station pledge drives; by the time WLIW and WNET merged in 2003, channel 21 was the leading distributor of such programs, including versions complete with pledge breaks seen nationally, and WLIW manager Terrel Cass attributed the station's continued survival to its foray into national program production. Merger with WNET Stimulated by the impending conversion to digital television and necessary equipment expenditures, as well as a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to explore shared master control functions, WLIW and WNET began engaging in discussions on how to pool primarily technical resources in 2000. At the initial suggestion of WNET, these conversations soon blossomed into outright merger talks, which lasted months as board members expressed reservations over potential changes and the loss of WLIW's Long Island identity. A merger agreement was approved by the WLIW board on July 31, 2001, under which WNET would assume WLIW's operations and eight members of the WLIW board would join WNET's. The move would save WLIW $5 million in digital conversion costs and reduce duplication of shows between the stations, which would "retain their distinct public identities"; it also was met with some opposition on Long Island, including from one WLIW board member who resigned over what she felt was a reduction of local programming and from longtime Newsday television columnist Marvin Kitman, who decried an "assault on the public interest" which he compared to appeasement toward Nazi Germany. While the merger awaited federal approval, channel 21 stepped up during the September 11 attacks by rebroadcasting WNBC and WABC-TV, which lost their World Trade Center transmitter site; WNBC had previously broadcast over channel 21 during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The WNET–WLIW merger took 18 months to complete, as the FCC objected to a part of the merger agreement that required WNET to air specific amounts of local programming on WLIW. FCC approval was eventually obtained, and the deal was consummated on January 31, 2003. The deal created operational efficiencies—WLIW eliminated 20 positions in anticipation of the merger. While the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (the present-day WNET Group) became the licensee, the Long Island Educational Television Council was retained as an advisory board and fundraising arm. WLIW's programming, aside from featuring a block of British programs known as High Tea, also contains secondary PBS output. In 2015, WNET announced plans to move POV and Independent Lens to WLIW because they failed to hold the