| statewide Vermont | |
|---|---|
| Channels | Digital: see table below |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | Vermont ETV, Inc. |
| First air date | October 16, 1967 |
| Call letters' meaning | see table below |
| Former affiliations | NET (1967-1970) |
| Transmitter power | see table below |
| Height | see table below |
| Facility ID | see table below |
| Transmitter coordinates | see table below |
| Website | www.vpt.org |
Vermont Public Television (VPT) is a state network of Non-commercial educational Public television stations throughout the state of Vermont, affiliated with Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). It has been operational since October 16, 1967. Until 1997, it was known as Vermont Educational Television, or Vermont ETV (which is still the station's corporate name).
VPT's studios and offices are in Colchester, near Burlington.
Contents |
| Station | City of license | Channels TV / RF |
First air date | Call letters’ meaning |
ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter Coordinates |
| WETK | Burlington | 33 (PSIP) 32 (UHF) |
October 16, 1967 | Educational Television |
90 kW | 830 m | 69944 | |
| WVER | Rutland | 28 (PSIP) 9 (VHF) |
March 18, 1968 | VERmont | 15 kW | 385 m | 69946 | |
| WVTB | St. Johnsbury | 20 (PSIP) 18 (UHF) |
February 26, 1968 | VT = postal abbreviation of Vermont B for Burke Mtn. Transmitter Site |
75 kW | 590 m | 69940 | |
| WVTA | Windsor | 41 (PSIP) 24 (UHF) |
March 18, 1968 | VT = postal abbreviation of Vermont A for Ascutney Mtn. Transmitter Site |
55.7 kW | 692 m | 69943 |
VPT is also relayed on analog translators W36AX in Manchester and W53AS in Bennington.
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| xx.1 | Main VPT programming / PBS |
| xx.2 | SD Simulcast of VPT |
| xx.3 | Create |
| xx.4 | PBS World |
"xx" = virtual channel number
Vermont Public Television's broadcast signal reaches throughout Vermont and into bordering regions of New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and southern Quebec, including Montreal.
On cable, VPT can be seen on Comcast, Burlington channel 6 and Bennington channel 7, and Charter Plattsburgh channel 3. On Vidéotron, it can be seen on channel 59 in west Montreal, channel 6 in central and east Montreal, and channel 55 on Illico digital cable.
Some VPT-produced programs can also be seen on WGBY-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts.
VPT is the smallest PBS member in New England, and one of the smallest in the entire PBS system. Most of its viewership lives in Canada, principally in Montreal, a city which is ten times larger than the entire population of VPT's American viewing area. It relies heavily on its Canadian viewership for its survival; most of the major stations in Vermont have lessened their reliance on Canadian revenue in recent years. VPT not only takes its large Canadian audience into account in its programming, but it accepts Canadian dollars for its fundraising efforts even though most of them are targeted toward Vermont viewers.
VPT's viewership lives primarily in rural areas or in towns and small cities. The only major urban area that its signal reaches is Montreal.
VPT shares much of its most valuable market (the Champlain Valley in Vermont and New York as well as the southern Quebec and Montreal area) with Plattsburgh, New York-based WCFE-TV.
The major stations in the Burlington/Plattsburgh market (including VPT, WCFE, WCAX-TV, WVNY, WPTZ and WFFF-TV) turned off their analog signals on February 17, 2009 and are now broadcasting solely in digital.[1] For stations such as VPT, the cost of simulcasting during digital transition has been cited as an undue economic burden.[2]
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