Wisconsin Public Television

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Wisconsin Public Television
Image:WPT.jpg
Type Terrestrial state public broadcasting network
First air date May 3, 1954
Slogan A place to grow through learning
Broadcast area Wisconsin, Flag of the United States United States, small areas of Minnesota and Michigan
Owner Wisconsin Educational Communications Board,
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Past names Wisconsin Educational Television Network (1975-1986)
Digital channel 6 full-power television stations
Analog channel 6 full-power television stations,
6 translator stations
Affiliates Milwaukee Public Television
WDSE-TV (Duluth, MN)
Affiliation PBS
Website WPT.org

Wisconsin Public Television is a network of non-commercial and non-profit PBS stations that are mostly run by the Educational Communications Board and University of Wisconsin Extension.

The network is carried in most of the state via cable television and satellite, and Wisconsin Public Television's major six stations also carry separate digital television signals.

WPT had also aired same-day tape coverage (usually after 10:30pm) of some home games for Wisconsin Badgers football since 1960, along with men's/women's basketball and hockey, which was produced in association with UW's athletic department, with highlights usually distributed to local commercial stations for use in their sportscasts. However, due to exclusivity agreements with the new Big Ten Network launching in September 2007, WPT will no longer be able to air tape-delayed game broadcasts of football and men's basketball [1].

Contents

Graphic showing WPT's main signals' coverage areas, their call signs and channel numbers (excepting non-owned affiliates WDSE and WMVT)
Graphic showing WPT's main signals' coverage areas, their call signs and channel numbers (excepting non-owned affiliates WDSE and WMVT)

WPT's flagship station, WHA-TV, went on the air on May 3, 1954. It was named after WHA, the radio station owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was one of the stations considered to be the oldest radio station regularly broadcasting.

In 1971, the state legislature created the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, activating five stations during the 1970s--WPNE in Green Bay in 1972; WHWC in Menomonie and WHLA in La Crosse in 1973; WHRM in Wausau in 1975 and WLEF in Park Falls in 1977--as satellites of WHA-TV. The stations adopted the on-air name of Wisconsin Public Television in 1986.

There are six full-power stations in the network, spread throughout the major cities within the state, along with two affiliates who carry only the instructional programming from the network;

Call sign Analog Channel Digital Channel Location Founding date Ownership Call Letter meaning/add. notes
WHA-TV ¹ 21 20 Madison May 3, 1954 UW Board of Regents Randomly assigned by FCC; network flagship
WHLA-TV 31 30 La Crosse March 17, 1975 WECB WHA LA Crosse
WHRM 20 24 Wausau January 20, 1976 WECB WHA Rib Mountain
WHWC ² 28 27 Menomonie/Eau Claire June 10, 1975 WECB WHA West Central Wisconsin
WLEF 36 47 Park Falls December 15, 1976 WECB W Lee E. Franks, former WECB executive director
WPNE 38 42 Green Bay September 12, 1972 WECB W Public Broadcasting for NorthEastern Wisconsin
WMVT ³ 36 35 Milwaukee January 28, 1963 Milwaukee Area Technical College W Milwaukee Vocational and Technical Schools
WDSE-TV / WRPT-DT ³ 8 38 / 31 Duluth-Superior-Hibbing 1964 Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation W Duluth-Superior Educational Television
W Range Public Television

¹ - WHA's signal is imported into the Milwaukee area via basic and digital cable to provide a second PBS choice for viewers.
² - WHWC is within and also serves portions of the Minneapolis-St. Paul television market, and is carried by some cable systems in southeastern Minnesota, providing a second PBS choice to viewers besides TPT's stations.
³ - WMVT and WDSE are independent stations within the network that carry WPT's instructional programming, and also work with WPT and the WECB on joint statewide projects. WDSE also carries WPT's "Here and Now" and "In Wisconsin" most weeks, while WMVT's sister station WMVS simulcasts WPT's Teen Connection, a quarterly teen issues program which airs in primetime.

The network carries five digital subchannels on all six of their full-power stations, as follows;

Subchannel
(## = local channel)
Programming Service Programming Description Hours of Operation
##.1 WPT Standard definition simulcast of Wisconsin Public Television 24 hours, 7 days a week
##.2 WPT Cable or WPT2 Instructional and children's programming from WHA's Madison area cable channel Daily, 6am-7pm
##.3 WPT Create Airs public television digital network Create Daily, 6am-7pm
##.4 Wisconsin PBS Kids Children's programming Daily, 6am-7pm
##.5 WPT HDTV Carries a full HDTV signal, replacing digital subchannels .2-.4 Evenings only, 7pm-6am

- During the summer months and public school holidays and recesses, WPT's main analog signal is off the air from 1am-6am daily.

A translator network also serves portions of the state where over-the-air reception for a regular station is poor. Currently, all of the listed translators have applied for construction permits for digital channels with the FCC, and will flash-cut to their current analog channel positions after the February 2009 digital television transition.

Call sign Translator
channel

(NTSC-M)
Location Ownership
W18CU 18 Sister Bay WECB
W22CI 22 Bloomington WECB
W24CL 24 Grantsburg WECB
W45CD 45 Fence WECB
W47CO 47 River Falls WECB
W48DB 48 Coloma WECB

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