Former Station Manager Bob Placie speaks before the crowd at the 40th anniversary event.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Keat-Beck | WTLW
LIMA — It was a celebration 40 years in the making.
The studio at WTLW had a different look Friday evening. Normally filled with cameras, videographers and on-air personalities, the studio was instead transformed into a dining hall, with all the video equipment removed to make way for tables furnished with blue and white tablecloths, bowls of popcorn and frosted cupcakes.
Friday’s event served not only to celebrate the Christian television station’s 40-year anniversary, but also to witness the station’s history encapsulated in a new, full-length documentary film created by Columbus-based filmmaker and WTLW alumnus John Ondo. “Station Identification,” set to air at 8 p.m. Monday on WTLW, chronicles the journey this station has taken from the initial vision of founders Ron and Becky Mighell to its first broadcast in 1982 through where it is today, with a broadcast area covering 16 counties reaching over 220,000 households, along with a dedicated local sports station, WOSN, covering more than 70 schools in the region, according to the WTLW website.
“I was with the station from just right at the sign on in 1982 through 2000,” Ondo said. “Over the years, especially more so since I left, that station is very unique. I don’t think most people realize, and I didn’t realize it so much until I left, what a special place that is.”
Ondo describes this documentary as “pulling back the curtain” and giving viewers an inside look at the hurdles the station had to overcome, from budgetary concerns to the transition from analog to digital broadcasting to even overcoming some initial resistance from some in the Christian community.
“What’s really significant is the reality of an independent Christian TV station existing for four decades,” WTLW Director of Marketing Jennifer Keat-Beck said. “When you look at what’s necessary to keep a television station going, it truly is a miracle that our non-profit Christian station has continued the way it has.”
While other stations have transitioned to satellite stations for national broadcasters or have shut down due to lack of funding, one key factor that is highlighted in the documentary has helped WTLW endure, according to Ondo.
“They have committed to local,” he said. “It’s always been a commitment to local because we’ve always known that would be the strong part. You could watch maybe five or six religious networks, and a lot of us run the same shows since there’s only so much out there. TV-44 has said, ‘Let’s do sports. Let’s do local programming that’s not necessarily religious but is just good, neighborly programming.’”
While local programming and sports coverage may not have been overtly religious, despite the inclusion of messages from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and other faith-based organizations, the vision that led to the station’s creation 40 years ago has remained clear, according to Keat-Beck.
“Our focus is to reach those who know Christ and encourage them and to reach those who don’t yet know Christ and encourage them to,” she said. “We are there for the shut-ins. We are there for the family member who needs faith programming for their kids. We are there for the person who doesn’t feel trustworthy yet to walk through a church door, and we can be that resource for them.”
WTLW is broadcast over the air digitally on channel 44 and is carried on channel 4 on Spectrum.
