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TV13 Receives Grant to Complete Digital Transition July 20,2007
TV13 Digital Upgrade Grant September 19, 2006
TV13/HD available on Charter

WNMU-TV Receives Grant to Complete Digital Transition

July 20, 2007
WNMU-TV has received a grant of about $1 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to complete the television station’s transition to digital television. The funding will allow the station to purchase and install a new transmitter, transmission line and other equipment, and complete necessary tower upgrades. Federal law requires that all television stations end analog broadcasts and convert to a digital signal by February 2009.

“Without this grant, we’d be shut down for not adhering to a project that’s been federally mandated and is beyond our control,” said Eric Smith, WNMU-TV General Manager. “But it doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility to maintain annual operations and programming. Viewer contributions are a critical component and we continue to rely on them to keep the operations solid.”

The funding was announced by Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee). He serves on the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on telecommunications, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications and broadcasting policy issues.

“Digital television is the next generation of television broadcasting and, particularly for public television stations, it allows innovative new services for television viewers,” Stupak added. “WNMU’s transition to digital television will bring new services, including emergency broadcasts, to WNMU’s viewers, my constituents.”

Smith said other innovative services – of an educational nature – will be made possible through a technology called multicasting, which splits the signal into multiple content streams.

“For instance, through digital broadcasting, we may be able to provide our traditional PBS programming in high definition on our core channel, while simultaneously transmitting K-12 instructional programs, college courses and other educational programming on second and third multicast channels,” he said. “Switching a television station over to the digital format is an enormously expensive undertaking and can be especially challenging for PBS stations, which do not have the same financial resources as commercial television stations. Congressman Stupak has always been a champion of public broadcasters and of WNMU. Without his help during these lean times, WNMU simply would not be here.”

Last year, Stupak announced a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist WNMU-TV with its conversion to digital television.

This story was adapted from a news release prepared by Congressman Bart Stupak’s office.

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1 Million Check Presented

The USDA presented a ceremonial check, representing a grant won by Public TV 13, to the Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees at their October 6 meeting. The $1 million U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development grant will help WNMU-TV upgrade from analog to digital. Pictured are (from left) Congressman Bart Stupak, NMU President Les Wong, Gene DeRossett of USDA Rural Development in Michigan, NMU Board Chair Karl Weber, and WNMU General Manager Eric Smith.

WNMU Receives Grant for Digital Upgrade

Northern Michigan University Public Broadcasting has received a grant from the USDA that will help us complete the FCC mandated upgrade from analog to digital television broadcasting. The $1 million grant is part of $4.97 million made available to public television stations nationally to enable them to provide digital broadcasting services to rural residents. The funds are being provided through USDA Rural Development’s Public Television Digital Transition Grant program.

This is great news for Public TV 13 and our Partners and viewers.

“It’s going to provide us with the next level of service here in the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin,” WNMU-TV/DT General Manager Eric Smith said. “This is what we’ve been hoping for. We’ve been looking for a way to transition to digital and this grant has opened the door for us.”

The grant will allow us to continue our existing services after the digital transition and enhance our broadcasts to take full advantage of what digital television has to offer for both entertainment and education.

As a Partner in Programming, your support and confidence in our station was critical to Public TV 13’s success in obtaining this grant. Granting agencies like the Dept. of Agriculture use community support as one criterion in evaluating projects requesting federal funds. We scored well in this area thanks to local Partners like you.

FCC regulations mandating the switch to digital means completely rebuilding WNMU-TV’s control room, as well as installing a new transmitter at our tower in Ely Township. Our USDA $1 million award will be added to funds provided by Northern Michigan University to cover the master control project at a total cost of nearly $1.3 million. This grant will pay for the new master control switching, recording and monitoring equipment which will allow us to broadcast local programs and the best of PBS high-definition programs. In the future, WNMU-TV will offer an increased amount of educational and cultural programming over several digital streams. Cable viewers will be able to take advantage of this new content even before the digital transition is complete. But while this grant now brings our equipment costs within reach, it’s essential that our Partners continue their financial support to pay the annual costs associated with buying programs aired by this station.

Public TV 13 wants you to share in our pride about these recent, exciting developments. Your continued Partnership is the key to a bright future for your public television station. Stay tuned as Public TV 13 continues to bring you the best that public broadcasting can offer.

9/19/2006

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TV13/HD Now Available on Charter Cable

WNMU's digital channel, "TV13/HD," is now available to Charter Digital Cable subscribers in the U.P. on channel 783. This new digital service from Public TV 13 and PBS provides cable viewers with 24-hour, seven-day-a-week high definition (HD) programs representing the best of public television.

WNMU-DT, our digital channel, has been available over the air to a limited audience in Marquette County since July of 2004. For the last year, we've been broadcasting most of the day's programs in several streams of standard definition digital with HD in prime time only. In September we switched to a single stream of full-time HD programming from the PBS/HD Channel throughout the broadcast day.

The addition of channel 783 to the Charter HD lineup brings TV13/HD to communities across the U.P. including Charter's Escanaba, Houghton, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Ontonagon and Marquette service areas. Charter subscribers can also enjoy extended 24-hour programming on our HD channel, just like on channel 13.

"We're excited to bring this next generation of public television to Charter subscribers," says Eric Smith, Public TV 13 General Manager. "We can now offer cable viewers throughout Upper Michigan a variety of programs with a quality never before available in the history of television."

The programming on TV13/HD includes some familiar PBS series' like Nature, NOVA, Frontline and Austin City Limits, plus a variety of how-to, kids and documentary programs that you will not have seen on Public TV 13. Complete program listings for TV13/HD are available on our Schedule page.

Charter Communications digital subscribers can find TV13/HD in Charter's HD tier on channel 783 along with WLUC-TV6 (NBC) on channel 785. You must have an HD-capable television in order to view these channels in high definition, and you may also need a digital converter from Charter. If you have questions about receiving TV13/HD on cable, please contact Charter's Customer Support Center at 800-545-0994.

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