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WKAR, the public TV station owned by Michigan State University, is not going to be apart of the FCC spectrum auction, and will remain on air. On Monday, Jan. 11, university officials announced a new partnership with Detroit Public Media to launch a 24/7 children's programming channel.

(MLive File Photos)

MSU President Lou Anna Simon said Monday, Jan. 11, that the university's public TV station, WKAR, is not going to be apart of the FCC spectrum auction and will remain on air.

LANSING, MI -- WKAR, the public television station owned and operated by Michigan State University, is not only staying on the air; it plans to launch a program that offers 24/7 programming for children and families across the state and on multiple platforms.

At a press event Monday, Jan. 11, MSU President Lou Anna Simon said WKAR won't be part of the Federal Communication Commission's spectrum auction that begins Tuesday, Jan. 12. The unprecedented auction looks to buy up as much television spectrum across the country and repackage it for wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T as the general public relies more on mobile devices as opposed to over-the-air TV waves.

In partnership with Detroit Public Television, MSU's first initiative is to launch a 24/7 children's broadcast and online channel that would serve the entire state. The initiative builds off DPTV's Ready to Learn program,which is funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. The channel is to focus on "engaging and strengthening early learning experiences" for children ages 2-8 at home and in schools.

MSU's Board of Trustees last month voted to give university leadership the final call on whether or not it would participate in the spectrum auction. Broadcasters -- public and private -- need to let the FCC know if the plan to initially participate in the auction by Jan. 12. At that point, broadcasters can't discuss the auction publicly, for competitive reasons.

Simon said the board needed to look at all opportunities with the station, including selling it off in the unprecedented auction. The FCC gave WKAR a starting value of $207 million in the auction, although industry experts have said the amount broadcasters would receive in the reverse-style auction would be significantly less. Detroit Public TV's WTVS has a starting value of nearly $481 million.

"We anticipated there would be interest for people who already watch public TV, particularly with the popularity of Downton Abbey," Simon said. "Prudence requires we look at all options closely. We need to do things transparently and look at every opportunity in a prudent manner.

"I'm enthusiastic about this opportunity with DPTV."

In addition to launching a 24/7 children's programming channel, the partnership between MSU and DPTV looks to expand community engagement and outreach opportunities, create experiential learning opportunities for students and increase fundraising to support public broadcasting initiatives.

It's also expected to provide more research opportunities with MSU's colleges of Communication Arts and Sciences, Education and Social Science.

With the announcement, MSU is likely the first college that runs a public TV station to announce it won't be participating in the spectrum auction, said Dru Sefton, a journalist for Current.org, which covers the public TV industry.

"Everyone is playing it very close to the vest right now," she said. "Especially before the quiet period begins."

Across Michigan, viewers are awaiting the fate of Central Michigan University's five public TV channels and Delta College's WDCQ. Both colleges have decided to initially participate in the auction, but could always pull out before it begins March 29. Those stations could also strike deals to share a channel or move to a VHF -- very high frequency -- channel, in order to free up space in the ultra high frequency band, which the FCC is interested in purchasing.

In an interview with Mlive.com following Monday's Press Conference, Detroit Public Television President and CEO Rich Homberg said his station, WTVS, will also be on the air and won't participate in the spectrum auction.

Homberg didn't give a timeline on when the 24/7 children's programming channel would launch or how it would be broadcast (WKAR or WTVS could broadcast the new channel on one of its subchannels). He said those discussions are to begin next week.

"We have now have this goal and are going to be working toward how we can do this in a sustainable way," Homberg said.

Homberg said the upcoming spectrum auction made public broadcasters start thinking more diligently about their future in the business.

"Everyone's asking, 'What's our today, what's our tomorrow -- what's our future?'" he said. "But our channels are very important."

While officials today touted the new 24/7 channel as being available statewide, it's still unclear if it would be available over the air in other markets, like Bay City-Saginaw-Flint, or if viewers could only stream it online.

Homberg said those details haven't been ironed out at this point.

"No doubt, this is going to be a collaborative effort with all kinds of organizations," Homberg said.