WPBS-TV

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WPBS-TV / WNPI-TV
WPBS: Watertown, New York WNPI: Norwood, New York
Branding	WPBS Television
Slogan	The two-nation station
Channels	Analog: WPBS: 16 (UHF) WNPI: 18 (UHF) Digital: WPBS: 41 (UHF) WNPI: 23 (UHF)
Subchannels	16/18.1: WPBS-TV/WNPI-TV 16/18.2: Create, ThinkBright 16/18.3: PBS-HD
Affiliations	PBS
Owner	St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council, Inc.
First air date	WPBS: August 1971[1] WNPI: 1971[2]
Call letters’ meaning	WPBS: Watertown Public Broadcasting Service WNPI: Watertown/ Norwood Public Instruction
Former callsigns	WPBS: WNPE-TV (1971-1998) WNPI: none
Transmitter Power	WPBS: 617 kW (analog) 40 kW (digital) WNPI: 661 kW (analog) 40 kW (digital)
Height	WPBS: 370 m (both) WNPI: 243 m (analog) 241.6 m (digital)
Facility ID	WPBS: 62136 WNPI: 62137
Transmitter Coordinates	WPBS: 43°51′45.6″N, 75°43′38.6″W WNPI: 44°29′29.1″N, 74°51′26.2″W
Website	www.wpbstv.org

This article is about the television station. For other uses see WPBS.

WPBS is a PBS member station in New York state, serving Watertown/Potsdam as well as south western Quebec and most of eastern/southeastern Ontario, including Kingston, Pembroke, and Ottawa, although only on cable in the northwestern part of that market.

[edit] WPBS programming

[edit] WPBS-produced TV series

• The Gardener, produced in conjunction with National Capital Commission experts.
• Bill Saiff's Rod & Reel
• Cabin Country
• From A Country Garden
• The Artists' World
• Streamside
• Classical Stretch
• Whiz Quiz USA
• Whiz Quiz Canada

[edit] WPBS videos

• "The Remington Legacy"
• "Lighthouses Of The Seaway Trail"
• "Lumberjack Sky Pilot"
• "Boldt Castle: A Tribute To Love"
• "The 1000 Islands"
• "Ottawa: Capital Insights"
• "Tour of Singer Castle"
• "Winterlude at 25"
• "WPBS-TV's 40th Anniversary Video"

[edit] WPBS-TV books

• "From a Country Garden Book"
• "Vegetables From A Country Garden"
• "Bill Saiff's Rod & Reel Cookbook"
• "No Price Too High"

[edit] Vital statistics

WPBS-TV's old logo as WNPE-TV/WNPI-TV, showing the American and Canadian Flags during both nations' anthems.

WPBS-TV
1056 Arsenal Street
Watertown, NY 13601-2210

• Phone: (315) 782-3142
• Fax: (315) 782-2491

Canadian offices:
9 Antares Drive
Capital Corporate Centre
Ottawa, ON K2E 7V5

• Phone: (613) 226-2660
• Fax: (613) 226-6225
• Canadian donation address: P.O. Box 45, Gananoque, ON K7G 2T6

Owner: St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council, Inc. (a not-for-profit community organization)

• Home DMA: Kingston–Watertown (177th US, 24th Canadian)
• Also serving Ottawa–Gatineau (4th largest, behind Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver)
• Slogan: "The two-nation station"

[edit] About WPBS

Despite its distinctive call letters, WPBS-TV is not considered as part of the famed "big three" group of New York network flagship stations (WCBS-TV, WNBC and WABC-TV).

WPBS-TV can be seen by a total of 2.2 million viewers, largely because the signal from its twin towers reaches far enough to serve Ottawa/Pembroke via cable. This market, with over 1.5 million people is the fourth-largest in the nation.

Due to its location far upstate, however, its New York audience is relatively small. New York is served by various other PBS stations, including New Jersey-licensed WNET 13 and New York-licensed WLIW-TV (Long Island). WCNY-TV (Syracuse), WXXI-TV (Rochester) or WCFE-TV (One Sesame Street, Plattsburgh) are available to small portions of WPBS-TV's New York viewing area.

WPBS's transmitter is located in Copenhagen, while WNPI's is located near Potsdam (in Colton off Route 56). Both the U.S. and Canadian national anthems are played on station sign-on and sign-off.

Call letters:

• WPBS-TV 16 - Watertown Public Broadcasting Service (full-power, serving Kingston/Watertown and the St. Lawrence Valley region - established as WNPE in 1971.)
• WNPI-TV 18 - Watertown / Norwood Public Instruction (full-power serving Potsdam, most of eastern Ontario (including Ottawa) and south western Quebec)

[edit] Digital subchannels

Both stations are available in 40 kW ATSC digital format, as WPBS-DT 41 and WNPI-DT 23.

The three digital subchannels are identical for both WPBS-DT and WNPI-DT:

1. Simulcast of existing analogue programming (480i)
2. Create/ThinkBright TV (480i)
3. HDTV (1080i)

[edit] History

The St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council, which was organized in 1958, originally produced educational programming to be carried by local commercial broadcaster WWNY. In 1971, it established an independent PBS station at Champion Hill, using its original studios, as WWNY had already relocated to a larger facility in Watertown. Outgrowing the Champion Hill location itself, WNPE moved to a new building in Watertown in 1978. Until the late 1990s, the station was known as WNPE-TV. Because of its large Canadian viewership, WNPE was considered one of the most successful PBS stations in America, with fundraising totals often exceeding those of stations in much larger markets. WNPI was a rebroadcaster, and programming was identical on both stations. The station identified as "WNPE Channel 16 in Watertown, and WNPI Channel 18 in Norwood".

For a minor sum, the rights to use the WPBS call letters were purchased from a small radio station in Conyers, Georgia in the late 1990s, and the callsign change took effect on September 1, 1998.

[edit] External links

• WPBS-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPBS
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WNPI
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WPBS-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WNPI-TV
• New York launch of educational Video On-Demand service.
• PBS educational video-on-demand
• CNY-media

[edit] References