WIPR TV

History

WIPR-TV was created as a result of lobbying for public broadcasting in Puerto Rico, beginning in the 1950s. The station went on the air for the first time on Three Kings Day (January 6), 1958 becoming the first educational television station in Latin America, and the facilities (the building) was dedicated to Ramón Rivero (Diplo), the most important and influential actor/comedian in the history of Puerto Rico.

It was also unique among other government-controlled broadcasters in the Caribbean as it did not show commercials. All other government-controlled broadcasters (with the exception of Cuba and the US Virgin Islands) showed advertising.

The station was one of the few TV stations in Puerto Rico with English-language programming, via a membership with PBS that allowed them to carry PBS Kids in English. This ended on July 1, 2011 after WIPR and PBS failed to reach an agreement to renew the station's membership, with money previously allocated to PBS membership dues being invested in the station's local programming. PBS programming remains available on Puerto Rico via WMTJ.

In 1996, WIPR-TV was the first Puerto Rican television station that used streaming media to broadcast programming to the internet.

WIPR-TV Off the air

On December 3, 2015, WIPR-TV, along with WAPA-TV went off-air, due to the failure of its shared transmission line at Cerro La Santa in Cayey. This station is still watchable on Liberty Channel 6, Choice Channel 3, Dish Network Channel 6, DIRECTV Channel 166 & Claro TV Channel 6. Station was repaired and placed back on air on Tuesday December 8, 2015. Repairs were made by WAPA and WIPR Engineering Departments.

FCC spectrum auction & WIPR-TV sale

In 2012, the Federal Communications Commission announced they were going to hold a voluntary Incentive Auction for a portion of the radio frequency spectrum that is currently used by Digital Television broadcasters across the country. WIPR-TV & WIPM-TV announced they would participate in the auction, since it was estimated the stations would net somewhere in the range of between $274 & $204 Million USD, much more than it would be worth on the open market otherwise. Since that time the auction estimate has increased to somewhere between $203 & $153 Million USD, with the auction currently scheduled to take place in early 2016.

WIPR-TV 50th Anniversary

The channel celebrated their 50th anniversary by producing a documentary focusing on their history. On July 1, 2008, TuTv renewed 150 contracts.

In 2008, Puerto Rico's Public Broadcasting Station, WIPR-TV, celebrated its 50 years of broadcasting with a documentary that relived some of the best and worst moments in its history.

The documentary "50 Años WIPR-Televisión", (50 Years of WIPR Television) is about 70 minutes long and reviews some of the news, entertainment programming, music and sports events that the station has presented during half a century.

WIPR-TV, today better known as the Puerto Rico's Public Broadcasting Corporation (CPRDP), or its branding, TUTV or Tu Universo Televisión, was inaugurated on January 6, 1958 under the administration of the then-current governor, Luis Muñoz Marín.

The documentary was dedicated to the actor, director and filmmaker Ángel F. Rivera Vázquez, who had worked in WIPR since its beginning.

Spearheaded by Investigator Flavia García, who had been working for the previous 9 years on an investigation of the history of television, headed the production of this special along with Susanne Marte.

The Corporation's President, Víctor J. Montilla, received a congratulatory resolution on behalf of the Puerto Rican Senate for the "good music, art and television" that have distinguished the channel for the past five decades.

Some of the historical moments aired include:

Digital and high definition

WIPR-TV, the island's first public television station, also became the first in the evolution to digital and high definition. .On July 7, 2008, President Víctor J. Montilla (now, Executive VP & general manager Of New Channels at WORA-TV) held a press conference at the station, where he inaugurated WIPR-TV's high definition facilities. TUTV became the first station in Puerto Rico to produce and broadcast in high definition format. The station upgraded its lighting and built new sets as part of the transition. Some artists underwent lifestyle changes, including changes in their diet, to look better in high definition. The first program to be transmitted in this format was "Contigo".

Digital television

The digital signals of WIPR and WIPM are multiplexed:

Digital channels

Until 2011 when WIPR dropped its PBS membership, WIPR's Kids programming was English language PBS Kids programming, but their V-me channel carries some PBS and American Public Television programs, but in Spanish. WIPR Retro is a classics and historic Puerto Rico programmed subchannel, starting on April 1, 2017, replacing V-Me. On Until March 20, 2017, the WIPR 940 AM simulcast was removed from the subchannel.

Programming

WIPR-TV for years has shown local programming, educational, children and human interest shows.

Current weekday programs:

Weekend programs:

Upcoming programming:

Noticias 24/7

In the 1980s the station had a highly praised newscast called "Panorama Mundial" (World View), hosted by Doris Torres. In 1996, WIPR launched a newscast branded as Noti-Seis or "News Six". The newscast was first anchored by Pedro Luis García and Gloria Soltero and only had a 6:00 PM edition. Later that year, the station premiered a 9:00 PM edition anchored by the same 6:00 PM team.

In 2002, a new news format was created with a local newscast (TUTV Informa) and an international newscast (TUTV Internacional); the newscasts were anchored by Gloria Soltero and David Reyes. TUTV also produced a weekly in-depth newscast on Sundays, called TuTV Analiza.

This year, TUTV's programming received various awards. Locally, En Todas was awarded by the American Heart Association. Five productions received Emmy Award nominations and one of TUTV's producers received an Emmy in the Entertainment Program category.

In 2009, when TUTV was rebranded as "Puerto Rico TV", its news department was relaunched as Noticias 24/7; around this time, WIPR introduced a 24-hour news channel of the same name on channel 6.5 and 3.5.

List of original programs seen on WIPR-TV