The shutdown
appears to be
a casualty
of the FCC’s
“spectrum auction”
that began
in March 2016
In a matter of weeks, WYCC Ch. 20 will be no more.
Reel Chicago received reports that the station notified approximately a dozen employees this morning that their final day on the job will be Nov. 27. The remaining handful of employees will be moved to other departments within the city college system.
The WYCC facility, located at Kennedy King College, boasts two professionally equipped broadcast studios and an editing suite. Other than filming a pilot next week, its schedule is empty.
Widely recognized for educational content, WYCC also broadcast In the Loop, a “dynamic forum for discussion on current news issues” hosted by Chris Bury that debuted in 2013.
The shutdown appears to be a casualty of the Federal Communications Commission’s “spectrum auction” that began in March 2016.
Described by the FCC as “the first-ever ‘incentive auction’ designed to repurpose spectrum for new uses,” it aimed to reauthorize and relicense a number of networks. Although some were allowed to retain their existing channels and others were moved to new frequencies, a few were evidently lost in the shuffle.
WYCC appeared to confirm speculation by posting the following “FAQS for viewers after switchover to WorldView MHz” on its homepage.
The licensee of WYCC-TV is the Board of Trustees for City Colleges of Chicago. The station was entered into the FCC spectrum auction last spring and the bid was accepted.
As a result of this station’s participation in the FCC incentive auction for broadcast spectrum sale, pursuant to federal regulations, WYCC will cease all broadcast operations on channels 20.1, 20.2 and 20.3 on November 27, 2017.
WYCC is no longer affiliated with PBS or other content providers whose programs previously aired on WYCC. As a result, WYCC is only able to provide WorldView Megahertz programming for the time being on 20.1. The content on 20.2 and 20.3 will not change during this period.
We encourage you to tune to WTTW and visit wttw.com for more information on the programs you enjoy.
WTTW is honoring all active WYCC memberships so if you have any questions about this announcement, or your membership, please contact our member services department at 888 993-9922 or WTTW at 773 509-1111 ext 6.
All monthly and yearly sustaining member contributions by credit card will be automatically cancelled at the end of October 2017. Tax letters for 2017 will be mailed to members who gave a donation of $250 or more.
Finally, we would like to thank our viewers and members for their kind and generous support over the years.
