Wyoming Public Television

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Wyoming Public Television
Wyoming Public Television logo
statewide Wyoming
Slogan Belongs to you and me
Channels Analog: see table below

Digital: see table below

Affiliations PBS
Owner Central Wyoming College
First air date May 10, 1983
Call letters’ meaning see table below
Transmitter Power see table below
Height see table below
Facility ID see table below
Transmitter Coordinates see table below
Website www.wyoptv.org

Wyoming Public Television is the PBS member station in the state of Wyoming. It currently consists of KCWC-TV, channel 4 in Riverton (but licensed to Lander), KWYP-TV, channel 8 in Laramie, KPTW, channel 6 in Casper, and an extensive network of low-power repeater stations across the state.

The network is owned by Central Wyoming College, a community college in Riverton, with studios located on the Central Wyoming College campus.

Contents

[edit] History

Wyoming had been among the first states to begin the groundwork for a noncommercial educational/public television station, doing so in 1951, three years before any television station was on the air in the state. However, due to numerous delays, it would be several years before the idea even got beyond the planning stages. In the meantime, KRMA-TV in Denver brought PBS programming to much of the state on cable. Other parts of Wyoming were served by KTNE-TV in Alliance, Nebraska, part of the Nebraska ETV Network; and KUED and KBYU-TV in Salt Lake City. KRMA (now known as Rocky Mountain PBS) and KUED still operate several translators in Wyoming, as much of the state is considered part of the Denver and Salt Lake City markets.

Central Wyoming College applied for the channel 4 license in Riverton in the late 1970s and had to fight a commercial station in nearby Casper to keep the channel designated as non-commercial. After securing the largest single federal grant for a public television station at the time, KCWC-TV finally went on the air on May 10, 1983. This made Wyoming the next-to-last state to get a public television station on the air within its borders; CWC filed just days before Montana State University filed for KUSM in Bozeman, Montana; which went on the air over a year after KCWC.

Initially, KCWC's coverage was limited to the area around Riverton. Over the years, however, it built a network of low-powered translators that brings its signal to 85% of the state. This wasn't as problematic as it may seem; this expansion effort was done largely in conjunction with the state's cable systems. Cable is all but essential for acceptable television in much of Wyoming.

KWYP-TV signed on in 2004 to replace two translators that had served Laramie and Cheyenne since the late 1980s.

KPTW signed on in March 2007 [1].

[edit] Stations

Station City of license
(other cities
served)
Channels
(Analog/
Digital)
First air date Call letters’
meaning
ERP
(Analog/
Digital)
HAAT
(Analog/
Digital)
Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
KCWC-TV Lander
(Riverton)
4 (VHF)
8 (VHF)
May 10, 1983 Central
Wyoming
College
100 kW
60 kW
463 m
432 m
10036 42°34′57.5″N, 108°42′35.7″W
KWYP-TV1 Laramie
(Cheyenne)
8 (VHF) November 2004 WYoming
Public
Television
37 kW 318 m 10032 41°17′16.7″N, 105°26′44.5″W
KPTW1 Casper 6 (VHF) March 2007 Public
Television
Wyoming
0.33 kW 536 m 82575 42°44′25.7″N, 106°21′36.7″W

Notes:

[edit] Repeaters

Wyoming Public Television operates a network of low-power translator stations across the state of Wyoming--one of the largest such systems in the country.

[edit] External links