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WVPT
WVPT (channel 51) 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 (channel 23) which is owned by the VPM Media Corporation. WVPT's offices are located at Lakeview Hall near the campus of James Madison University on Port Republic Road in Harrisonburg, 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.
WVPT operates a second station, WVPY, licensed to New Market. WVPY was formerly a full-time satellite of WVPT which served Winchester and the upper Shenandoah Valley. Through a channel-sharing agreement, it now broadcasts from WVPT's transmitter as a satellite of Richmond's WCVW, using virtual channel 51.2.
WVPT signed on for the first time on September 9, 1968, under the ownership of the Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation. It is the third-oldest educational station in Virginia, behind Hampton Roads' WHRO-TV and Richmond's WCVE-TV. WVPY, originally licensed to Front Royal, Virginia, was added in 1996, replacing low-powered translator W42AC, which had served the area since the 1980s.
WVPT also doubled as the default PBS station for Charlottesville (via translators W50CM in the city and W58DK in Ruckersville) until future sister station WCVE signed on WHTJ as a full-powered satellite in 1989.
On October 1, 2001, WVPT began broadcasting in digital with WVPY following in October 2002, with HD.
In November 2017, Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation agreed to merge with Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation (now VPM Media Corporation), owner of WCVE-TV, WCVW, WHTJ, WNVT, and WNVC. The merger took effect on June 11, 2018. On August 5, 2019, CPBC rebranded all of its stations under the "VPM" banner (for Virginia Public Media), with WVPT becoming "VPM PBS" and WVPY becoming "VPM Plus". Upon the rebranding, WVPT began simulcasting WCVE-TV.
During its days as a separately programmed PBS station, WVPT was the smallest PBS station licensed to Virginia. It primarily serves 22 counties and independent cities in Virginia and nine counties in West Virginia, one of the largest coverage areas in the PBS system. Much of this area is very mountainous. Largely because most of its service area is located in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, its two main transmitters operated at only 525,000 watts and 141,000 watts in analog—in both cases, fairly modest for a full PBS member on the UHF band. Even in digital, they are not nearly strong enough to cover this vast and rugged area.
WVPT's distributed transmission system allows the Charlottesville and New Market translators to rebroadcast digitally on the same frequencies as the parent stations under an experimental license. Digital DTS call signs are based on those of the respective main stations, suffixed with a sequential number. For instance, the transmitter in Charlottesville is seen on UHF channel 15, virtual channel 51.1, and with the callsign WVPT1-DT.
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WVPT
WVPT (channel 51) 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 (channel 23) which is owned by the VPM Media Corporation. WVPT's offices are located at Lakeview Hall near the campus of James Madison University on Port Republic Road in Harrisonburg, 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.
WVPT operates a second station, WVPY, licensed to New Market. WVPY was formerly a full-time satellite of WVPT which served Winchester and the upper Shenandoah Valley. Through a channel-sharing agreement, it now broadcasts from WVPT's transmitter as a satellite of Richmond's WCVW, using virtual channel 51.2.
WVPT signed on for the first time on September 9, 1968, under the ownership of the Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation. It is the third-oldest educational station in Virginia, behind Hampton Roads' WHRO-TV and Richmond's WCVE-TV. WVPY, originally licensed to Front Royal, Virginia, was added in 1996, replacing low-powered translator W42AC, which had served the area since the 1980s.
WVPT also doubled as the default PBS station for Charlottesville (via translators W50CM in the city and W58DK in Ruckersville) until future sister station WCVE signed on WHTJ as a full-powered satellite in 1989.
On October 1, 2001, WVPT began broadcasting in digital with WVPY following in October 2002, with HD.
In November 2017, Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corporation agreed to merge with Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation (now VPM Media Corporation), owner of WCVE-TV, WCVW, WHTJ, WNVT, and WNVC. The merger took effect on June 11, 2018. On August 5, 2019, CPBC rebranded all of its stations under the "VPM" banner (for Virginia Public Media), with WVPT becoming "VPM PBS" and WVPY becoming "VPM Plus". Upon the rebranding, WVPT began simulcasting WCVE-TV.
During its days as a separately programmed PBS station, WVPT was the smallest PBS station licensed to Virginia. It primarily serves 22 counties and independent cities in Virginia and nine counties in West Virginia, one of the largest coverage areas in the PBS system. Much of this area is very mountainous. Largely because most of its service area is located in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, its two main transmitters operated at only 525,000 watts and 141,000 watts in analog—in both cases, fairly modest for a full PBS member on the UHF band. Even in digital, they are not nearly strong enough to cover this vast and rugged area.
WVPT's distributed transmission system allows the Charlottesville and New Market translators to rebroadcast digitally on the same frequencies as the parent stations under an experimental license. Digital DTS call signs are based on those of the respective main stations, suffixed with a sequential number. For instance, the transmitter in Charlottesville is seen on UHF channel 15, virtual channel 51.1, and with the callsign WVPT1-DT.