WMHT (TV)

WMHT
Schenectady–Albany–Troy, New York
United States
City Schenectady, New York
Branding WMHT PBS 17
Slogan Community. Culture. Connections.
Channels Digital: 34 (UHF)
Virtual: 17 (PSIP)
Subchannels 17.1 PBS
17.2 Create
17.3 World
17.4 PBS Kids
Translators W04AJ Schoharie
W04BD Glen Falls
W42AE Poughkeepsie
Owner WMHT Educational Telecommunications
First air date March 26, 1962 (1962-03-26)
Call letters' meaning Mohawk
Hudson
Television
Sister station(s) WMHT-FM
Former channel number(s) Analog:
17 (UHF, 1962–2009)
Former affiliations NET (1962–1970)
Transmitter power 325 kW
Height 426 m (1,398 ft)
Facility ID 73263
Transmitter coordinates 42°37′31″N 74°0′38″W / 42.62528°N 74.01056°W / 42.62528; -74.01056 (WMHT)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website Official website

WMHT, virtual channel 17 (UHF digital channel 34), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States and serving New York's Capital District (Albany–Schenectady–Troy) as well as Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The station is owned by WMHT Educational Telecommunications (formerly known as the Mohawk-Hudson Council on Educational Television, Inc.) and is sister to National Public Radio (NPR) member station WMHT-FM. The two stations share studios in the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush (with a Troy mailing address); WMHT's transmitter is located in the Helderberg Escarpment in New Scotland.

History

The Mohawk-Hudson Council on Educational Television was formed in 1953, through the financial support from television station WRGB Channel 6, its then-parent company General Electric and many supporters and local businesses in the Albany/Capital Region. In the beginning, Mohawk-Hudson produced educational programs on WRGB; however, due to the station's tight scheduling, the council decided to form a non-commercial educational television station of its own. WMHT signed on the air on March 26, 1962 on UHF channel 17 as the second educational in the state of New York. From the outset the station was a member of National Educational Television (NET) and became one of PBS' charter members after the two stations merged in 1970. In 1972, WMHT expanded into FM radio by launching the first non-commercial classical music station in the United States (a format that continues to this day).

In 1987, WMHT purchased the assets of independent station WUSV (channel 45) and made it a secondary programming service under the calls WMHX. Due to financial difficulties, WMHT shut WMHX down in 1991 and returned it to the air three years later under the calls WMHQ. In the late 1990s, WMHQ's commercial licence became attractive and WMHT sold it to the Tribune Company for $18.5 million in 1999 with the station becoming WB affiliate WEWB that September (it today is CW affiliate WCWN, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group). The money from this sale allowed WMHT to expand into digital television. It also allowed the station to replace its original facility in Rotterdam with a state-of-the-art facility in the Rensselaer Tech Park.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
17.11080i16:9WMHT-HDMain WMHT programming / PBS
17.2480iWMHT-CrCreate
17.3WMHT-WoWorld
17.44:3WMHT-KiPBS Kids

Analog-to-digital conversion

WMHT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 17 at noon on April 16, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34.[2] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 17.

Outlying translators

Also, W42AE in Poughkeepsie, owned by Dutchess Community College, repeats WMHT except for several hours a week when classes are in session.

Cable and satellite carriage

WMHT is carried on the following cable and satellite systems within the Albany–Schenectady–Troy market:

Station Comcast DirecTV Dish Network Mid-Hudson Cable Spectrum Verizon FiOS
WMHT-SD / WMHT-HD 323 17 17 2 11 / 80 / 1221 11 / 511
WMHT-DT2 (Create) 324 N/A N/A 114 1275 N/A
WMHT-DT3 (World) 325 N/A N/A 115 1276 N/A
WMHT-DT4 (PBS Kids) 326 N/A N/A 116 1277 N/A

See also

References

  1. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WMHT
  2. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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