Vermont Public Television
Encyclopedia
Vermont Public Television (VPT) is a state network
of Non-commercial educational
Public television stations throughout the state of Vermont
, affiliate
d 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.
VPT is also relayed on analog translators W36AX in Manchester and W53AS in Bennington.
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
, 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
.
, 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 dollar
s 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. For stations such as VPT, the cost of simulcasting during digital transition
has been cited as an undue economic burden.
State network
A State Network in the United States broadcasting industry is a term which refers to a miniature television network serving an entire state or multiple states...
of Non-commercial educational
Non-commercial educational
The term non-commercial educational applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on air advertisements , as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission . NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of the radio spectrum...
Public television stations throughout the state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
d with Public Broadcasting Services
Public Broadcasting Services
Public Broadcasting Services Limited is Malta's public broadcasting company, responsible for the TVM television channel and the Radio Malta and Radju Parlament and Magic radio stations. PBS is funded by government grant and the sale of commercial airtime...
(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
Colchester, Vermont
Colchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 17,067 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-largest municipality and second-largest town in Vermont by population.-Geography:...
, near Burlington.
VPT stations
| Station | 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.... |
Channels Channel (broadcasting) In broadcasting, a channel is a range of frequencies assigned by a government for the operation of a particular radio station, television station or television channel. In common usage, the term also may be used to refer to the station operating on a particular frequency.-See also:*Broadcast... TV 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.... / RF Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals... |
First air date | Call letters’ meaning Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations... |
ERP Effective radiated power In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains... |
HAAT Height above average terrain Height above average terrain is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is actually much more important than effective radiated power in determining the range of broadcasts... |
Facility ID Facility ID The facility ID number or FIN is a unique positive integer assigned by the United States Federal Communications Commission to each domestic and international broadcast station in its Common Database System . Licensees are required to provide the relevant station's FIN when filing reports and... |
Transmitter Coordinates |
| WETK | Burlington Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal.... |
33 (PSIP Program and System Information Protocol The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch... ) 32 (UHF Ultra high frequency Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres... ) |
October 16, 1967 | Educational Television |
90 kW | 830 m | 69944 | 44°31′32"N 72°48′51"W |
| WVER | Rutland | 28 (PSIP) 9 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
March 18, 1968 | VERmont | 15 kW | 385 m | 69946 | 43°39′31"N 73°6′25"W |
| WVTB | St. Johnsbury St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury is the shire town of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 7,571 at the 2000 census. St. Johnsbury is located approximately northwest of the Connecticut River and south of the Canadian border.St... |
20 (PSIP) 18 (UHF) |
February 26, 1968 | VT = postal abbreviation of Vermont B for Burke Mtn. Transmitter Site |
75 kW | 590 m | 69940 | 44°34′16"N 71°53′39"W |
| WVTA | Windsor Windsor, Vermont Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,756 at the 2000 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, Windsor was chartered as a town on July 6, 1761 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth. It was first settled in August 1764 by Captain Steele Smith and... |
41 (PSIP) 24 (UHF) |
March 18, 1968 | VT = postal abbreviation of Vermont A for Ascutney Mtn. Transmitter Site |
55.7 kW | 692 m | 69943 | 43°26′14.7"N 72°27′7.7"W |
VPT is also relayed on analog translators W36AX in Manchester and W53AS in Bennington.
Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:PBS World
PBS World is a 24-hour United States over-the-air digital subchannel showing public TV non-fiction, science, nature, news, public affairs and documentaries...
"xx" = virtual channel number
Broadcast area
Vermont Public Television's broadcast signal reaches throughout Vermont and into bordering regions of New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, including Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
On cable, VPT can be seen on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
, Burlington channel 6 and Bennington channel 7, and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
Plattsburgh channel 3. On Vidéotron
Vidéotron
Vidéotron GP is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Currently, the company primarily serves Quebec, as well as the francophone...
, it can be seen on channel 59 in west Montreal, channel 6 in central and east Montreal, and channel 55 on Illico digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
.
Some VPT-produced programs can also be seen on WGBY-TV
WGBY-TV
WGBY-TV is a PBS station licensed to the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. It is a division of the WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, but has its own independent web presence, logo, and local programming. Its transmitter is located on the peak of Mt...
in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
.
Fundraising
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 CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, principally in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, 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 dollar
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
s 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
Champlain Valley
The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York extending slightly into Quebec, Canada as part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St...
in Vermont and New York as well as the southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Montreal area) with Plattsburgh, New York-based WCFE-TV
WCFE-TV
WCFE is a Public Broadcasting Service public television station in Plattsburgh, New York. It is known under its corporate identity of Mountain Lake PBS. This name was adopted to reflect Plattsburgh's location between the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. It broadcasts on channel 38 from transmitters...
.
The major stations in the Burlington/Plattsburgh market (including VPT, WCFE, WCAX-TV
WCAX-TV
WCAX-TV, virtual channel 3, is a television station in Burlington, Vermont, USA. WCAX is affiliated with the CBS Television Network and has been locally owned by the Hasbrook/Martin family and their company, Mount Mansfield Television, since the station's inception...
, WVNY
WVNY
WVNY is the ABC-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak Mount Mansfield. The station can also be...
, WPTZ
WPTZ
WPTZ, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by Hearst Television, and has its studios in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont....
and WFFF-TV
WFFF-TV
WFFF-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield...
) turned off their analog signals on February 17, 2009 and are now broadcasting solely in digital. For stations such as VPT, the cost of simulcasting during digital 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...
has been cited as an undue economic burden.