Maryland Public Television

Maryland Public Television
statewide Maryland
Branding MPT
Channels Digital: see table below
Affiliations PBS
Owner Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission
First air date October 5, 1969
Call letters' meaning see table below
Former affiliations NET (1969–1970)
Transmitter power see table below
Height see table below
Facility ID see table below
Transmitter coordinates see table below
Website www.mpt.org

Maryland Public Television (MPT) (formerly the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting) is a non-profit, state-licensed Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) non-commercial educational public television state network which serves U.S. state of Maryland. Its six transmitters cover nearly all of the state, plus Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

MPT's local and regional television credits include several state-focused programs on civic and public affairs, as well as a variety of original performance, documentary, and entertainment offerings for the citizens of Maryland. Beyond broadcasting, MPT creates instructional videos, develops training, and builds Internet sites that serve tens of thousands of students, teachers, and child-care providers annually. The centerpiece of MPT's service to Maryland educators, students, and families is Thinkport, a Web site that offers online teaching resources, professional development opportunities and digital technology tools to assist educators.

Maryland Public Television has earned awards ranging from television Emmys for its quality productions to government citations for its volunteerism and educational accomplishments. Since 1969, MPT has broadcast an analog signal from transmission towers throughout Maryland, and now provides digital transmission as well. In February 2000, the stations's first digital signal began from MPT's transmitter in the Annapolis/Crownsville area. MPT has been led by Robert J. Shuman, president and chief executive officer, since 1996. It operates under the auspices of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and benefits from the support of an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization, the MPT Foundation, Inc. (formerly known as the Maryland Public Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.)

Contents

Productions

Current Regional Productions

Nationally Distributed Productions

Past productions

Stations

As of 2009, the MPT television stations are:

Station City of license Channels
TV / RF
First air date Call letters'
meaning
ERP HAAT Facility ID Former call letters Transmitter Coordinates
WMPB Baltimore 67 (PSIP)
29 (UHF)
October 5, 1969 Maryland
Public
Broadcasting
14 kW 309 m 65944 none
WMPT1 Annapolis 22 (PSIP)
42 (UHF)
September 22, 1975 Maryland
Public
Television
150 kW 289 m 65942 WAPB; see note
WCPB Salisbury 28 (PSIP)
28 (UHF)
March 19712 Coastal
Public
Broadcasting
132 kW 155 m 40618 none
WWPB Hagerstown 31 (PSIP)
44 (UHF)
October 5, 1974 Western Maryland
Public
Broadcasting
209 kW 359 m 65943 none
WGPT Oakland 36 (PSIP)
36 (UHF)
July 4, 1987 Garrett County
Public
Television
45 kW 291 m 40619 none
WFPT Frederick 62 (PSIP)
28 (UHF)
July 4, 1987 Frederick
Public
Television
30 kW 159 m 40626 none

Notes:

Cable and satellite coverage

MPT is available on all Maryland cable systems. Additionally, WMPB is available on the Baltimore DirecTV and Dish Network feeds. WMPT is available on many cable systems in the Washington area, as well as the Washington DirecTV and Dish Network feeds.

Digital television

The station's digital signals are multiplexed:

Sub-channel Programming
xx.1
Main MPT programming / PBS
xx.2
MPT 2, tailored to lifestyle, cultural and informational programming for older audiences
xx.3
V-me

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown on June 12, 2009:[10]

Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display virtual channels for each MPT station corresponding to their previous analog channel numbers.

Awards

For 2008, MPT received 14 Emmy Award nominations from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). MPT received Emmys for Eatin’ Crabs Chesapeake Style, two awards for Bob the Vid Tech: The Mystery of the Missing Pizza and one for ArtWorks: Manuel Barrueco Special.

MPT received two 2008 CINE Golden Eagle Awards for The Transformation Age: Surviving a Technology Revolution with Robert X. Cringely, a coproduction of MPT/University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, and Lethal Landscapes: Canvases of the Combat Artist.

For 2007, the station received 11 nominations and won 1 National Capitol Emmy including 3 nominations for their regional "The War" series and 5 nominations for Outdoors Maryland. Motorweek also received the Board of Governors Award.[17]

References

  1. ^ http://www.mpt.org/artworks/thisweek/
  2. ^ http://www.mpt.org/bayweek/
  3. ^ http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/dc/about.cfm
  4. ^ http://www.mpt.org/programsinterests/mpt/outdoors/
  5. ^ http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/statecircle/about.cfm
  6. ^ http://www.mpt.org/ycac
  7. ^ http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/ymb/about.cfm
  8. ^ lynnfischer.com
  9. ^ transformationage.org
  10. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  11. ^ CDBS Print
  12. ^ CDBS Print
  13. ^ CDBS Print
  14. ^ CDBS Print
  15. ^ CDBS Print
  16. ^ CDBS Print
  17. ^ "2007 Emmy Award Recipients". The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. http://www.dcrtv.org/emmyf07.html. 

External links