Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) is thepublic broadcasting network serving theU.S. state ofMississippi. It is owned by theMississippi Authority for Educational Television (MAET), an agency of thestate government that holds thelicenses for all of thePBS andNPRmember stations in the state. MPB's headquarters is located on Ridgewood Road in northeastJackson. It was established in February 1970 asMississippi Educational Television.
In 1969, theMississippi Legislature created the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television to create a locally focused educational television service for Mississippi. After almost a year of planning, WMAA (channel 29, now WMPN-TV) in Jackson debuted on February 1, 1970, as the state's first educational television station. It immediately joined PBS. The initial broadcast was written by Jeanne Lucket and produced and co-directed by Mims Wright, then Director of Public Affairs at JacksonNBC affiliateWLBT, and Joe Root, WLBT Production Manager.
Only four months after beginning operations, WMAA received unwanted national attention when it refused to carrySesame Street because of its racially integrated cast.[1] That decision was reversed 22 days later after a nationwide outcry.[2][3] Six other stations began operation over the next few years, and the state network became known asMississippi Educational Television, or simplyETV.
Public radio came even later, arriving in the state in 1983. Eventually,Public Radio in Mississippi (PRM) expanded to eight stations throughout the state.
On November 20, 2003, MAET adopted "Mississippi Public Broadcasting" as an umbrella on-air brand for all television and radio operations.[4]
MPB received aconstruction permit for stationWMAA, channel 43 inColumbus, in 1998. This permit was modified to specify digital-only operation and granted again in 2001. The permit expired June 27, 2003, without any construction having taken place.[9] MPB has stated there are currently no plans or funding to build the station.[citation needed]
MPB Television covers nearly all of the state, as well as parts ofAlabama,Tennessee andLouisiana. Additionally, WMAV is carried onDirecTV andDish Network's Memphis feeds, bringing its programming to an additional 1.4 million people in Tennessee andArkansas. Oxford is part of the Memphis market.
During 2009, in the lead-up to theanalog-to-digital television transition that would ultimately occur on June 12, MPB 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:[11]
WMPN-TV shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 29, on February 17, 2009, the original date in which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 20, usingvirtual channel 29.
WMAH-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 19, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 16, using virtual channel 19.
WMAE-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 55, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 12.
WMAU-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 17, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 18, using virtual channel 17.
WMAO-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 23, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 23.
WMAW-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 14, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 44, using virtual channel 14.
WMAB-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 10, using virtual channel 2.
WMAV-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on February 17, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36, using virtual channel 18.
MPB Radio consists of eight stations covering most of the state. It airs mostly news and talk programming from NPR and other distributors ofpublic radio programming, along with several locally produced shows.
Recently, MPB has added a 24-hourclassical music service on its second HD channel, which now also airs on DT4 on all MPB television stations. It brands this programming as "Music Radio," while the original MPB Radio service is known as "Think Radio." Shows produced by MPB Music include the nationally distributed programSounds Jewish. All of MPB's radio stations also air the Radio Reading Service of Mississippi[12] on their FM subcarriers, which is also simulcast on the DT4 subchannel on the "Spanish/Audio Description" audio channel.
MPB Radio streams both of its services live in Windows Media and Mac formats.
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