The Vision - Continued

William C. 'Billy Carmichael, Jr.(L) and William Friday(R)

campuses to examine the potential educational uses of television. In May 1953, the University trustees approved the idea. Carmichael, Kyser and Friday toured the state and raised $1.8 million in cash and donated services from more than 20 companies, foundations and individuals. It was enough to build the station and provide some operating funds. The North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $217,000 for the new venture, beginning its long-term support of public television in North Carolina.

Initially, the station operated in three different locations, one on each campus. The Greensboro studio was a converted laundry facility. The studio at Chapel Hill was once a dining hall. Only the Raleigh studios were built to be a TV studio. All three locations fed programs to the station’s single transmitter and tower, which were located atop Terrell’s Mountain in Chatham Count. A donated Carolina Trailways bus was converted to serve as a remote unit, making it possible to cover events outside of the studios.

It is important to note here that the establishment of WUNC-TV would have been impossible without the generosity of Joseph Bryan, then President of Jefferson Standard Broadcasting. He planned to apply for the license for Channel 4 to extend Jefferson Standard’s presence into the Triangle. But when he learned the University was interested in acquiring Channel 4, he not only withdrew his request but turned all the paperwork connected with the application over to the University, saving thousands of dollars in research, engineering and legal fees.
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