Detroit Public TV in Wixom today announced it is rebranding to Detroit PBS and moving back to the city of Detroit.
The new site, located at 234 Piquette Ave., between John R and Brush and one block west of the Ford Avenue Piquette Plant, is an existing building that will be renovated and expanded. The goal is to have a building that can serve as more than a traditional television station.
The decision to rebrand WTVS-TV, known as “Channel 56” for generations, and other operations was informed by two years of audience research, underscoring the station’s dedication to community engagement and building viewer trust, according to Rich Homberg, president and CEO of Detroit PBS.
The campus will serve as home for Detroit PBS’ organizational headquarters, video production and broadcasts, 90.9 WRCJ radio production and broadcasts, arts performances, journalism hub, and community events space.
The new building will combine features from leading public media facilities in Boston, Denver, and Austin, Texas, integrating them all under one roof, says Homberg.
“We have been a leader in community engagement in the PBS system, and that is one of the reasons we have the most diverse viewership in the PBS system,” he says. “The focus of our content and engagement starts in the city and then extends outward to the far reaches of southeast Michigan, becoming a unifying force in the region.”
Construction will begin later this year, with an opening scheduled for the fall of 2026. This announcement comes nearly 20 years after the station announced a headquarters move to Wixom, driven by a federal mandate at the time to cost-efficiently convert to digital television broadcasting.
“However, our broadcasts and other activities did not stop originating in the city,” says Homberg. “Over the past two decades, 90.9 WRCJ has continuously broadcast from Detroit, and significant television production has taken place in the city via studio partnerships and field production. The expanding journalism bureau has been stationed in Detroit, first at the Detroit Historical Museum and now at Marygrove, and the education team’s various family workshops have been a welcome and regular fixture in neighborhoods throughout Detroit.”
Once the campus is completed, there will be a greater emphasis on serving the media needs of the region by providing a space for ongoing engagement with the community, including the type of feedback sessions that members of the One Detroit team have conducted for years in Detroit neighborhoods to learn what matters most to their residents.
“We plan to expand community programs like media mentorship and training to community partners to help them hone their messaging and distribute it effectively,” says Homberg. “With dramatic shifts in the media industry, it has become more important than ever for community organizations to find ways to make their voices heard.”
In addition to the rebranding to Detroit PBS, The Detroit Education Television Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity that governs its operations, which include WTVS-TV, 90.9 WRCJ, multiple digital television channels, including the Michigan Learning Channel, and all of its online properties, along with national initiatives such as PBS Books, will now be known as Detroit Public Media, to reflect the nature, beyond television, of its mission.
Detroit Public Media is governed by a board of trustees comprised entirely of southeast Michigan residents. Approximately 70 percent of its funding comes directly from community members who live in the region.
“Members of the public continue to say consistently that despite all that is new with their media habits, their respect and appreciation for PBS remains as strong as ever,” says Homberg. “In the most recent national research, mirrored by local viewer surveys, Americans say that PBS is the ‘most trusted’ source of information for the 21st consecutive year. Viewers of all political stripes share trust in PBS and its member stations, especially those in the Detroit market.”
