 | |
| Type |
|
|---|---|
| Country |  Union of West American States |
| Founded | November 11, 1992 |
| Headquarters | Eureka, Humbolt County, California, U.W.A.S |
| Broadcast area |
|
| Launch date | May 7, 1993 |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Official website | www.wabs.org |
The West American Broadcasting System (WABS) is a publicly-funded, non-profit organization and the non-commercial, public broadcaster for both radio and television in the Union of West American States based in Eureka, California. It is the successor to both the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, the public broadcasters in the former United States for television and radio, respectively.
The organization and network, therefore, operate in a similar manner to its precursors. Its member stations are primarily owned by educational institutions, other non-profit organizations or state government entities.
As of 2021, WABS has 29 member stations across the Union of West American States.
History[]
WABS was established on November 11, 1992 by former staff members of PBS and NPR. However, as the West American Revolution was ongoing at the time, the launch of the WABS network was delayed several times; initially set for a launch in December, the launch date was pushed to January 8, 1993, then further to March 5, and finally to May 7, which ended up becoming the network's official launch date.
WRWE-TV 3 in Eureka, formerly the PBS affiliate KEET-TV 13, WVIE-TV 6 in Sacramento, formerly KVIE-TV, and WNXT-TV 2 in Los Angeles, formerly the CBS affiliate KCBS-TV, were re-launched alongside the launch of the WABS network itself, therefore making them the first three member stations of the WABS television network.
Member Stations[]
| Market | Callsign | Former Callsign | Channel#'s | Year | Owner | Former Affiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eureka | WRWE-TV | KEET-TV | 3 (13) | 1993 | Redwood Empire Public Television | PBS | |
| Sacramento | WVIE | KVIE | 6 (9) | 1993 | WVIE, Inc. | PBS | |
| Los Angeles | WNXT-TV | KCBS | 2 (2) | 1993 | Los Angeles Public Media | CBS | |
| San Jose | WTEH-TV | KTEH-TV | 10 (54) | 1993 | WTEH Foundation | PBS | Notable for airing Japanese anime series on Sunday nights |
| San Francisco | WQED-TV | KQED-TV | 4 (9) | 1993 | WQED Inc. | PBS | Not to be confused with WQED-TV 13 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; now CQED |
| Portland | WOPB-TV | KOPB-TV | 2 (10) | 1993 | Oregon Public Broadcasting | PBS | |
| Klamath Falls | WOTI-TV | KOTI-TV | 2 (2) | 1993 | Oregon Public Broadcasting | NBC | |
| Las Vegas | WLVX | KLVX | 10 (10) | 1993 | WLVX Communications Group | PBS |
Visual identity[]
The WABS logo was introduced in 1992 shortly after the organization was founded. It is based on a rejected redesign for its television predecessor, PBS, designed in 1971 by Ernie Smith and Herb Lubalin of the Lubalin Smith Carnase design firm.
According to a documentary of the final 1971 PBS logo's design history, this specific early design was rejected because "there is more to the United States than Texas." The rejected design, modified to include the mountain of the UWAS flag, color scheme and reflect the WABS name, did not appear on-air until the launch of WABS.
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