Public television in America has witnessed a fascinating national evolution from its inauspicious roots in the 1950s. Even before televisions were in the available in large quantities for public consumption across the country, William Friday worked diligently alongside Billy Carmichael and UNC President Gordon Gray to convince skeptical sponsors that North Carolina public television could be a success and a benefit to the entire state.

Friday says of this experience, "Billy [Carmichael] he devised this book showing towers and how we were going to transmit signals all over the state. We raised a million dollars. He did. I just drove the car and carried the book lots of times, you know, to get people like John Motley Morehead, William Rand Kenan to get interested in public television. They almost look at you and say, "What are you talking about?" But it was the faith they had in him, because here was a man whose life was just totally given to the University."

Just a few years after Iowa State College launches WOI, first TV station owned by educational institution, WUNC-TV began operations with the initial broadcast of a UNC and Wake Forest basketball game, kicking off what is now the University of North Carolina's statewide public television network, UNC-TV.

Alongside the debut of Masterpiece Theatre and the first broadcast of National Public Radio, William Friday's very own television interview show, NC People debuts on UNC-TV in 1971. In addition to his three decades as university president, William Friday has spent the last 30 years with NC People interviewing over 1500 North Carolinians.

Today, NC People still airs a new episode every week and UNC-TV has become an integral part of North Carolina in large part because of Friday's commitment to education and broadcasting in the Tar Heel State. UNC-TV's commitment to educate, enrich and inform all North Carolinians has never wavered since its transmitting facility south of Chapel Hill (WUNC-TV/Channel 4) signed on January 8, 1954 becoming the state's pioneering public television link.

"I'm so grateful for the way the public supports public television now. It was a mystery to begin with, it was something that nobody felt was worthy, and now it one of the big things in the state. That responsiveness is what makes it so vital to North Carolina."

-William Friday
Biographical Conversations with William Friday

The Racial Divide - War Time - The Fight for Free Speech
The Great Depression - The Dawn of Public Television
Education: The New Look of Education