‘All of a sudden, it’s just gone’: WPSU-TV and radio closing; PCN ‘committed to airing Weather World’

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WHTM) — PCN TV — Pennsylvania’s private, nonprofit cable channel — plans to consider airing “Weather World” despite the decision by Penn State trustees to close WPSU-TV, which works closely with the show.

“PCN TV is committed to airing ‘Weather World,'” said Debra Kohr Sheppard, PCN TV’s president and CEO. “We plan to continue this longstanding partnership and share ‘Weather World’ weekdays at 6:45 p.m. on cable and PCNSelect.com.”

That news emerged as one brightspot in the context of news that left people with ties to WPSU “shocked” — a word three of them used Friday to describe their reaction — after a unanimous vote Thursday by Penn State trustees to close WPSU-TV (Channel 3) and WPSU-FM (on 91.5 FM and other frequencies).

The question about “Weather World” emerged because although it is not officially a WPSU production, the show — which helped launch the careers of meteorologists including Dan Tomaso, who appears regularly on abc27 News, and Christy Shields, who appears occasionally — not only appears on the station but also shares some station resources and is relayed from the station for statewide distribution.

“Weather World can continue on,” said Greg Petersen, the immediate past chair of WPSU’s board of representatives. “I hope they do [although] it’ll be more difficult for them.”

As for WPSU itself?

“The shocking thing was that — it’s gone,” Petersen said. “All of a sudden, it’s just gone.”

Petersen noted that the 1952 meeting that established public broadcast frequencies in all of America happened, in all places, at State College’s Nittany Lion Inn.

“So it’s kind of come full circle now that they want to shut [WPSU] down,” Petersen said. “We had known that the university had planned to ramp down how much money we get” but didn’t expect the station to vanish.

Trustees rejected a proposal that would have transferred WPSU’s licenses to WHYY TV and radio in Philadelphia but would have required a total of about $17 million in support by Penn State while WHYY worked to make the State College-based public broadcaster self-sustaining.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision for trustees, as WPSU has long provided quality public broadcasting programming for communities throughout Central Pennsylvania,” trustees board chair David Kleppinger said in a statement.

News about WPSU emerged one day before trustees voted Friday to give the university’s president Neeli Bendapudi a raise of about $450,000 in base pay and about $1 million in total compensation. Trustees cited success by Bendapudi in balancing the university’s budget, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in donations and improving the school’s culture.

Shields, who appears as a forecaster on abc27 and sister station WTAJ and worked during college on “Weather World,” said the WPSU closure news “shocked” her.

“I did not expect this to come down because of how much they do for the community,” Shields said. “I now work at Discovery Space, a science center [in State College], and we work alongside WPSU on many projects and see them at STEM nights with families.”

“They poured their livelihood into it,” Tomaso said of WPSU staffers. “It’s very disappointing.”

The trustees’ statement cited a lack of assurance that employees would remain employed as one reason for turning down the WHYY deal.

“While the proposal would have allowed WPSU to continue broadcasting, most WPSU staff would have likely been laid off from the university, with some being offered positions by WHYY,” the statement said.

Trustees said WPSU’s operations would “wind down” by June 30, 2026.

“For me, it’s a personal kick in the head,” Petersen said.