WSKG-TV


WSKG-TV, virtual channel 46, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Binghamton, New York, United States. Owned by the WSKG Public Telecommunications Council, it is a sister station to National Public Radio members WSKG-FM and WSQX-FM. The three stations share studios on Gates Road in Vestal, New York; WSKG-TV's transmitter is located on Ingraham Hill in the town of Binghamton.
WSKA in Corning operates as a full-time satellite of WSKG-TV; this station's transmitter is located on Higman Hill. WSKA covers areas of south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WSKG, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. WSKA is a straight simulcast of WSKG; on-air references to WSKA are limited to Federal Communications Commission -mandated hourly station identifications during programming. Aside from the transmitter, WSKA does not maintain any physical presence in Corning or Elmira. WSKA had begun broadcasting as of fall 2006 as a repeater station of WSKG.

Overview

The station was named for Stanley Kiehl Gambell, a prominent local clergyman who was active in children's television programming.

Digital television

Digital channels

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:
ChannelPSIP Short NameVideoAspectProgramming
46.1 / 30.1WSKG-HD1080iMain WSKG-TV programming / PBS
46.2 / 30.2WSKG-2480iPBS Kids
46.3 / 30.3WSKG-3480iCreate
46.4 / 30.4WSKG-4480iWorld

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSKG-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 46, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 42. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 46.

Repeaters

WSKG-TV once had many analog translators in operation across New York's Southern Tier. However, due to high operating costs, WSKG ceased the broadcasts, and surrendered the licenses of almost all of their television translators. W60AD channel 60 in Savona, New York was their only TV translator remaining in recent years, until the repeater license was cancelled on January 13, 2012. It had an ERP of 650 watts.

In popular culture

The station was featured in the Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? episode "WSK Gone", where the station was stolen by the character Wonder Rat.