WYCC Quick Facts

• WYCC's mission is to enrich, enlighten, entertain and engage the diverse and multicultural Chicago area communities with wise television production and programming
  • To produce and broadcast programs that combine a global vision with a local focus while bridging racial, ethnic, class and gender divisions.
  • To honorably serve our varied constituencies of viewers, educators, adult learners, and those who choose to invest in our mission: our members, underwriters, grantors and our licensee The City Colleges of Chicago.
  • To value human dignity, lifelong learning, the power of ideas, the importance of service to our broadcast community and empowered participation in a democratic society.
• Broadcasts on channel 20 and Channel 21 Digital, serving the Chicago Designated Market Area (DMA) encompassing 26 counties in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, with a potential audience reach of 3,497,500 (November 2006 Nielsen Station Index). WYCC is carried on 244 cable headends in the DMA, and is also featured on both Dish Networks (now a part of AT&T) and DirecTV satellite delivery services.
• Signed on February 17, 1983. Celebrated 20 years of service in 2003.
• WYCC broadcasts 24 hours a day featuring a mix of instructional, informational and educational programs, not to mention highly regarded primetime comedy and drama programming. 72 hours of its broadcast schedule are dedicated every week to college level instructional telecourses, many of which may be taken for college credit through the Center for Distance Learning of the City Colleges of Chicago.
• Licensed to the City Colleges of Chicago as an educational license, affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
• WYCC is the largest minority controlled PBS station in the country, out of a network of 349 stations.
• In the Chicago DMA, WYCC ranks 9th in total households out of 18 broadcast television stations with reportable audience, beating Telemundo, Telefutura, Univision, WCPX, WXFT, WWME, WYIN, WJYS and WFBT (Nov. 2006 Nielsen Station Index).
• Signed-on a digital signal, broadcasting on digital channel 21, May 1 2003, transmitting from the 97th floor of the John Hancock Center. The station has just moved into a brand new HD facility at 6258 S Union Avenue, Chicago, IL 60621.
• Primary funding for broadcast activities is provided by the licensee — City Colleges of Chicago, grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the State of Illinois. WYCC also receives viewer, foundation and corporate support through donations, matching gifts and underwriting.
• WYCC employs an ethnically and culturally diverse staff of 40 professionals, speaking over 12 different languages, with extensive backgrounds in broadcast management, production and engineering. Many are recipients of top industry honors and awards.
• WYCC is proud to offer limited internships to qualified students.