WPNE scheduled to turn on digital TV signal May 1

[Gregg Lengling]

Another rung in the ladder of digital TV in Northeastern Wisconsin will be put in place May 1.

Public TV station WPNE, Channel 38, will launch digital service.

"This is the biggest thing to happen since we signed on there 30 years ago," said Thomas Fletemeyer, executive director of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

The station will continue transmitting on its analog Channel, 38. It also will offer — for people with digital sets and tuners — programming on its digital Channel, 42.

At first, most of the programming will be the same on both channels.

But there will be times when PBS, the national service, will offer programs in high-definition TV on a different schedule.

For instance, PBS recently broadcast the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" in two ways. One was the standard way. The other was by way of high-definition, with the program running twice on the same day.

Wisconsin Public Television plans many more uses for the digital channel.

Along with high-definition broadcasts for such programs as "Nova" and "Nature," the network will roll out multicasting.

That means "broadcasting up to four channels simultaneously," said Malcolm Brett, director of television.

"It would be variations on the theme that people come to expect from public broadcasting — highly educational-oriented programming, news and public affairs programming and how-to programs," Brett said.

Also in the plan is a kids channel, with 12 or more hours a day of programming.

Something else in the picture — though perhaps a year off — is datacasting. Testing is being done in the Madison area, and if the experts can pull off what they hope to pull off, datacasting will be one of the marvels of digital TV.

The kind of materials found on the Internet — data, short videos, graphics, text — could be broadcast virtually everywhere in the state.

"We're very excited about what it will be doing for the schools," Fletemeyer said.

Wisconsin Public Television will roll out various additions over time. That's because few people have the appropriate equipment as yet. They're waiting until prices fall.

Also on May 1, Wisconsin Public Television stations at La Crosse and Park Falls are scheduled to launch digital service. Because of delays in construction, launches at Wausau and Eau Claire