WVPT
Encyclopedia
WVPT is a public television station
in Harrisonburg, Virginia
. It is the PBS
member station for the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia and West Virginia
. The station is licensed to Staunton
, and is located on the campus of James Madison University
in Harrisonburg. Owned by Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation, it broadcasts a digital signal on channel 11 (redirecting to former analog channel 51 via PSIP) from a transmitter in central Augusta County, Virginia
.
WVPT operates a full-time satellite, WVPY in Front Royal, Virginia
. It broadcasts on digital channel 21 (virtual channel 42) from a transmitter in northern Warren County
.
WVPT signed on for the first time on September 9, 1968 and is the third-oldest educational station in Virginia, behind Hampton Roads
' WHRO-TV
and Richmond
's WCVE-TV
. WVPY was added in 1996. It also doubled as the default PBS station for Charlottesville (by way of two translators in the area) until WCVE signed on WHTJ as a satellite.
WVPY is available over-the-air in much of the Virginia and West Virginia
portions of the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area
(Front Royal is located within the Washington television market), while WVPT is available on cable in Lynchburg
. Additionally, the station is carried on the Harrisonburg DirecTV
feed and the Washington DirecTV and Dish Network
feeds. While it is still available on cable in Charlottesville and central Virginia, it is not carried on satellite there; FCC rules currently do not allow a station to be uplinked unless it has a full-power station located in the market. All told, WVPT reaches a potential viewing audience to over 6.1 million people in four states and the capital.
On Wednesday, October 1, 2008 WVPT started broadcasting in all HD
.
. It also relies heavily on cable and satellite for its viewership.
The translators are rebroadcast digitally on the same frequencies as the parent stations
under an experimental license. For instance, WVPT can be seen digitally as WVPT1-DT Charlottesville on VHF channel 11, virtual channel 51.1 (same channels as WVPT-DT).
Communities listed above are as they appear on the NTSC-M broadcast translator licences on the FCC database. For synchronised on-channel digital transmitters used to provide "fill-in" distributed transmission system
coverage, content is bitwise-identical to the main signal and the legal city of license
is that of the respective main station. Digital DTS callsigns are based on those of the respective main stations, suffixed with a sequential number.
"Skyline Illustrated" weekly newsmagazine hosted by Alan Bell, Tana Castro & Chuck Smith, reporters 1986-89
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...
. It is the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
member station for the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
of Virginia and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. The station is licensed to Staunton
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
, and is located on the campus of James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
in Harrisonburg. Owned by Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation, it broadcasts a digital signal on channel 11 (redirecting to former analog channel 51 via PSIP) from a transmitter in central Augusta County, Virginia
Augusta County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 65,615 people, 24,818 households, and 18,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 26,738 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
.
WVPT operates a full-time satellite, WVPY in Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.-Geography:Front Royal is roughly west of Washington, D.C....
. It broadcasts on digital channel 21 (virtual channel 42) from a transmitter in northern Warren County
Warren County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 31,584 people, 12,087 households, and 8,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 148 people per square mile . There were 13,299 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
.
WVPT signed on for the first time on September 9, 1968 and is the third-oldest educational station in Virginia, behind Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
' WHRO-TV
WHRO-TV
WHRO-TV digital channel 15 is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station for Hampton Roads, Virginia . The station is licensed to both Hampton and Norfolk with the studios at the Public Telecommunications Center for Hampton Roads next to the campus of Old Dominion University...
and Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
's WCVE-TV
WCVE-TV
WCVE-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service member public television station licensed to Richmond, Virginia. It broadcasts on channel 23 and is owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation. The station is a member of PBS, of which WCVE-TV became a charter member. The station signed on for...
. WVPY was added in 1996. It also doubled as the default PBS station for Charlottesville (by way of two translators in the area) until WCVE signed on WHTJ as a satellite.
WVPY is available over-the-air in much of the Virginia and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
portions of the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
metropolitan area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
(Front Royal is located within the Washington television market), while WVPT is available on cable in Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
. Additionally, the station is carried on the Harrisonburg DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
feed and the Washington DirecTV and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
feeds. While it is still available on cable in Charlottesville and central Virginia, it is not carried on satellite there; FCC rules currently do not allow a station to be uplinked unless it has a full-power station located in the market. All told, WVPT reaches a potential viewing audience to over 6.1 million people in four states and the capital.
On Wednesday, October 1, 2008 WVPT started broadcasting in all HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
.
Transmitters
WVPT is the smallest PBS station licensed to Virginia, but serves one of the largest coverage areas of any PBS member. It primarily serves 22 counties and independent cities in Virginia and nine counties in West Virginia. Much of this area is very mountainous. Its two main transmitters operated at only 525,000 watts and 141,000 watts in analog, and even in digital they are not nearly strong enough to cover this vast and rugged area. As a result, it operates several translators and a digital distributed transmission systemDistributed transmission system
In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites...
. It also relies heavily on cable and satellite for its viewership.
| Community City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... |
Transmitter location | Digi. Distributed transmission system In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| WVPT Staunton Staunton, Virginia Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County.... : |
|||
| Charlottesville Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for... |
37°59′0"N 78°29′2"W | 40 watts, VHF 11 | |
| Monterey Monterey, Virginia Monterey is a town in Highland County, Virginia, United States. The population was 158 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Highland County.-Geography:Monterey is located at .... |
38°20′39"N 79°35′47"W | 8 watts, VHF 11 | |
| WVPY Front Royal Front Royal, Virginia Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.-Geography:Front Royal is roughly west of Washington, D.C.... : |
|||
| Fulks Run Rockingham County, Virginia As of the census of 2000, there were 67,725 people, 25,355 households, and 18,889 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 27,328 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile... |
38°36′31"N 78°54′7"W | 100 watts, UHF 21 | |
| Luray Luray, Virginia Luray is a town in Page County, Virginia, United States, in the Shenandoah Valley of the northern part of the state. It is also the county seat... |
38°36′5"N 78°37′57"W | 100 watts, UHF 21 | |
| Ruckersville Ruckersville, Virginia Ruckersville is a census-designated place in Greene County, Virginia, United States, located in a rural area on the outskirts of Charlottesville. The population as of the 2010 Census was 1,141. The community lies amidst hills, mountain views, trees, and farmland. It is located at the intersection... |
38°28′43"N 78°24′58"W | 500 watts, UHF 21 | |
The translators are rebroadcast digitally on the same frequencies as the parent stations
Distributed transmission system
In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites...
under an experimental license. For instance, WVPT can be seen digitally as WVPT1-DT Charlottesville on VHF channel 11, virtual channel 51.1 (same channels as WVPT-DT).
Communities listed above are as they appear on the NTSC-M broadcast translator licences on the FCC database. For synchronised on-channel digital transmitters used to provide "fill-in" distributed transmission system
Distributed transmission system
In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites...
coverage, content is bitwise-identical to the main signal and the legal city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
is that of the respective main station. Digital DTS callsigns are based on those of the respective main stations, suffixed with a sequential number.
Former Local Programs
"On The Line" Community Affairs Talkshow with Chuck Smith 1987-88"Skyline Illustrated" weekly newsmagazine hosted by Alan Bell, Tana Castro & Chuck Smith, reporters 1986-89