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New Hampshire PBS

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New Hampshire Public Television is a television company and public broadcasting mini-network in New Hampshire, licensed to the University System of New Hampshire and is part of the Public Broadcasting Service network. Established in 1959, its broadcast center is located on the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham, New Hampshire.

NHPTV is overseen by a 21-member board of directors, which is a governing board authorized by subcommittee the USNH Board of Trustees.

NHPTV is available over the air in nearly 75 percent of New Hampshire, and is available on cable in parts of Massachusetts (including Boston), Maine (including Portland), and Vermont (including the Barre/Montpelier area). It is available on DirecTV and Dish Network's Boston feeds as well.

Programming

Because the state is split between the Boston, Portland, and Burlington/Plattsburgh markets, nearly all NHPTV viewers also receive another PBS station on cable or satellite (in some cases more than one). As a result, NHPTV has elected to differentiate its program schedule for the other PBS stations in the market. Generally, NHPTV's broadcast of PBS programs and series do not air on the same day and time as they do on Boston's WGBH-TV, MPBN, Vermont Public Television or WCFE-TV in Plattsburgh.

NHPTV produces a number of local series, including:

NHPTV produced live coverage of University of New Hampshire men's Hockey from the 1972/1973 season through the 2007/2008 season. However, in June 2008 NHPTV announced that it was unable to continue to broadcast the games due to budgetary considerations.

The cooking show Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito was formerly distributed by NHPTV and produced at the NHPTV studios in Durham.

Stations

As of the DTV transition on Feb. 17, 2009, the NHPTV stations are:

Station City of license Channels
(Digital) 		First air date Call letters’
meaning 		ERP
(Digital) 		HAAT
(Digital) 		Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
WENH-TV Durham 11 (VHF)2 July 6, 1959 Educational New Hampshire 30 kW 304.1 m 69237 43°10′33″N 71°12′29″W / 43.17583°N 71.20806°W / 43.17583; -71.20806 (WENH-TV)
WEKW-TV Keene 49 (UHF)3 May 21, 1968 Educational Keene
Western New Hampshire 		43 kW 330 m 69271 43°2′0″N 72°22′4″W / 43.03333°N 72.36778°W / 43.03333; -72.36778 (WEKW-TV)
WLED-TV Littleton 48 (UHF)4 February 19681 Littleton EDucational 45 kW 388 m 69328 44°21′10″N 71°44′15″W / 44.35278°N 71.73750°W / 44.35278; -71.73750 (WLED-TV)

Notes:

  • 1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says WLED signed on February 7, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on February 8.
  • 2. WENH operated its analog signal on VHF channel 11 and its digital signal on UHF channel 57 prior to the DTV transition on February 17, 2009.
  • 3. WEKW operated its analog signal on UHF channel 52 prior to the DTV transition on February 17, 2009.
  • 4. WLED operated its analog signal on UHF channel 49 prior to the DTV transition on February 17, 2009.

Low-power stations

Station Channel City
W26CQ1 26 (analog) Colebrook
W50DP-D2 50 (digital) Hanover

Notes:

  • 1. Successor to W18BO, which operated on analog channel 18 in Pittsburg. From 2005 until November 4, 2009, W26CQ was owned by Hearst Television and served as a translator for ABC affiliate WMTW.[1]
  • 2. Formerly W15BK, which operated on analog channel 15 (it flash-cut to digital on September 4, 2007).

Both translators directly repeat WENH. Colebrook is part of the Portland market, while Hanover is part of the Burlington/Plattsburgh market.

Although NHPTV has been available for decades on cable systems in southern Maine, it has yet to be added to the Portland DBS feeds because of W26CQ's low-power status. However, NHPTV is working to change the satellite regulations so it can be carried in the Portland market as well. It also has a long-term goal of building a full-power transmitter atop Mount Washington, which would presumably offer city-grade coverage of Portland.

In addition, NHPTV also owns W27CP in White River Junction, Vermont, which was acquired from WMTW along with W26CQ[2]; however, that station has been dark since July 15, 2009 (while still owned by WMTW) due to having lost the lease on its tower site.[3]

Former stations

In the summer of 1981, New Hampshire Public Television was suffering a significant financial crisis. These stations were turned off for good as a result.

Station City of license Channel Call letters’
meaning 		Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
WHED-TV Hanover 15 (UHF)1 Hanover EDucational 69303 43°42′32.1″N 72°9′14.7″W / 43.708917°N 72.154083°W / 43.708917; -72.154083 (WHED-TV)
WEDB-TV Berlin 40 (UHF) EDucational Berlin 69056 44°22′15.8″N 71°12′47.1″W / 44.371056°N 71.213083°W / 44.371056; -71.213083 (WEDB-TV)
W59AB (low power) North Woodstock 59 (UHF)

WHED-TV was eventually replaced by a translator (W15BK which operated from 1994 to 2007, when it was replaced by low-power digital station by W50DP-D). Otherwise, the defunct stations were generally superseded by cable carriage of WENH/NHPTV.

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion on February 17, 2009:

  • WENH moved its digital broadcasts back to its former analog channel number, 11.
  • WEKW and WLED remained on their respective, pre-transition channel numbers (49 and 48).

Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display virtual channels for each NHPTV station corresponding to their previous analog channel numbers.

References

  1. ^ "Broadcasting of NHPTV Signal Expected to Switch From Channel 18 to Channel 26 on Nov. 4" (Press release). New Hampshire Public Television. October 29, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  2. ^ "APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF A CORPORATE LICENSEE OR PERMITTEE, OR FOR ASSIGNMENT OF LICENSE OR PERMIT OF TV OR FM TRANSLATOR STATION OR LOW POWER TELEVISION STATION". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 18, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  3. ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. August 10, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.


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