WILL-TV (channel 12) is a PBS member television station licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region. Owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as part of Illinois Public Media, it is sister to NPR member stations WILL (580 AM) and WILL-FM (90.9). The three stations share studios at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university's campus on North Goodwin Avenue on the north side of Urbana; WILL-TV and WILL-FM share transmitter facilities on East 1700th Road North, 5 mi west of Monticello.
History
Commercial television operation in the United States was first authorized in 1941. However, by 1948, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined that insufficient channels had been created to provide for national interference-free coverage, and there was also a need to set aside allocations for use by non-commercial educational stations. In order to give itself time to review options, a "freeze" on new TV station construction was announced, which would last until 1952. Meanwhile, in May 1951, the Illinois General Assembly included funding for a University of Illinois TV program-production unit.[1]
In 1952, the FCC announced a new TV allocation plan, which included a reservation for an educational station in Urbana on VHF channel 12.