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| Type | Non-commercial educational broadcast television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
First air date | May 3, 1954 |
Broadcast area |
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| Owner |
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| see § Stations | |
| Wisconsin Public Radio | |
Former callsigns |
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| Affiliation(s) | PBS, APT |
Former affiliations | NET (1954–1970) |
Official website | pbswisconsin |
PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It comprises all of the PBS member stations in the state outside of Milwaukee (which has its own PBS stations).
The state network is available via flagship station WHA-TV in Madison and five full-power satellite stations throughout most of Wisconsin. As of April 5, 2009, all stations have converted to digital-only transmissions. PBS Wisconsin is also available on most satellite and cable television outlets. WHA-TV, along with Chicago-based WTTW, serve the Rockford, Illinois, television market exclusively through cable and satellite, as Rockford is one of a few television markets in the United States that lacks a PBS station of its own.
Until the gradual move of instructional broadcasting to IPTV services, the network, as Wisconsin Public Television, was the main conduit of educational television, GED preparation and instructional television programming produced by the WECB, which aired through PBS, Annenberg Media, those stations serving portions of Wisconsin without a WPT station, and other educational television distributors. As of October 2014, the WECB now distributes this programming exclusively online, allowing the over-the-air network to carry PBS programming full-time.