Full-power stations , where PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio are also headquartered and
master control is based from. on the UW–Madison campus. There are six full-power stations in the state network, each located in major cities throughout the state, and all are broadcast on the
UHF band. On April 5, 2009, the state network ended
analog service for all stations, which map to their former analog channel location; WLEF's analog signal was terminated on February 3, 2009. All digital facilities and channels in the network except for WLEF were designed for pre- and post-transition use. WPNE moved its physical channel from 42 to 25 on July 1, 2018, and WHLA moved its physical channel from 30 to 15 on September 7, 2018, both as part of the FCC's spectrum repacking, but both stations continue to use their virtual channel mappings.
Notes Technical information Subchannels All transmitters broadcast the same four
digital subchannels. • The programming schedule of all three channels
over-the-air depends on the main network schedule; before October 2014, on late nights without overnight instructional programming, WPT went
off the air at 1 a.m. and signed back on at 6 a.m. However, after a January 2010 transmitter problem took down WPNE and commercial station
WBAY-TV in Green Bay during an off the air period for two weeks, the network switched from turning off their transmitters to mainly airing a
network station identification card with an outline map of the network's service in the state during off-the-air hours. • Beginning in October 2014, the network began 24-hour service using the late night national PBS feed or network programming to fill the overnight hours, and discontinued most instructional programming outside of one overnight hour of UW-Madison/
Wisconsin Public Radio programming under the title
University Place. • A previous locally programmed PBS Kids 24/7 service aired on WPT's .2 subchannel until 2007, when PBS discontinued the service due to their interest in
Sprout until 2013; subsequently the Wisconsin Channel launched in its place, along with a modified children's programming schedule across both services. The channel resumed service in January 2017 upon the launch of the national PBS Kids service on its fourth subchannel. • Since converting all their operations to digital in April 2009, PBS Wisconsin has broadcast their programming in the
720p high definition format, though its master streams of PBS Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Channel to pay TV providers, the PBS and Spectrum apps, the network website, and
Amazon Prime Video are carried in
1080p direct from PBS's nationalized master control.
Translators A
translator network also serves portions of the state where over-the-air reception for a full-power station is hindered by area topography (or in the case of
Door County, distance from Green Bay), and to fill in holes between full-power stations. All of the listed translators are owned by the WECB, and
flash-cut from analog to digital in the first two weeks of November 2008, including adding the subchannel services. Each translator has its virtual channel mapped to the channel number of the closest full-power station to the translator. •
W16DU-D Bloomington (translates WHLA-TV) •
W17DZ-D Sister Bay (translates WPNE-TV) •
W19EN-D River Falls (translates WHWC-TV) •
W24CL-D Grantsburg (translates WHWC-TV) •
W29ET-D Coloma (translates WHRM-TV) •
W30DZ-D Fence (translates WLEF-TV)
Network programming in Milwaukee and Superior–Duluth PBS Wisconsin's
public affairs programming is carried by WMVS in Milwaukee, including
Here and Now, while Duluth's WDSE airs the shows in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. The two stations also air the state network's live teen issues program
Teen Connection quarterly with PBS Wisconsin, along with political debates and other important events originating from the
Capitol such as the
State of the State address and biennial budget address produced by the state network; in turn some
Milwaukee PBS programming (such as
Outdoor Wisconsin) and MPTV-produced debates air on PBS Wisconsin, with programs such as
Wisconsin Foodie in turn airing on WMVS. Some of the state network's tape-delayed sports coverage airs in Milwaukee on
WMVT. In March 2021, PBS Wisconsin, by way of WHA-TV, was quietly added to
Dish Network's Duluth–Superior local feed in
standard definition. ==National presentations==