PBS-HD is Gone in Wisconsin?

[Den Mayer]

I've noticed that PBS's programming for the past 2 days shows the

same Program on the -1 HD & -2 SD OTA channels in GBay. The

Madison HDTV group 'announced' that PBS-HD is gone for the near

future in Wisconsin. The TWC PBS-HD has down graded to a 480i

signal & shows the SD Programs.....      The good stuff is missing..

Two years ago I remember PBS-HD as the only 24 Hr OTA HD

GBay station in all it's HD picture glory showing 'beautiful repeats'

of nature & European stone cities.....       What loss....

[bradsmainsite]

Any reason that you have heard?
What a shame hope this isn't a trend

[waterhead]

We still have the PBS-HD channel here in Milwaukee. I think that the rest of the state is  broadcasting a feed from Wisconsin Public TV.

[mred]

Someone on the Fort Wayne, IN AVS thread  emailed their PBS affiliate (since they are losing the national PBS HD channel as well) and got this thorough response:

Dear Mr. Dunn,
Matt Kyle forwarded your email to me as I oversee programming here at PBS39.
I regret to inform you that indeed the PBS HD channel will be removed from digital 39-1 starting October 1, 2005. This channel was never meant to be a permanent offering from PBS but a means for local PBS stations to showcase High Definition programming during the mandated digital conversion. The hours of available programming on that channel have decreased from well over 400 hours to well under 200 hours. That means you're seeing the same 200 hours (about one weeks worth) over and over and have been for more than a year.

The problem is the cost to secure rights to the programming. In an attempt to update the rights to the current shows and potentially add new programming and interstitial material to the channel, PBS determined the only way possible to accomplish that was to charge PBS stations an additional fee to carry the channel starting October 1. Unfortunately the cost is prohibitive for WFWA. There is also no guarantee the number of stations who subscribe will be enough to be able to cover the cost to upgrade the programming. After 10/1/05 PBS39 will move to 4 Standard Definition channels. However, when a program is sent down in HD by PBS and we are carrying it live off the satellite feed, we will broadcast 1 HD and 2 SD channels simultaneously.

However, much like this new technology, our plans are evolving. If PBS can provide a robust HD channel with a wider variety of programming that is updated more often we will certainly revisit our decision. The current plan was considered long and hard but it became quite evident that it was the only choice given the cost and lack of guarantees for new material. We would like nothing more than to continue HD programing on 39-1 so the people in our viewer area can truly appreciate the outstanding quality of that technology 24/7 and I assure you we will continue to look for more HD opportunities.

Thank you so much for your question and comments.

Claudia Johnson
WFWA PBS39

[Joseph S]

I regret to inform you that indeed the PBS HD channel will be removed from digital 39-1 starting October 1, 2005. This channel was never meant to be a permanent offering from PBS but a means for local PBS stations to showcase High Definition programming during the mandated digital conversion.

Isn't that a slap in the face. Showcase what HD programming offers, create none of your own during that time, and then pull it all after you complemented them on what you were receiving after making the conversion yourself.

There are plenty that would prefer the same 200 hours of HD over and over again rather than watch the same 1600 hours of SD programs over and over again.

[AndrewP]

OTA HD 36.1 in Milwaukee and OTA HD 11.2 from Chicago are still on.

[Joseph S]

PBSHD still in Boston plus a whole boatload of others which are different from the Milwaukee multicast lineup.

[TAS]

MPTV shows the exact same stuff as WPT at the same time, except they have their own logo and do the pledge drive in HD.  I would think all of them will not have HDTV.

So is MPTV funded by only milwaukee, and all other satations are WPT funded?

[Ellis Bromberg]

We were alerted to this thread, and thought it would be helpful for us to chime in with some information.

As you can see from previous postings, PBS has just begun to charge local stations a fee for their PBS-HD feed, which differs from the national schedule (we call that the NPS, for National Program Service) you see on most PBS analog stations.  PBS-HD includes HD and widescreen programs that are licensed to PBS.  When a program is produced in HD for the NPS, that program will also be cycled in to the PBS-HD lineup.

The new fee for Milwaukee Public Television (MPTV) is $30,000 per year.  That, of course, does not include the cost to operate the HD station or to produce or acquire local and other non-PBS broadcasts for it.  It is merely the fee MPTV pays to PBS for the right to broadcast the HD feed.

For a variety of reasons, Wisconsin Public Television and some other stations have chosen not to pay this fee -- so the WPT-HD service, which viewers have been able to see in Madison, Green Bay, and other parts of the state is no more for now.

MPTV has chosen to pay the fee, so the HD feed will continue in southeastern Wisconsin, over the air on WMVT-DT/36-1, and on Time Warner Cable Channel 510.  Charter Cable will also be adding WMVT-DT to their digital lineups soon in some areas in southeastern Wisconsin, including their Delavan, Dodge County, Jefferson County, Oconomowoc/Sullivan, Walworth County, and Washington County systems.  

Wisconsin Public Television is the program service on WHA-TV-DT in Madison, WPNE-TV-DT in Green Bay, and four other satellite stations OUTSIDE southeastern Wisconsin.  Milwaukee Public Television is the umbrella name for WMVS, WMVS-DT, WMVT, and WMVT-DT, all licensed to Milwaukee (the actual license holder for the MPTV stations is the Milwaukee Area Technical College District Board), and we are the PBS stations for the southeastern part of the state (and into northern Illinois).  

MPTV's programming is NOT the same as WPT's, as was implied in a previous posting, although much of it is similar.  Speaking specifically about the HD service, WMVT-DT -- which we promote as MPTV-HD -- supplements the national PBS-HD feed with broadasts of our own MPTV series produced in HD, including OUTDOOR WISCONSIN, TRACKS AHEAD, GREAT LAKES GARDENER, LOW CARB COOKWORX, I REMEMBER, INTERCHANGE, and other local programs.  By the way, MPTV is the only Milwaukee station regularly producing local programs in HD (WPT is not producing programs in HD, either).

We wish there were more PBS series and specials being produced in HD, and there are new ones coming our way in 2006.  We at MPTV are committed to the new technology, and decided that it was important to allocate dollars in our budget to pay the new fee for PBS-HD.

We do hope that folks like you who value HD will show your support for this decision, and continue to give us feedback about all our services.      

I hope that clarifies what we are doing with MPTV-HD.  Please keep watching!

-Ellis Bromberg
 General Manager
 Milwaukee Public Television -- WMVS/WMVS-DT/WMVT/WMVT-DT

[Gregg Lengling]

Thanks for the information Ellis, I figured you would be posting this very soon as I have been watching this thread and then saw your application for membership which I then approved.

I think we are all very thankful for what MPTV does for SE Wisconsin and are very happy that you have dedicated resources to HD programming for us.  Please keep us informed on any new and exciting programming that we can look forward.

As an aside....I think if you go out and check out the stores in the area that are showcasing HD televisions that you will find that most of them are using MPTV-HD as a showcase programming for the demos.

Thanks again,

[StarvingForHDTV]

Thanks for the clarification Mr. Bromberg.

For the stations that chose not to pay the $30,000 fee, will they still get HD and Widescreen occasionally from the (National Schedule/NPS/National Program Service) to air on the digital channel(s)?

If so, I would be satisfied at that level.  Occasional National HD/Widescreen in addition to any locally produced HD content.  Then we would just be getting rid of the constant re-runs and saving $30,000 for other uses.

Of course it's not my decision, and the NPS may not include any HD.  If that were the case I would vote for paying the $30,000....

Thanks for providing us with a dedicated HD/Widescreen channel!

[Ellis Bromberg]

Thanks for the kind words, Gregg.  I have been shopping around for an HDTV set for my home (I have one at work but not at home), and I have been delighted to see a number of the local stores showing MPTV-HD on the sets when I walk in!

And, responding to Super Poster... yes, all PBS stations will get HD and widescreen programs when they're scheduled on the NPS (the primetime PBS "network" schedule).  The $30,000 is just a new fee for the packaged HD service which both MPTV and WPT have been using on our digital stations.

I was just looking at the PBS Winter/Spring 2006 season, and noted that several new mini-series on the NPS will be broadcast in HDTV -- still not enough I believe, but slowly and surely we are getting some new material.  And in Fall 2006, our own five-hour mini-series THE MAKING OF MILWAUKEE, based on the definitive book by historian John Gurda, will be shown in HDTV!    

Is $30,000 a lot of money?  If you think of $30,000 as a 24-hour network service, with high quality audio and video and all the breaks packaged in, it's a very reasonable purchase in a multi-million dollar budget.

But, when all stations are trying to provide services at a time of greater competition and when income has been flat, that could mean cutting a staff member in order to pay the fee.  Those are the decisions that all of us are faced with.  So I wouldn't second guess WPT or WFWA or any other stations cited above -- all these decisions are local station decisions, which is the way it should be.  We just felt that the expenditure was right for us.

Congratulations, Gregg and contributors, on this great forum for sharing information and ideas about HDTV in Milwaukee!

-Ellis Bromberg
 General Manager
 Milwaukee Public Television - WMVS/WMVS-DT/WMVT/WMVT-DT

[caveman]

Thank you so much for providing all the useful information.  I watch 36-1 all the time and I am excited and relieved that the PBS-HD programming is not going away anytime soon.  Thank you and your stations for deciding to keep it!  36-1 is usually the station I turn to when I want to show people how great things look in HD!

[Bluto]

Thanks for the info, Elllis.  Our household watches more PBS than ever before since we went HD.  I believe your commitment to HD and local HD is real competitive advantage over the local commercial stations.

It's a shame about PBS Kids getting 'cancelled' (not sure whatis the right word to use there).  That might have been the most-watched channel in our house.

We're looking forward to The Making of Milwaukee when it airs.  And my wife really enjoyed the auction in HD this past spring.

Keep up the good work.

[vetrev]

I thank you too, Ellis. I also watch 36-1 quite a lot. I'm hoping that local shows, such as 4th St. Forum will also appear on 36-1. I noticed when they were taping the show (I was a panelist last week) that they were using HDTV cameras. I encourage you to continue to strive to provide more quality local HD shows! Again, thanks! :bow: