Channels | |
---|---|
Branding | Wyoming PBS |
Programming | |
Affiliations | xx.1: PBS (1983–present) xx.2: Create xx.3: PBS Kids |
Ownership | |
Owner | Central Wyoming College |
History | |
Founded | May 10, 1983 |
First air date | May 10, 1983 |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | see table below |
ERP | see table below |
HAAT | see table below |
Transmitter coordinates | see table below |
Translator(s) | see table below |
Links | |
Website | wyomingpbs |
Wyoming PBS (formerly known as Wyoming Public Television) is the PBS member network in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It currently consists of flagship KCWC-DT (channel 4) in Lander (serving Riverton); full-power satellites KWYP-DT (channel 8) in Laramie (serving Cheyenne) and KPTW (channel 6) in Casper; and over 35 low-power translator stations across the state.
The network is operated by Central Wyoming College, a community college in Riverton which owns the licenses to all of the state's PBS stations, with studios located on the Central Wyoming College campus.
Wyoming had been among the first states to begin the groundwork for a non-commercial 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 and via translators. 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 southern portion 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. Before then, the college offered college programming through the Riverton cable system on channel 4 using its own head end modulator on campus. Programming was in black and white from 1971 to 1973 and very limited. Examples of shows included Riverton high school football, college basketball, on-campus lectures, and educational films. By the mid-1970s, the educational radio station got on air and work began on KCWC-TV for full color equipment and FCC licenses. They 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 Riverton and surrounding Fremont County. Over the years, however, it built translator after translator across the state, bringing its signal to 85% of Wyoming. This was not as problematic as it may seem; this expansion effort was done largely in conjunction with the state's cable systems. Even in the digital era, cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in much of Wyoming. Sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, it adopted the on-air name of Wyoming Public Television to reflect its statewide reach.
KWYP-TV, the network's second full-power station, signed on in 2004. KPTW followed in March 2007. [1]
On New Year's Day 2008, the state network rebranded as Wyoming PBS to celebrate its 25th anniversary on the air.
The switch to digital television greatly extended Wyoming PBS' reach. Since digital signals cover more territory than analog signals, Wyoming PBS now claims to reach 95 percent of the state.
The network has a very close relationship with Central Wyoming College. Broadcasting students help produce and direct many of the network's shows and pledge drives. As of 2019, they added the PBS Kids Channel to digital subchannel .3 on all of its stations.
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel | Video | Aspect | KCWC-DT PSIP short name | KWYP-DT PSIP short name | KPTW PSIP short name | Programming | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.1 | 8.1 | 6.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | KCWC-HD | KWYP-HD | KPTW-HD | PBS |
4.2 | 8.2 | 6.2 | 480i | KCWC-SD | KWYP-SD | KPTW-SD | Create | |
4.3 | 8.3 | 6.3 | KIDS-SD | PBS Kids |
Station | City of license (other cities served) | Channels TV / DT | First air date | Call letters’ meaning | ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter coordinates | Public license information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KCWC-DT1 | Lander (Riverton) | 4 8 (VHF) | May 10, 1983 | Central Wyoming College | 60 kW | 432 m (1,417 ft) | 10036 | 42°34′57.5″N108°42′35.7″W / 42.582639°N 108.709917°W | Profile LMS |
KWYP-DT23 | Laramie (Cheyenne) | 8 8 (VHF) | November 2004 | Wyoming Public Television | 13 kW | 308 m (1,010 ft) | 10032 | 41°17′16.7″N105°26′44.5″W / 41.287972°N 105.445694°W | Profile LMS |
KPTW2 | Casper | 6 8 (VHF) | March 2007 | Public Television Wyoming | 2.3 kW | 568 m (1,864 ft) | 82575 | 42°44′25.7″N106°21′36.7″W / 42.740472°N 106.360194°W | Profile LMS |
Notes:
Additionally, KCWC is carried on the Casper Dish Network feed. However, KWYP is not available on the Cheyenne Dish Network feed; KTNE is the sole PBS station offered. This is due to a longstanding FCC regulation that defined a "local" channel as one whose main transmitter is in the area, not a repeater. Although state networks in other states have satellite stations carried on local satellite feeds, Dish interpreted this regulation as forbidding it from carrying KWYP on the Cheyenne feed (presumably because Laramie is geographically part of the Denver market). Wyoming PBS has pursued legislation that would allow states that suffer from severe fragmentation of their state by outside markets a chance to claim "local" for public broadcasters in a style of "within our state borders" if the public broadcaster is providing the service to the entire state. In response, Congress amended the Satellite Home Viewer Act to permit satellite carriers to carry statewide PBS networks to viewers in all counties in that state, regardless of what DMA the county was in.
Wyoming PBS operates a network of low-power translator stations across the state of Wyoming—one of the largest translator networks in the PBS system.
Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquartered in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of the PBS member stations licensed in the state, with the exception of KBDI-TV in Broomfield, which serves as the Denver market's secondary PBS station through the network's Program Differentiation Plan. The network comprises five full-power stations—flagship station KRMA-TV in Denver and satellites KTSC in Pueblo, KRMJ in Grand Junction, KRMU in Durango and KRMZ in Steamboat Springs. The broadcast signals of the five full-power stations and 60 translators cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico.
The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, which holds the licenses for all but one of the thirteen PBS member television stations licensed in the state—WTVI in Charlotte is owned by Central Piedmont Community College. The broadcast signals of the twelve television stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The network's operations are located at the UNC Center for Public Television at Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham.
KUED, branded PBS Utah, is a PBS member television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The station is owned by the University of Utah, and has studios at the Eccles Broadcast Center on Wasatch Drive in the northeastern section of Salt Lake City; its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. KUED has a large network of broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah.
KTWO-TV is a television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Vision Alaska LLC, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, owner of Fox affiliate KFNB, for the provision of certain services. Coastal also operates CBS affiliate KGWC-TV under a separate SSA with owner Big Horn Television LLC. The stations share studios on Skyview Drive in Casper, while KTWO-TV's transmitter is located atop Casper Mountain.
KCWY-DT is a television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on Progress Circle in Mills, Wyoming, and its transmitter is located atop Casper Mountain.
KLWY is a television station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with the Fox and MeTV networks. The station is owned by Coastal Television, and maintains a transmitter southwest of Cheyenne along I-25.
KGWN-TV is a television station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on East Lincolnway/East 14th Street/I-80 BUS/US 30 in Cheyenne; its transmitter is located in unincorporated Laramie County between I-80/US 30 and WYO 225.
New Hampshire PBS (NHPBS), known as New Hampshire Public Television (NHPTV) prior to October 1, 2017, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member network serving the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is operated by New Hampshire Public Broadcasting (NHPB), a community-based organization which holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations licensed in the state. Its studios are located just outside the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham.
The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The authority operates as a statutory corporation that holds the licenses for all of the PBS stations operating in the state; it is managed by an independent board of gubernatorial appointees, and university and education officials, which is linked to the executive branch of the Oklahoma state government through the Secretary of Education.
Nebraska Public Media, formerly Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), is a state network of public radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC). The television stations are all members of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), while the radio stations are members of National Public Radio (NPR).
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the PBS member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses for all PBS member stations licensed in the state, and also owns the state's NPR member, Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR). Together, the television and radio stations make up the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPBN). CPBN is the state's only locally owned media organization producing TV, radio, print and Internet content for distribution across the state. As of 2019, Mark Contreras was announced as the new President / CEO. The organizational structure of CPTV also includes a Board of Trustees. The network co-produced the long-running children's television series, Barney & Friends until the show were transferred to WNET.
KACV-TV, branded on-air as Panhandle PBS, is a PBS member television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States. It is owned by Amarillo College alongside student-operated radio station KACV-FM (89.9). The two outlets share studios at the Gilvin Broadcast Center on Amarillo College's Washington Street campus ; KACV-TV's transmitter is located west of US 87–287 in unincorporated Potter County.
Montana PBS is the PBS member public television network for the U.S. state of Montana. It is a joint venture between Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana (UM). The network is headquartered in the Visual Communications Building on the MSU campus in Bozeman, with a separate studio on the UM campus in Missoula.
KGWC-TV is a television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Big Horn Television LLC, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, owner of Fox affiliate KFNB, for the provision of certain services. Coastal also operates ABC affiliate KTWO-TV under a separate SSA with owner Vision Alaska LLC. The stations share studios on Skyview Drive in Casper, while KGWC-TV's transmitter is located atop Casper Mountain. KGWC-TV is rebroadcast on two satellite stations in western Wyoming: KGWL-TV in Lander and KGWR-TV in Rock Springs.
WVPT is a PBS member television station in Staunton, Virginia, United States, serving the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia. It is a full-time satellite of Richmond-licensed WCVE-TV which is owned by the VPM Media Corporation. WVPT's offices are located in Harrisonburg near the campus of James Madison University, while its transmitters are located atop Elliott Knob west of Staunton, on Carters Mountain south of Charlottesville, and on Massanutten Mountain near New Market. Master control and most internal operations are based at WCVE-TV's studios at 23 Sesame Street in Bon Air, a suburb of Richmond.
KFNE is a television station in Riverton, Wyoming, United States, owned by Front Range Television LLC. The station's transmitter is located atop Boysen Peak northeast of Riverton. It operates as a full-time satellite of Fox affiliate KFNB in Casper, and airs commonly managed Casper ABC affiliate KTWO-TV on its second digital channel.
Milwaukee PBS is the collective brand for two Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations licensed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States: WMVS and WMVT. Both stations are owned and operated by the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).
Smoky Hills PBS is a regional network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations serving central and western portions of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is operated by the Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation, a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for all of the stations licensed in the network. The broadcast signals of the four stations cover most of the western half of the state outside Wichita.
KFNB is a television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, which provides certain services to ABC affiliate KTWO-TV and CBS affiliate KGWC-TV under separate shared services agreements (SSAs). The stations share studios on Skyview Drive in Casper, while KFNB's transmitter is located atop Casper Mountain south of the city. Satellite stations at Rawlins and Riverton, and a translator in Douglas extend KFNB's signal. Most of its programming is also rebroadcast on KLWY in Cheyenne, which airs separate station identifications and commercials.
KSPR-TV, VHF analog channel 6, was a CBS-affiliated television station in Casper, Wyoming, United States, between 1957 and 1959. The station was owned by radio station KSPR. The station closed as a result of competition from a local cable system; it would be more than 20 years before a second commercial station opened in Casper.