Connecticut Public Television


Connecticut Public Television is the Public Broadcasting Service member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses for all PBS member stations licensed in the state, and also owns the state's National Public Radio member, Connecticut Public Radio. Together, the television and radio stations make up the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. CPBN is the state's only locally owned media organization producing TV, radio, print and Internet content for distribution across the state. Jerry Franklin is the President of CPTV. The organizational structure of CPTV also includes a Board of Trustees. The network co-produced the long-running children's television series, Barney & Friends.

History

The network's first station, WEDH in Hartford, signed on with a monochrome black and white transmitter in 1962, based out of facilities in the Trinity College library building. It was the fourth educational television station in New England, following WGBH-TV in Boston, WENH-TV in Durham, New Hampshire, and WCBB in Augusta, Maine. Originally a member of National Educational Television, it joined PBS upon its launch on October 4, 1970. Originally known as Connecticut Educational Television, it became Connecticut Public Television in 1984.
CPTV remained based in rented space at Trinity College until selling its headquarters back to the school for $10 million in 2002. In 2004, CPTV moved to a facility in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford. The infrastructure of CPTV was eventually upgraded through a partnership with Sony Systems Integration Center, which enabled the delivery of HD quality telecommunications to subscribers.
In late 2019, CPTV requested to have WEDW's city of license changed from Bridgeport to Stamford.

Awards

Since 1985, CPTV has received the following awards:

CPTV

CPTV was the broadcast and web streaming home of UConn women's basketball from 1994 to 2012. The game broadcasts were the highest-rated locally produced programs in the PBS network.
CPTV is a major producer of children's programming for the PBS network. Its best-known offering was Barney & Friends. The character was discovered in 1991 when the daughter of CPTV executive Larry Rifkin bought a Barney and the Backyard Gang home video and was mesmerized by it. CPTV continued to distribute the show until 2006; it is now distributed by WNET in New York. Other children's shows originated and/or distributed by CPTV are Thomas & Friends, Bob The Builder, Make Way for Noddy, Angelina Ballerina, and The Saddle Club as well as the first season of SeeMore's Playhouse.
From 1993 to 2005, M*A*S*H star Alan Alda hosted the science series Scientific American Frontiers, based on the popular magazine Scientific American. That show was also produced by CPTV and aired nationwide.
Since 2002, CPTV has been working with HIT Entertainment, which has helped distribute some of CPTV's children's programs. Beginning in 2008, most of CPTV's children's programming has been presented by WNET.
Other programs produced by or for CPTV include:
The CPTV stations are:
StationCity of licenseChannels
First air dateFourth letter's meaningERPHAATTransmitter coordinatesFacility IDPublic license information
WEDHHartford24
30
Hartford490 kW
497 kW
13602
WEDNNorwich53
9 		Norwich4.2 kW13607
WEDWStamford49
21

Western Connecticut170 kW
1,000 kW
13594
WEDYNew Haven65
30
Yale University490 kW
497 kW
13595

The network previously operated a translator in Waterbury, W12BH, which directly repeated WEDY. That station was taken off the air to allow WTXX to begin digital television operations.
CPTV is available on all cable systems in the state. On satellite, WEDH is available in nearly all of the state on the Hartford–New Haven DirecTV and Dish Network feeds, while WEDW is available both over-the-air and on cable and satellite systems in Greater New York, including the non-bordering states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Additionally, WEDH is carried by most cable systems in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, providing a second choice for PBS programming alongside WGBY-TV in Springfield. Finally, WEDN has wide over-the-air and cable availability in the adjoining state of Rhode Island, including Providence. This gives CPTV a potential audience of 21 million people in six states, including much of Southern New England.

Digital television

Digital channels

The digital signals of CPTV's stations are multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
24.1
49.1
53.1
65.3		1080iWEDH-1
WEDW-1
WEDN-1
WEDY-3		Main CPTV programming / PBS
24.2
49.2
53.2
65.2		480iWEDH-2
WEDW-2
WEDN-2
WEDY-2		Create
24.3
49.3
53.3
65.1		480iWEDH-3
WEDW-3
WEDN-3
WEDY-1		CPTV Spirit

Analog-to-digital conversion

in 2009, leading up to the analog-to-digital television transition on June 12, CPTV shut down the analog transmitters of its stations on a staggered basis. Listed below are the dates each analog transmitter ceased operations as well as their post-transition channel allocations:
On March 16, 2011, the FCC granted WEDY's petition to move from VHF channel 6 to UHF channel 41 because of viewer reception issues and interference from both WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and WRGB in Schenectady, New York, after those two stations implemented recent power increases.

CPTV Sports

An offshoot of CPTV, CPTV Sports provides access to Connecticut scholastic sports on an as-needed basis as of mid-2016. During other times, the channel re-broadcasts CPTV and PBS programming. On August 1, 2017, CPTV Sports was replaced by CPTV Spirit, and CPTV4U was retired.

CPTV Spirit

On August 1, 2017, CPTV introduced the CPTV Spirit, a new public media television channel.
Each evening will feature a different programming "theme," including:
On December 3, 2018, CPTV introduced Create, a joint venture with Create TV, public TV's most-watched lifestyle channel. Create features cooking, travel, home improvement, gardening, and arts & crafts shows, with educational and entertaining series and specials including America's Test Kitchen, Rick Steves' Europe and This Old House.

CPTV Kids

CPTV streams the full-time PBS Kids network feed on their website; 11½ hours per weekday of CPTV's main schedule is devoted to PBS Kids programming, along with four hours on weekend mornings.

CPBN Learning Lab

The CPBN Learning Lab's goal is to train journalists and journalism instructors. Presently, the Hartford Public Schools receives full-time access to the facility in order to enhance media skills.
Since 2007, CPBN Media Lab instructors and mentors have provided real-world technical and journalism training for over 600 Connecticut students through seminars, workshops, and courses. The Media Lab has brought journalism and technical media skills training to middle school students through its Future Producers Academy, "Media is Magic" SAND Media Enrichment Program and West Middle Media Project and for high school students through its Media 101 and Young Entrepreneur courses in its Impact Academy.
Internships are provided to undergraduate college students, often for college credit, and for recent graduates seeking to acquire technical and editorial skills.
Graduates of the CPTV college program have gone on to work in diverse media companies.
The CPBN Media Lab has been a partner with the from their inception in 2010, serving as the professional mentor for five Connecticut high schools: and the in New Haven, in Waterbury, in Terryville and in Bethel. It is also the professional mentors to the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab it established at school in Hartford, one of three in the nation to work with middle school students.
Projects produced by the Media lab include: