such as “Cardinal Cinema” and “Newslink Indiana.” Ball State students are also involved in locally-produced programs including “Now Entering,” “Wellness Matters,” “The Roundtable,” and “Cardinal Compass.”
“We are honored to serve our community and look forward to partnering with Ball State, for many more years of documentaries, dramas, children’s shows, culinary treats, concerts and local programs,” Lutz said.
Ball State PBS is part of the recently created Ball State Public Media—an “umbrella organization” for all news, media, and programming in East Central Indiana and beyond.
Ball State Public Media is part of the University’s strategic mission to provide a meaningful, educational experience and to give back to the community while offering unparalleled immersive learning opportunities to students who help with content and production.
The renaming of the local PBS operation comes as it celebrates its creation. In the early 1970s, a small group of Muncie mothers decided the city should have its own PBS station because they wanted their children to have access to a great new program—”Sesame Street.”
Through a grassroots effort, Eastern Indiana Community Television was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. Its mission: a public television station for Muncie and surrounding communities. With hard work and support from the community, area residents launched the station on the afternoon of October 31, 1971.
The station is known for producing, from 1983-94, the Emmy-award winning “The Joy of Painting,” a now-iconic half-hour art program hosted by the late Bob Ross, who taught techniques for landscape oil painting, completing a painting in each session.
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Source Contact
Dan Lutz
Associate Vice President, Information Technology
General Manager, Ball State PBS
Ball State University
dlutz@nullbsu.edu
765-285-9116
Media Contact
Kathy Wolf
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Ball State University
M-513-470-3420
O-765-285-1560
kmwolf@nullbsu.edu
