WITF-TV

WITF-TV
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/
York, Pennsylvania
United States
City Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Branding WITF
Slogan Live inspired
Channels Digital: 36 (UHF)
(shared with WPMT)
Virtual: 33 (PSIP)
Subchannels
Translators W33CR-D 33 Chambersburg
Affiliations
Owner WITF, Inc.
First air date November 22, 1964 (1964-11-22)
Call letters' meaning Where It's Top Flight
Sister station(s) WITF-FM
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 33 (UHF, 1964–2009)
Former affiliations NET (1964–1970)
Transmitter power 50 kW
Height 411 m (1,348 ft)
Facility ID 73083
Transmitter coordinates 40°20′43.5″N 76°52′7.5″W / 40.345417°N 76.868750°W / 40.345417; -76.868750
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.witf.org

WITF-TV, virtual channel 33 (UHF digital channel 36), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States and serving the Susquehanna Valley region (Harrisburg–Lancaster–Lebanon–York). Owned by WITF, Inc., it is a sister station to the area's National Public Radio (NPR) member, WITF-FM (89.5). The two stations share studios at the WITF Public Media Center in Swatara Township (though with a Harrisburg mailing address); WITF-TV's transmitter is located in Susquehanna Township, next to the transmitter of CBS affiliate WHP-TV (channel 21).

On cable television, the station is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 803. WITF's programming is relayed on a low-powered digital translator station: W33CR-D (channel 33) in Chambersburg.

History

The UHF channel 33 allocation in Central Pennsylvania was previously occupied by WEEU-TV, a commercial television station licensed to Reading that operated in the 1950s. The station shut down in June 1955 after the television stations out of Philadelphia boosted their signals to cover Reading.

The channel 33 allocation was reassigned to Hershey, a suburb of Harrisburg, for non-commercial educational use. The South Central Educational Broadcasting Council was formed in 1963, and it quickly filed for the channel 33 license. WITF-TV first signed on the air on November 22, 1964 from a "temporary" studio facility near the Hershey Theatre. In 1982, the station moved its operations to studio facilities on Locust Lane in northeast Harrisburg. Around this time, it also changed its city of license to Harrisburg. In 2007, it moved to a purpose-built facility in Swatara Township.

In 1998, WITF-TV made history in Pennsylvania by becoming the Commonwealth's first television station to operate a digital signal. As broadcasters across the country began the gradual federally mandated conversion from analog to digital broadcasts, WITF became one of the first in the nation to meet the technological, financial and educational challenges.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
33.1720p16:9WITFMain WITF-TV programming / PBS
33.2480iWITFKPBS Kids

Analog-to-digital conversion

WITF-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over UHF channel 33 on February 17, 2009, to conclude the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[2] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36, using PSIP to display WITF-TV's virtual channel as 33 on digital television receivers.

WITF agreed to share its spectrum with Tribune Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate WPMT (channel 43) following the 2016-2017 FCC incentive auction for $25 million on February 10, 2017. The proceeds were slate for the endowments with interest to be used for Central Pennsylvania media literacy program. A state wide news organization is another possibility.[3]

Programming

Locally produced programming

  • Our Town
  • Explore PA
  • Virtual Field Trips
  • Smart Talk
  • Life Styles
  • Health Smart

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Digital TV Market Listing for WITF". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  2. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  3. ↑ Sefton, Dru (February 10, 2017). "Spectrum auction nets nearly $35M for two Pennsylvania stations". Current. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
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