Indiana pubcaster's new home more than triples its space

WNIT staffers are no doubt pretty thrilled about their new digs in South Bend, Ind.,considering their old offices were in "a cluster of manufactured homes," points out local CBS affiliate WSBT. The Michiana (that's Michigan/Indiana, to you non-Midwesterners) pubcaster is moving into WSBT's former studios, complete with two massive screens broadcasting to the street from a glass corner of the building. WNIT President Mary Pruess said, "It’s the kind of public television station this region deserves, a true community resource.” The station is going from 8,500 square feet to 30,000. Schurz Communications, which owns WSBT and the South Bend Tribune, donated the property and some equipment.

Catholic multichannel programming plan falls through in Texas

KMBH, owned by the Catholic archdiocese in Harlingen, Texas, won't get permanent all-Catholic programming on one of its digital channels after all -- a deal it had been planning for years (Current, April 21, 2008). The Brownsville Herald reports that the agreement between the station and GospaTV, which began broadcasting on a KMBH multichannel in June 2009, has fallen apart and its broadcasts probably will end July 24. The paper said that GospaTV missed two $60,000 payments to the station, most recently on June 1. GospaTV's owner Fiat Communications counters that KMBH didn't provide certain benefits and services as stated in the contract. Fiat and RGV Educational Services, parent of KMBH, came to a mutual agreement to terminate GospaTV. It's the latest in a long list of problems (Current, March 16, 2009) at the station, including the unexplained ouster of several board members, a CPB audit and the removal of the station's controversial general manager in April.