WMVT
Encyclopedia
WMVT is a public television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including the cities of Racine
, Kenosha
, Sheboygan
, and Waukesha
.
WMVT is a non-commercial educational
public television station, which is a member of PBS
. WMVT's owner, Milwaukee Area Technical College
, also owns sister Milwaukee PBS member station WMVS
. Both stations together refer to themselves collectively as Milwaukee Public Television
.
WMVT airs more documentary
, instructional, DIY, and news
programming than WMVS' general PBS schedule, and is the Milwaukee member for Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
's instructional telecourse programs for students and teachers, along with most Wisconsin Badgers
sports coverage from WPT. Also, PBS primetime programming moves to Channel 36 while Channel 10 holds their annual auction
and pledge drive
s. The station also airs The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
on a half-hour delay in lieu of WMVS.
WMVT also has a "Student Operations Day" yearly on the first Saturday in May, where the students in MATC's broadcasting department use the MPTV facilities to produce their own shows to air on Channel 36, which vary from serious educational and history programs to comedy shows.
WMVT's digital signal is on Channel 35 and is multiplexted into six different digital subchannel
s, with 36.1 airing in 720p
HD and the additional five services in standard definition 480i
. Formerly, WMVT did not have a digital equivalent, and the station's channel slot was used to broadcast a full-quality HDTV signal of WMVS
, due to the limitations of the VHF Channel 8 signal within the area. WMVS-DT had to operate on limited power until the digital switchover in order to protect the analog Channel 8 signal of NBC
affiliate WOOD-TV
across Lake Michigan
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, which regularly propagated over the lake and into Wisconsin. Another shuffle occurred on September 1, 2010 which brought over three of WMVT's subchannel services to WMVS's bandwidth, along with a standard definition simulcast of WMVS's 10.1 schedule over channel 36.2 in 480i widescreen
to address viewer complaints about reception of VHF channels post-transition. This shuffle also enabled 36.1 to eventually air programming in high definition beginning February 7, 2011, a move delayed by budget concerns.
The layout of Milwaukee Public Television's digital service is detailed further within that article. Since the shuffle, Channel 36's traditional schedule is identified on air as MPTV-36.1 HD.
MPTV signed off their analog signals at 9am on June 12, 2009.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including the cities of Racine
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
, Sheboygan
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
, and Waukesha
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The population was 70,718 at the 2010 census, making it the largest community in the county and 7th largest in the state. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...
.
WMVT is a 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 station, which is a member of 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....
. WMVT's owner, Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee Area Technical College is a two-year vocational-technical college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MATC offers day, evening, and weekend classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, West Allis, and Mequon. Enrollment is about 60,000...
, also owns sister Milwaukee PBS member station WMVS
WMVS
WMVS is a public television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including the cities of Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan, and Waukesha....
. Both stations together refer to themselves collectively as Milwaukee Public Television
Milwaukee Public Television
For information on Channels 10 and 36 individually, see WMVS and WMVTMilwaukee Public Television is the branding name for the alliance between two Milwaukee based Public Broadcasting Service public television affiliates: WMVS, Channel 10, and WMVT, Channel 36...
.
WMVT airs more documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, instructional, DIY, and news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
programming than WMVS' general PBS schedule, and is the Milwaukee member for Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
The Wisconsin Educational Communications Board ECB) is a state agency committed to ensuring that public radio and television programs and services are made available throughout Wisconsin, and that these programs and services reflect and respond to the educational and cultural needs of the state's...
's instructional telecourse programs for students and teachers, along with most Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
sports coverage from WPT. Also, PBS primetime programming moves to Channel 36 while Channel 10 holds their annual auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
and pledge drive
Pledge drive
A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term "pledge" originates from the promise a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time...
s. The station also airs The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
on a half-hour delay in lieu of WMVS.
WMVT also has a "Student Operations Day" yearly on the first Saturday in May, where the students in MATC's broadcasting department use the MPTV facilities to produce their own shows to air on Channel 36, which vary from serious educational and history programs to comedy shows.
Digital television
- For more on MPTV's digital television services, see Milwaukee Public Television#Digital programming.
WMVT's digital signal is on Channel 35 and is multiplexted into six different digital subchannel
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...
s, with 36.1 airing in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
HD and the additional five services in standard definition 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
. Formerly, WMVT did not have a digital equivalent, and the station's channel slot was used to broadcast a full-quality HDTV signal of WMVS
WMVS
WMVS is a public television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including the cities of Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan, and Waukesha....
, due to the limitations of the VHF Channel 8 signal within the area. WMVS-DT had to operate on limited power until the digital switchover in order to protect the analog Channel 8 signal of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WOOD-TV
WOOD-TV
WOOD-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan licensed to Grand Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter in Middleville near the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Charter channel...
across Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, which regularly propagated over the lake and into Wisconsin. Another shuffle occurred on September 1, 2010 which brought over three of WMVT's subchannel services to WMVS's bandwidth, along with a standard definition simulcast of WMVS's 10.1 schedule over channel 36.2 in 480i widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
to address viewer complaints about reception of VHF channels post-transition. This shuffle also enabled 36.1 to eventually air programming in high definition beginning February 7, 2011, a move delayed by budget concerns.
The layout of Milwaukee Public Television's digital service is detailed further within that article. Since the shuffle, Channel 36's traditional schedule is identified on air as MPTV-36.1 HD.
MPTV signed off their analog signals at 9am on June 12, 2009.