WLAE-TV (channel 32) is an educational independent television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by the Educational Broadcasting Foundation, a partnership between the Willwoods Community (a Catholic organization) and the Louisiana Educational Television Authority (operator of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the public broadcaster for Louisiana outside of New Orleans). WLAE's studios are located on 6th Street in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, and its transmitter is located northeast of Chalmette. Channel 32 was built by the Archdiocese of New Orleans and began broadcasting on July 8, 1984. It offered educational programming for schools, in line with the vision held by then-archbishop Philip Hannan, and served as a secondary PBS station for New Orleans, producing a range of local-interest programs. In the early 1990s, the archdiocese opted to reinvest in its schools and sought a buyer for WLAE. After discussions with other local and regional public broadcasters failed to materialize, the Willwoods Community—whose owner was one of channel 32's trustees at the time—acquired the station in 1992. In turn, it sold a half-interest to the Louisiana Educational Television Authority in 1995. After Hurricane Katrina, WLAE was not able to broadcast on its own for more than a year, but it offered programming via cable. In the wake of state budget cuts, WLAE disaffiliated from PBS in 2013 to refocus itself on local programming. The station broadcasts weekly and monthly programming on local issues, as well as documentaries and state programs from Louisiana Public Broadcasting and a daily Catholic Mass.
History
Construction and archdiocesan ownership In 1981, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, led by archbishop Philip Hannan, began planning an expansion into television. An archdiocesan subsidiary, Educational Broadcasting Foundation, Inc., applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for authority to build a station on New Orleans's previously unused channel 32. The FCC granted the construction permit on October 15, 1981, but the construction of WLAE was slowed by the need for environmental permits at the selected transmitter site location. One of the primary uses of the new station would be to provide educational programming into its school system—which, in 1981, enrolled 62,000 students at 120 schools—as well as public and other private schools. WLAE entered a market already served in some form by two public television stations. New Orleans already had a local public TV station, WYES-TV (channel 12), and cable systems in New Orleans offered Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), the public TV broadcaster serving the remainder of the state. LPB contracted with WYES-TV to broadcast its educational programming into New Orleans–area schools, but the relationship between the two entities grew strained when WYES tried to have LPB removed from the New Orleans cable systems. This contract served as the primary source of state funding for WYES, so when WLAE became an option for LPB to consider, it put channel 12 at financial risk. WLAE began broadcasting on July 8, 1984, from studios and offices at the Notre Dame Seminary. When it started, it was the only PBS station in the country built and operated by a church. Its programming consisted of re-airs of PBS programs, though the network's primary outlet in New Orleans remained WYES; independently purchased public TV programming; and local programming covering public affairs, the arts, and Catholicism, though it also aired programming from other religious denominations. Its first live outside broadcast was the closing of the 1984 World's Fair, which took place in November. For the 1986–1987 school year, WLAE-TV took over the contract to carry LPB educational programming, serving more than 348,000 students; it lost the contract after one school year because its signal was not on cable in Assumption Parish, nor did its signal reach all parts of the parish. To replace the lost state-provided programs, the station produced its own educational lineup instead of airing PBS shows during the day. Instructional programming moved back to WLAE after one school year, when the archdiocese offered to pay the state to air it instead of the state paying WYES. Under founding director Jerry Romig, WLAE sought to fill what he perceived as a void in New Orleans programming. While WYES-TV produced its own programs, these often were designed for national distribution, whereas WLAE programming was intended for a more local audience. In 1987, a WLAE documentary, The St. Charles Streetcar: Our Oldest Line, received an Iris Award from the National Association of Television Program Executives. When Pope John Paul II visited New Orleans in 1987, WLAE coordinated WYES and the three local commercial stations—WWL-TV, WDSU, and WVUE—in the television press pool. After the pope's visit, the station initiated a round of cutbacks spurred by weaker than expected public support. As a result, one of its most visible program producers, Peggy Laborde, departed WLAE; she moved to WYES, bringing the arts magazine Steppin' Out with her to channel 12. Laborde, who had served as general manager, was replaced by John Curren, who had little background in public television but had run a New Orleans TV station: WNOL-TV (channel 38). Mark Lorando of The Times-Picayune interpreted the Curren hiring as indicating a strong desire for fundraising and sales experience. Under Curren, the station initiated weekly coverage of the Sunday Mass from St. Louis Cathedral. In 1988, Hannan retired as archbishop of New Orleans but continued to be highly active in station affairs. His successor as archbishop, Francis B. Schulte, named him president of WLAE-TV, a role in which he raised funds and planned programming. He also hosted Focus, a newsmagazine, and traveled the world as a reporter for the program. Hannan's star power helped attract donations that reversed WLAE's previous financial deficits.
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