Twin Cities Public Television
Encyclopedia
Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) is a non-profit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota
, United States
, that operates the Twin Cities' two Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) member Public television stations, KTCA-TV (digital channel 34, PSIP channel 2.1) and KTCI-TV (digital channel 23, PSIP channel 2.3). It produces programs for regional and national television broadcast, operates numerous Web sites, and produces rich media content for Web distribution.
The organization's mission is to "harness the power of television and other media for the public good."
Twin Cities Public Television was incorporated in 1955 as Twin City Area Educational Television.
KTCA (channel 2) began broadcasting as the first non-commercial
Public television station in the state on September 16, 1957 from what was known as the Minnesota Statehood Centennial Memorial Building for Education Television, at 1640 Como Avenue in Saint Paul. (Incidentally, that building now houses another Twin Cities commercial television
station-WUCW
, channel 23.) KTCA's first program was "Exploring Science". A second station, KTCI (channel 17), was launched on May 4, 1965. Channel 17 was originally assigned to the Tedesco Brothers in the early 1950s to be a Commercial broadcasting
station, WCOW-TV (see KDWB
) affiliated with the DuMont
network, but this station never made it to air. In 1967, KTCA became the first educational television
station in the United States to broadcast in color, then in 1977, it changed its corporate name to the current Twin Cities Public Television.
On September 16, 1999, the stations began their first digital television
broadcasts, which by then were originating from their current building at 172 4th Street East in downtown Saint Paul. In 2000, KTCA and KTCI were rebranded tpt2 and tpt17, paving the way for the larger family of digital broadcast services to come. In August, 2003, TPT became the first broadcaster in Minnesota to launch a channel, tptHD, fully devoted to high-definition programming, and on September 16, 2005 the organization launched a full time digital channel, tptMN, devoted entirely to local and regional programs.
In December 2005, the organization began distributing many of its productions online, making programs available through iTunes, Google Video, and Yahoo! Podcasts among others. Its website, features streaming video as well as video podcasts. In 2007, TPT also plans to begin offering Video-On-Demand (VOD) thorough local cable providers.
KTCA's Nielsen ratings are among the highest of any PBS station in the country.
(2003)http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/, Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2002), American High
(2001), American Photography: A Century of Images (1999)http://www.pbs.org/ktca/americanphotography/, Jane Goodall: Reason for Hope (1999), Liberty! The American Revolution (1997-2004) Middlemarch Films PBS
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/, Hoop Dreams
(1995), Grant Wood's America (1985). In addition, TPT has produced the children's science series Newton's Apple
(1983-1998)http://www.newtonsapple.tv, DragonflyTV
(2002-2009)http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/, and SciGirls
(2010-present)http://pbskids.org/scigirls/. Other series included Right On The Money and Alive From Off Center. Make: television, produced in collaboration with Make magazine premiered on PBS stations and on the web in January 2009 http://www.makezine.tv/.
Twin Cities Public Television also regularly produces programs exclusively for and about Minnesota and the surrounding region. Its Friday night public-affairs program Almanac
http://www.tpt.org/almanac/, has been aired weekly for more than 20 years. Other significant local productions include numerous concerts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota: A History of the Land (2005), North Star: Minnesota's Black Pioneers (2004)http://tpt.org/northstar/, the series Don't Believe The Hype (10 seasons), Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2001), Death of the Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland (2000), the series Tape's Rolling, Wacipi-Powow (1995)http://www.tpt.org/powwow/, Lost Twin Cities (1995), The Dakota Conflict (1994), Iron Range: A People's History (1994), and How To Talk Minnesotan (1992).
In early 2003, TPT began setting aside time on KTCI for the "Minnesota Channel", an evening dedicated to local and regional related programming, which expanded to a full-time digital channel
on September 16, 2005. The Minnesota Channel was expanded region-wide in Minnesota and North Dakota in February 2008.
As of February 18, 2009 TPT rearranged the on-air lineup. They will continue to use both KTCA-DT and KTCI-DT's transmitters but they discontinued their tpt17 service and unify all of their over-the-air channels as virtual
subchannels of 2. At 9:00 am Friday, June 12, TPT ended its analog service on KTCA and KTCI.
Subchannels 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4 will be broadcast through KTCA-DT's transmitter while 2.3 will be broadcast through KTCI-DT's transmitter. Some of the bandwidth on KTCI-DT is being reserved for future broadcast services or to lease to commercial interests. During severe weather, KTCA Channel 2.4 airs a live broadcast from NOAA Weather Radio
station KEC65
.
This new channel lineup was originally meant to coincide with the DTV transition
. When the transition's mandatory cutoff was delayed, TPT announced the new lineup would still go forward and they would continue their analog service until the new cutoff. Until then KTCA-TV simulcasted tpt 2 and KTCI-TV simulcasted tptLife on their analog signals.
in Shoreview, Minnesota
. There are four broadcast translators for KTCA:
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, that operates the Twin Cities' two Public Broadcasting Service
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....
(PBS) member Public television stations, KTCA-TV (digital channel 34, PSIP channel 2.1) and KTCI-TV (digital channel 23, PSIP channel 2.3). It produces programs for regional and national television broadcast, operates numerous Web sites, and produces rich media content for Web distribution.
The organization's mission is to "harness the power of television and other media for the public good."
History
KTCA (channel 2) began broadcasting as the first non-commercial
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
Public television station in the state on September 16, 1957 from what was known as the Minnesota Statehood Centennial Memorial Building for Education Television, at 1640 Como Avenue in Saint Paul. (Incidentally, that building now houses another Twin Cities commercial television
Commercial Television
Commercial Television was the third free-to-air broadcast television station in Hong Kong. It first went on air in 1975, and ceased transmissions in 1978.-History:...
station-WUCW
WUCW
WUCW is an affiliate of The CW serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. The station is currently owned and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group....
, channel 23.) KTCA's first program was "Exploring Science". A second station, KTCI (channel 17), was launched on May 4, 1965. Channel 17 was originally assigned to the Tedesco Brothers in the early 1950s to be a Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
station, WCOW-TV (see KDWB
KDWB
KDWB-FM is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality...
) affiliated with the DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
network, but this station never made it to air. In 1967, KTCA became the first educational television
Educational television
Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
station in the United States to broadcast in color, then in 1977, it changed its corporate name to the current Twin Cities Public Television.
On September 16, 1999, the stations began their first digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
broadcasts, which by then were originating from their current building at 172 4th Street East in downtown Saint Paul. In 2000, KTCA and KTCI were rebranded tpt2 and tpt17, paving the way for the larger family of digital broadcast services to come. In August, 2003, TPT became the first broadcaster in Minnesota to launch a channel, tptHD, fully devoted to high-definition programming, and on September 16, 2005 the organization launched a full time digital channel, tptMN, devoted entirely to local and regional programs.
In December 2005, the organization began distributing many of its productions online, making programs available through iTunes, Google Video, and Yahoo! Podcasts among others. Its website, features streaming video as well as video podcasts. In 2007, TPT also plans to begin offering Video-On-Demand (VOD) thorough local cable providers.
KTCA's Nielsen ratings are among the highest of any PBS station in the country.
Productions
Twin Cities Public Television is one of the few public television organizations that regularly produces programs for the national PBS schedule. While not as prolific as some producers, TPT is known for high quality, high impact work with several national Emmy awards to its credit. Major productions include The New Medicine (2006)http://thenewmedicine.org/, Suze Orman: The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life (2004),The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's (2004)http://www.pbs.org/theforgetting/, Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
(2003)http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/, Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2002), American High
American High
American High is an American documentary television show about the lives of fourteen students at Highland Park High School, located in the city of Highland Park, Illinois. The series originally aired on Fox and was canceled after four episodes. It was later picked up by PBS and aired in its...
(2001), American Photography: A Century of Images (1999)http://www.pbs.org/ktca/americanphotography/, Jane Goodall: Reason for Hope (1999), Liberty! The American Revolution (1997-2004) Middlemarch Films 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....
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/, Hoop Dreams
Hoop Dreams
Hoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players....
(1995), Grant Wood's America (1985). In addition, TPT has produced the children's science series Newton's Apple
Newton's Apple
Newton's Apple is an educational television program distributed to PBS stations in the United States that ran for fifteen seasons from 1983 to 1998. Targeted at younger viewers, it was highly regarded...
(1983-1998)http://www.newtonsapple.tv, DragonflyTV
DragonflyTV
DragonflyTV is a science education television series for children aged 6–12, produced by Twin Cities Public Television, broadcast on most PBS stations. DragonflyTV showcases our most eager young scientists in a way that encourages all kids to discover the wonders of science...
(2002-2009)http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/, and SciGirls
SciGirls
SciGirls is a weekly television series and educational outreach program for elementary and middle-school children based on proven best practices for science, technology, engineering and math education for girls...
(2010-present)http://pbskids.org/scigirls/. Other series included Right On The Money and Alive From Off Center. Make: television, produced in collaboration with Make magazine premiered on PBS stations and on the web in January 2009 http://www.makezine.tv/.
Twin Cities Public Television also regularly produces programs exclusively for and about Minnesota and the surrounding region. Its Friday night public-affairs program Almanac
Almanac (TV series)
Almanac is a weekly public-affairs television series produced by Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minnesota and distributed to other channels around the state via Minnesota Public Television . It has aired weekly since December 7, 1984. Longtime hosts Eric Eskola and Cathy Wurzer are...
http://www.tpt.org/almanac/, has been aired weekly for more than 20 years. Other significant local productions include numerous concerts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota: A History of the Land (2005), North Star: Minnesota's Black Pioneers (2004)http://tpt.org/northstar/, the series Don't Believe The Hype (10 seasons), Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2001), Death of the Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland (2000), the series Tape's Rolling, Wacipi-Powow (1995)http://www.tpt.org/powwow/, Lost Twin Cities (1995), The Dakota Conflict (1994), Iron Range: A People's History (1994), and How To Talk Minnesotan (1992).
The Minnesota Channel
The Minnesota Channel (tptMN) is a full-time statewide network originating at Twin Cities Public Television and carried on digital subchannels of nine stations. It features programming related to Minnesota and Wisconsin, including ethnic and public-affairs programming.In early 2003, TPT began setting aside time on KTCI for the "Minnesota Channel", an evening dedicated to local and regional related programming, which expanded to a full-time digital channel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
on September 16, 2005. The Minnesota Channel was expanded region-wide in Minnesota and North Dakota in February 2008.
Digital TV
KTCA-DT and KTCI-DT began broadcasting on channels 16 and 34 on September 16, 1999. The digital signals of KTCA and KTCI are both multicasting:As of February 18, 2009 TPT rearranged the on-air lineup. They will continue to use both KTCA-DT and KTCI-DT's transmitters but they discontinued their tpt17 service and unify all of their over-the-air channels as virtual
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
subchannels of 2. At 9:00 am Friday, June 12, TPT ended its analog service on KTCA and KTCI.
| Channel | Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| KTCA-DT 2.1 | tp2 2 | Main tpt 2 Programming / 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.... |
| KTCA-DT 2.2 | tptMN | Minnesota Channel Minnesota Channel The Minnesota Channel is a full-time state-wide network originating at Twin Cities Public Television. It is carried on digital subchannels of nine stations and features programming related to Minnesota , plus coverage of the Minnesota Legislature when in session.- History :In early 2003, TPT began... |
| KTCI-DT 2.3 | tptLife | Main KTCI programming / PBS |
| KTCA-DT 2.4 | tptWX | Weather radar and NWS audio KEC65 KEC65 KEC65 is a NOAA Weather Radio station that serves the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area. It is programmed from the National Weather Service forecast office in Twin Cities, Minnesota, with its transmitter located in Saint Paul atop the KSTP television tower... |
Subchannels 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4 will be broadcast through KTCA-DT's transmitter while 2.3 will be broadcast through KTCI-DT's transmitter. Some of the bandwidth on KTCI-DT is being reserved for future broadcast services or to lease to commercial interests. During severe weather, KTCA Channel 2.4 airs a live broadcast from NOAA Weather Radio
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is a network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service office. It is operated by the NWS, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of...
station KEC65
KEC65
KEC65 is a NOAA Weather Radio station that serves the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area. It is programmed from the National Weather Service forecast office in Twin Cities, Minnesota, with its transmitter located in Saint Paul atop the KSTP television tower...
.
This new channel lineup was originally meant to coincide with the DTV transition
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. When the transition's mandatory cutoff was delayed, TPT announced the new lineup would still go forward and they would continue their analog service until the new cutoff. Until then KTCA-TV simulcasted tpt 2 and KTCI-TV simulcasted tptLife on their analog signals.
- Transistorized (1999) PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe 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....
Transmission Technical Data
KTCA and KTCI are broadcast from the KMSP TowerKMSP Tower
KMSP TV Tower is a 446.8 metre high guy-wired aerial mast for the transmission of FM radio and television programs in Shoreview, Minnesota at...
in Shoreview, Minnesota
Shoreview, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there are 25,377 people, Males: 12,303 , Females: 13,074 , 9,965 households, and 7,021 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,315.9 people per square mile . There are 10,127 housing units at an average density of 919.2 per square mile...
. There are four broadcast translators for KTCA:
- K45EH 45 (JacksonJackson, MinnesotaJackson is a city in Jackson County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,299 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County.-Geography:...
) - K46AA 46 (St. JamesSt. James, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 4,695 people, 1,845 households, and 1,186 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,050.3 people per square mile . There were 2,006 housing units at an average density of 876.0 per square mile...
) - K44AE 44 (WillmarWillmar, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 18,351 people, 7,302 households, and 4,461 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,549.9 people per square mile . There were 7,789 housing units at an average density of 657.8 per square mile...
)