WNED-TV
In Buffalo, NBC left behind a substantial physical plant as well as channel 17 transmission equipment. The WBUF studio building was acquired by WBEN, which moved its radio and television stations there and from which WIVB-TV, the former WBEN-TV, still operates.[11]
In February 1959, a consortium of educational leaders organized as the Western New York Educational Television Association applied for a new construction permit for the station, having secured the temporary use of equipment of both stations at Elmwood and the long-term use of soon-to-be-vacated WGR facilities in the Hotel Lafayette, as well as a pledge for $115,000 (equivalent to $ in dollars) in equipment from NBC.[12] The FCC granted the group a construction permit on March 4,[13] and WNED-TV began broadcasting on March 30, making it the first educational TV station in the state of New York.[14] It broadcast from the former WBUF-TV antenna, which was moved to the Hotel Lafayette that summer,[15] in quarters previously used by WGR radio.[16] Its first general manager was Leslie C. Martin Jr., who held the position from 1959 to 1966.
In 1975, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association bought two commercial radio stations, WEBR (AM) and WREZ (FM). The AM station had been founded in 1924, while the FM station was founded as WEBR-FM in 1960, becoming WBCE in the early 1970s before becoming WREZ. The FM station was renamed WNED-FM in 1977, when it adopted a classical music format. In 1977, WEBR became the nation's first public all-news radio station and was the top-rated public radio station in the country by 1978. In 1993, it was renamed WNED (AM) after cutbacks in government funding forced it to dramatically cut its local programming in favor of network and syndicated content. The AM station was sold off to a religious broadcaster in 2012 (who renamed it WDCZ) when the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association bought Buffalo's other full NPR member, WBFO, and moved most of WNED radio's programming there.
On May 23, 1987, WNED-TV signed on a sister station, WNEQ-TV, on UHF channel 23. However, WNEQ failed to gain approval to from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to be carried on basic cable in southern Ontario, denying it access to potential viewers and donors, and both stations struggled financially. It soon became apparent that Buffalo was not big enough to support two public television stations. As a result, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association put WNEQ-TV up for sale; it then announced the sale of WNEQ-TV to LIN Broadcasting (owner of WIVB-TV) in late 1999.
Until this time, WNED-TV had maintained the old commercial license it had inherited from WBUF-TV, while WNEQ-TV had operated on a traditional non-commercial license. LIN needed WNED-TV's commercial license in order to make its acquisition viable. At one point, it seemed likely that LIN would actually purchase channel 17 from the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association. This would have resulted in the WNED-TV intellectual unit moving to channel 23 (which would have made WNEQ-TV the area's primary PBS station), while channel 17 would have become a commercial station. However, the long history of channel 17 as a PBS member station made this an undesirable option for the public broadcaster due to concerns that having WNEQ-TV become the market's sole PBS outlet would cause viewer confusion and potentially reduce the amount of donations that the station would receive. As well, WNED-TV was carried on the basic cable tier of cable systems in the Golden Horseshoe and particularly Toronto, a major source of donations during the channel's fundraising drives, while WNEQ-TV had been repeatedly denied permission by the CRTC to be carried on basic cable in Toronto, meaning the public broadcaster risked losing access to a major source of its revenue if it abandoned channel 17.
The FCC was persuaded to allow channel 17 and channel 23 to swap licenses, allowing WNEQ-TV to be sold to LIN. After 42 years of being a commercial licensee operating as a non-commercial broadcaster, WNED-TV received an educational license in 2000. WNEQ-TV was sold to LIN in early 2001; that station is now WNLO and operates as the market's CW affiliate.
Through the use of a digital subchannel, WNED-TV began providing ThinkBright as a second programming service in the late 2000s, covering most of New York State with 12 hours a day of regional, educational and cultural programming. It was available on all New York PBS member stations except Long Island/New York City. ThinkBright later became ThinkBright and Well, and was discontinued in 2011 to merge with World.
Over time, WNED-TV has become a leading PBS member station. It produced several original programs that have been carried throughout the PBS network and its member stations such as the Mark Russell comedy specials and Reading Rainbow, produced in association with Great Plains National until early 2006. Starting in May 2006, co-production of Reading Rainbow continued with Educate Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, after the University of Nebraska Regents (the owners of GPN) sold its long-time production interest to WNED-TV. This sale involved the station as petitioners in legal action against long-time Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.[17]
On February 4, 2020, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association adopted the trade name "Buffalo Toronto Public Media" (BTPM) to encompass WNED-TV and sister radio stations WBFO and WNED-FM; CEO Donald K. Boswell believed that many listeners were not aware that WBFO and WNED-FM were part of the same organization, while the new branding also reflects WNED-TV's significant Canadian viewership and financial support. As part of the changes, WNED-TV rebranded as "WNED PBS" to adopt the new PBS national brand identity.[18][19] In April 2025, WNED-TV rebranded as "BTPM PBS", as part of a move to adopt "BTPM" as an on-air branding.[20]
