With its groundbreaking initial broadcast in 1975, WGPR became a trailblazer for Black owned media.

The WGPR Story is a story of pride and achievement, a story that follows a group of black entrepreneurs that set out to change the face of television and the viewing habits of its audience. It is a story of breakthroughs and mistakes, triumphs and failures and the pride that comes from controlling one’s own destiny and charting one’s own course.

This hour-long program is based on the struggles and triumphs of African-Americans to form, own and operate the first Black television station in the continental United States, WGPR.

The story is told through the life of station founder Dr. William Venoid Banks as well as others who worked at WGPR. Dr. Banks was a pioneer who laid the foundation for the careers of many Black professionals in radio and television today.

In addition, the project will explore the theme of ownership by highlighting the entrepreneur spirit and featuring the pride of achievement that comes from controlling one’s own destiny and charting one’s own course.

The Project
The Our Story project consists of a television special and vignette series for February (Black History Month) 2021.

The television special component of the WGPR Story consists of an hour-long, primetime special on local television.

In addition to the special, a series of supporting vignettes will be produced. These vignettes will feature the tone and flavor of the television special.

The Audience
Our Story will have a large appeal, not only to the roughly one million plus African Americans in the metro Detroit area, but also to a large segment of the general television viewing market as well. The shows’ general audience demo is adults 25-54.