Wisconsin Public Television

Wisconsin Public Television is a state network of public television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Extension. It comprises all of the PBS member stations in the state outside of Milwaukee.

The state network is available via flagship station WHA-TV in Madison and five major satellite stations throughout most of Wisconsin. As of April 5, 2009, all stations have converted to digital operations only. WPT is also available on most satellite and cable television outlets. Several of the stations, such as Green Bay's WPNE, maintain broadcast studios on University of Wisconsin campuses, which produce programming for the state network. The state network also has studio facilities at the University of Wisconsin–Stout, which produced the 1980s educational sci-fi fantasy series Storylords for the state network.

Wisconsin Public Television is the main conduit of Educational television and instructional television programming produced by the ECB, which is aired through PBS, Annenberg Media, those stations serving portions of Wisconsin without a WPT station, and other educational television distributors.

History

WPT's flagship station, WHA-TV, went on the air on May 3, 1954. It was named after WHA, UW-Madison's radio station and the current flagship for the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio.

In 1971, the state legislature created the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, activating five stations as satellites of WHA-TV 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. The stations adopted the on-air name of Wisconsin Public Television in 1986. Transmission and station identification is based out of ECB's Madison facility.

From 1960 to 2007, WHA-TV/WPT aired same-day tape-delayed coverage of some home games for Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball, which was produced in association with UW's athletic department. However, because of exclusivity agreements with the Big Ten Network that launched in September, 2007, WPT no longer airs these broadcasts. [1] The state network offers tape-delayed broadcasts of Badgers men's and women's hockey, women's basketball and volleyball throughout the year.^[1]

Stations

Full-power stations

There are six full-power stations in the state network, in major cities throughout the state, and all are broadcast on UHF. On April 5, 2009, the state network ended analog service for all stations, and they map via PSIP to their former analog channel location.^[2]

Notes

• ¹ - WHA-TV's signal is imported into the Milwaukee area via basic and digital cable systems to provide a second PBS choice for viewers alongside Milwaukee Public Television's stations; the station was carried on Time Warner systems until January 2009. It also serves as one of two de facto PBS member stations via cable for the Rockford, Illinois market south of Madison, sharing that market with Chicago's WTTW.
• ² - WHWC serves the Wisconsin side of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul television market, and is carried by some cable systems in southeastern Minnesota, providing a second PBS choice to viewers in addition to Twin Cities Public Television's stations.
• ³ - WLEF's analog signal was terminated on February 3, 2009, with WLEF-DT moving from Channel 47 back to Channel 36.

Digital television

The state network carries three digital subchannels:^[3]

• In some areas where local cable and satellite receive the state network directly via a fiber optic connection from WPT, all three services air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on those systems.
• The programming schedule of all three channels over-the-air depends on the main WPT schedule; on late nights without overnight instructional programming, WPT goes off the air at 1 a.m. and signs back on at 6 a.m. However, after a January 2010 transmitter problem took down WPNE and commercial station WBAY-TV in Green Bay for two weeks, WPT switched from turning off their transmitters to mainly airing a network station identification card with an outline map of the network's service in the state during off-the-air hours.
• A PBS Kids subchannel previously aired on WPT's .2 subchannels until 2007, when PBS discontinued the service; subsequently the Wisconsin Channel launched in its place, along with a modified children's programming schedule across all of WPT's services.

Network translator stations

A translator network also serves portions of the state where over-the-air reception for a regular station is hindered by area topography, and to fill in holes between full-power stations. All of the listed translators are owned by the WECB, and flash-cut from analog to digital in the first two weeks of November 2008, including adding the subchannel services.^[4] Each translator has its virtual channel mapped via PSIP to the channel number of the closest full-power station to the translator.^[5]

Network programming in Milwaukee and Superior-Duluth

WPT's public affairs programming is carried by MPTV flagship WMVS (Channel 10) in Milwaukee, including Here and Now and In Wisconsin, while WDSE (Channel 8) Superior-Duluth and WRPT (Channel 31) Hibbing air the shows in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. The two stations also air the state network's live teen issues program Teen Connection quarterly with WPT, along with political debates produced by the state network; in turn some Milwaukee Public Television programming (such as Outdoor Wisconsin) and MPTV-produced debates air on WPT. Some of the state network's tape-delayed sports coverage airs in Milwaukee on WMVT (Channel 36).

See also

• Wisconsin Public Radio
• Public Broadcasting Service
• Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

Production for PBS

• Sewing with Nancy, sewing show

References

External links

• Wisconsin Public Television Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WHA-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WHLA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WHRM
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WHWC
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WLEF
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPNE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W18CU
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W22CI
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W24CL
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W45CD
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W47CO
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W48DB