PBS North Carolina

The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, which holds the licenses for all but one of the thirteen PBS member television stations licensed in the state—WTVI (channel 42) in Charlotte is owned by Central Piedmont Community College. The broadcast signals of the twelve television stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The network's operations are located at the UNC Center for Public Television at Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham.

PBS North Carolina

statewide North Carolina United States
Channels	Digital: see table below
Branding	PBS NC
Slogan	Powered by the UNC System
Programming
Affiliations	PBS (1970–present)
Ownership
Owner	University of North Carolina
History
First air date	January 8, 1955
Former affiliations	NET (1955–1970)
Call sign meaning	University of North Carolina Fourth letter in callsign varies depending on the station
Technical information
Facility ID	see table below
ERP	see table below
HAAT	see table below
Transmitter coordinates	see table below
Links
Website	www.pbsnc.org

History

WUNC-TV in Chapel Hill, the state network's flagship station, first signed on the air on January 8, 1955 as the second non-commercial educational television station located south of Washington, D.C.—one day after Cheaha, Alabama-licensed WCIQ-TV. Over the next twelve years, four more satellite stations signed on. WUND-TV in Edenton (originally WUNB-TV, licensed to Columbia) was the first of these satellites to debut on September 10, 1965, followed by the launches of WUNE-TV in Linville, WUNF-TV in Asheville, and WUNG-TV in Concord—all on September 11, 1967, and WUNJ-TV in Wilmington on June 4, 1971. This was supplemented with a network of translator stations in the Appalachian Mountains that also allowed the network's programming to reach across the entire state.

Logo under the "UNC-TV" brand, used from 1995 to January 11, 2021; the circular "hurricane" emblem had been used in some capacity since 1978.

Five additional satellites debuted afterward: WUNK-TV in Greenville in May 1972, WUNL-TV in Winston-Salem in February 1973, WUNM-TV in Jacksonville in November 1982, WUNP-TV in Roanoke Rapids in 1986, and WUNU-TV in Lumberton in September 1996. The state network's youngest station, WUNW in Canton, signed on in July 2010 to replace a translator that had served the area since the 1980s. The state network was branded on-air as "North Carolina Public Television" (identified in North Carolina editions of TV Guide as "CPT", an abbreviated form of "University of North Carolina Center for Public Television") from 1979 to the mid-1990s, when it rebranded itself as "University of North Carolina Television". It simplified the brand name to "UNC-TV" later in the 1990s; it had previously used that brand for most of the 1970s. On January 12, 2021, in recognition of PBS' growing online content delivery, the state network rebranded itself as "PBS North Carolina," while continuing to acknowledge its ties to the university system as being "Powered by the UNC System".[1]

Programming

The state network produces many programs of local interest, including the weeknightly public affairs program North Carolina Now, Our State, Carolina Outdoor Journal, Exploring North Carolina, North Carolina Bookwatch with D. G. Martin, and special programs about the state's history and culture. It also produces The Woodwright's Shop, Growing a Greener World, The Zula Patrol, and Song of the Mountains for national distribution. In addition to PBS and American Public Television programs and local productions, the station also runs programming from the United Kingdom, including "Britcoms" on Saturday evenings and soap opera EastEnders on Sunday evenings. In the 1990s, UNC-TV introduced "Read-A-Roo," a kangaroo used as the mascot for the network's children's programming. WUNC-TV airs its own public affairs programming on Sunday mornings.

Stations

PBS NC operates twelve stations that relay its programming across the entire state as well as into portions of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Each station's callsign consists of "UN" for University of North Carolina, followed by a letter assigned sequentially in the order in which it was activated, except for the first station.

Station	City of license^1 (other cities served)	Channels (VC / RF)	First air date	ERP	HAAT	Transmitter coordinates	Facility ID	Public license information
WUNC-TV	Chapel Hill (Raleigh/Durham)	4 (PSIP) 20 (UHF)	January 8, 1955	1,000 kW	461.9 m (1,515 ft)	35°51′59″N 79°10′0.5″W	69080	Profile LMS
WUND-TV^2	Edenton^3 (Elizabeth City/Hampton Roads, Virginia)	2 (PSIP) 29 (UHF)	September 10, 1965	657 kW	490 m (1,608 ft)	35°54′1″N 76°20′44″W	69292	Profile LMS
WUNE-TV	Linville	17 (PSIP) 36 (UHF)	September 11, 1967	1,000 kW	546.9 m (1,794 ft)	36°3′50″N 81°50′32″W	69114	Profile LMS
WUNF-TV	Asheville	33 (PSIP) 20 (UHF)	September 11, 1967	DTS1: 1,000 kW DTS2: 1.73 kW	DTS1: 550.7 m (1,807 ft) DTS2: −144.8 m (−475 ft)	DTS1: 35°13′20″N 82°32′58″W DTS2: 35°28′25.4″N 83°19′22.5″W	69300	Profile LMS
WUNG-TV	Concord (Charlotte)	58 (PSIP) 21 (UHF)	September 11, 1967	260 kW	416.7 m (1,367 ft)	35°21′30.7″N 80°36′36.4″W	69124	Profile LMS
WUNJ-TV^4	Wilmington	39 (PSIP) 21 (UHF)	June 4, 1971	1,000 kW	294.1 m (965 ft)	34°19′17.2″N 78°13′41.4″W	69332	Profile LMS
WUNK-TV	Greenville	25 (PSIP) 25 (UHF)	May 7, 1972	60 kW (STA) 1,000 kW (CP)	197.6 m (648 ft) (STA) 348 m (1,142 ft) (CP)	35°33′11″N 77°36′4.8″W	69149	Profile LMS
WUNL-TV	Winston-Salem (Greensboro/High Point)	26 (PSIP) 33 (UHF)	February 22, 1973	1,000 kW	502.6 m (1,649 ft)	36°22′31.7″N 80°22′17.5″W	69360	Profile LMS
WUNM-TV	Jacksonville (New Bern)	19 (PSIP) 28 (UHF)	November 16, 1982	65 kW	561 m (1,841 ft)	35°6′15.6″N 77°20′11.4″W	69444	Profile LMS
WUNP-TV	Roanoke Rapids	36 (PSIP) 27 (UHF)	October 16, 1986	248 kW	363.4 m (1,192 ft)	36°17′29.2″N 77°50′9.4″W	69397	Profile LMS
WUNU	Lumberton (Fayetteville)	31 (PSIP) 30 (UHF)	September 23, 1996	113 kW	294 m (965 ft)	34°47′51.1″N 79°2′41.4″W	69416	Profile LMS
WUNW	Canton (Waynesville)	27 (PSIP) 27 (UHF)	February 12, 2008	50 kW	503 m (1,650 ft)	35°34′6″N 82°54′25″W	83822	Profile LMS

Notes:

• 1. Aside from their transmitters, the network's stations (except WUNC-TV) do not maintain any physical presence in their cities of license.
• 2. WUND-TV formerly used the callsign WUNB-TV from its 1965 sign-on to 1967.
• 3. WUND-TV was originally licensed to Columbia; the license was moved to Edenton in 2005, effectively gaining must-carry rights in the Norfolk–Newport News–Portsmouth television market, which includes several northeastern North Carolina counties.[2]
• 4. Five commercial television stations in the Wilmington media market began transmitting solely in digital on September 8, 2008. WUNJ-TV was required to continue analog broadcasts until the national digital television transition on June 12, 2009, as they were the official conduit of emergency information in the Wilmington area.

Digital television

Digital channels

PBS NC's current over-the-air digital configuration, which is multiplexed among three subchannels, was introduced on September 25, 2008. On that date, UNC-TV revised its subchannel lineup on its stations, reducing the number of channels to three: UNC-TV (the main channel of each station, which now carries high definition programming), and the standard definition-only services UNC-KD and UNC-EX ("The Explorer Channel"). UNC-TV HD and UNC-EX are also available to DirecTV customers with MPEG4-compatible receivers. Prior to February 1, 2016, Time Warner Cable customers also received UNC-MX (described as "an eclectic mix of programming for adults") in standard definition; the North Carolina Channel has since replaced UNC-MX on Time Warner Cable systems.[3] Prior to November 1, 2009, the third subchannel was named UNC-NC.[4]

This configuration is used for WUNC, WUND, WUNF, WUNG, WUNJ, WUNK, WUNL, and WUNU:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
xx.1	1080i	16:9	PBS NC	Main PBS NC programming
xx.2	480i		ROOTLE	PBS Kids Channel
xx.3			UNC-EX	The Explorer Channel[13]
xx.4			NCCHL	The North Carolina Channel

An alternate configuration is used for WUNE, WUNM, WUNP, and WUNW. The original purpose for this was to obtain must-carry status for UNC-KD since those are secondary stations in their respective markets.[14] On June 15, 2010, UNC-KD switched subchannels with UNC-EX on the four stations previously mentioned, which transferred UNC-KD's must-carry status to UNC-EX.[15]

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming[16]
xx.1	480i	16:9	UNC-EX	The Explorer Channel
xx.2	1080i		PBS NC	Main PBS NC programming
xx.3	480i		ROOTLE	PBS Kids Channel
xx.4			NCCHL	The North Carolina Channel

Subscribers of Charter Communications, the major cable provider in the state, can receive each of the PBS NC digital subchannels. Time Warner Cable built a direct-fiber optic connection to PBS NC's studios in RTP, a connection inherited by Charter when it merged with Time Warner Cable in 2016. Cable providers with a direct fiber optic link to PBS NC (including Charter) also carry UNC-MX (formerly UNC-ED) on their digital tiers. UNC-MX features a mix of how-to and public affairs programs, along with encore presentations of programs originally broadcast on the primary PBS NC channel. Cable providers which rely on off-air reception for broadcast stations are limited to the four-channel lineup. On February 1, 2016, UNC-MX was renamed UNC-NC "The North Carolina Channel" and was added over-the-air on subchannel 4 on both channel configurations.[17] On July 2, 2016, UNC-KD was rebranded as ROOTLE.[18]

Prior to September 25, 2008, UNC-TV formerly operated four digital channels: in addition to the main signal on the primary channel, the second digital subchannel of each station carried UNC-HD (which carried PBS and regional programming in high-definition), the third subchannel carried UNC-KD (which carried children's programs), the fourth subchannel carried UNC-ED (an educational television service) and the fifth subchannel carried UNC-NC (centering on North Carolina public affairs and original local productions). Due to bandwidth limitations at the time, the over-the-air feed of UNC-HD was only available between 8-11 p.m., during which UNC-ED and UNC-NC ceased transmission in the interim. Cable systems with a direct fiber link to UNC-TV facilities aired all five channels on a 24-hour schedule.

On April 16, 2018, WRAY and WLXI were merged onto WUNC's spectrum, after parent company Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) sold the stations' individual bandwidth in the 2016 FCC incentive auction.[19][20] WUNC is the only station in the 12-station network that has a channel sharing agreement.[21]

Analog-to-digital conversion

PBS NC's stations shut down their analog signals 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 channel allocations pre- and post-transition are as follows:[22]

Call Letters	Initial Analog Channel	Pre-Transition Digital Channel	Post-Transition Digital Channel	FCC Repack Plan (2017)[23]
WUNC	4	59	25	20
WUND	2	20	20	29
WUNE	17	54	17	36
WUNF	33	25	25	20
WUNG	58	44	44	21
WUNJ	39	29	29	21
WUNK	25	23	23	25
WUNL	26	32	32	33
WUNM	19	18	19	28
WUNP	36	39	36	27
WUNU	31	25	31	30
WUNW	—	—	27	27

All channels retained their original numbering for display to viewers via PSIP.

UNC-TV opted not to join other broadcasters in the Wilmington market in an early switch to digital-only broadcasts on September 8, 2008, nine months ahead of the national transition deadline.[24] Following that date, WUNJ-TV became only full-power station in Wilmington that continued to broadcast an analog signal until the national digital transition on June 12, 2009.

Translators

PBS NC operates 24 translators. Each translator is assigned to the license of a parent PBS NC full-power station, all of which simulcast the same network signal. Two directly repeat WUNC-TV, three directly repeat WUNE-TV, two directly repeat WUNG-TV, three directly repeat WUNL-TV, and 14 directly repeat WUNF-TV.

The 22 mountain-based translators serve as low-power, limited-area repeaters that bring the network's signal to towns in deep mountain valleys where the parent signal is blocked by the surrounding terrain. The translators of WUNC-TV act as digital replacement translators serving the few areas of the Triangle where WUNC-TV lost over-the-air coverage during the analog-digital conversion in 2009.

Station	City of license	Channel	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter Coordinates	Notes
Direct repeaters of WUNC-TV
WUNC-TV	Raleigh	30 (UHF)	0.5 kW	148 m (486 ft)	69080	35°40′28″N 78°31′40″W	Digital replacement translator.[25]
	Oxford	46 (UHF)	0.6 kW	87 m (285 ft)		36°27′39″N 78°45′19″W	Digital replacement translator.[26]
Direct repeaters of WUNE-TV
W29FE-D	Bat Cave	29 (UHF)	0.5 kW	278 m (912 ft)	168591	35°25′49″N 82°15′17″W	Former call sign W41DI-D
W42AX-D	Bakersville	42 (UHF)	1 kW	311 m (1,020 ft)	69040	36°02′01″N 82°12′08″W	Former call sign W42AX.
W22FB-D	Marion	22 (UHF)	0.5 kW	167 m (548 ft)	168595	35°40′17″N 82°00′19″W	Former call sign W51EE-D.
Direct repeaters of WUNF-TV
W16DZ-D	Tryon	16 (UHF)	0.2 kW	555 m (1,821 ft)	69189	35°15′58″N 82°14′40″W	Former call signs W19CR-D, W19CR, W24BA and W56AN.
W19DB-D	Franklin (Cowee Bald)	19 (UHF)	0.5 kW	669 m (2,195 ft)	168592	35°10′23″N 83°34′52″W
W19DD-D	Brevard	19 (UHF)	0.5 kW	421 m (1,381 ft)	69220	35°10′36″N 82°40′54″W	Former call signs W59AR and W68DM.
W33EH-D	Black Mountain	33 (UHF)	0.5 kW	540 m (1,772 ft)	69389	35°34′04″N 82°23′02″W	Former call signs W52BA and W19HK-D.
W28EE-D	Canton	28 (UHF)	0.011 kW	374 m (1,227 ft)	168588	35°38′14″N 82°29′56″W	Former call sign W46EC-D.
W29DE-D	Hayesville	29 (UHF)	0.6 kW	270 m (886 ft)	168593	34°59′57″N 83°51′34″W
W31AN-D	Murphy	31 (UHF)	0.5 kW	83 m (272 ft)	69154	35°05′02″N 84°00′58″W	Former call sign W31AN.
W31DH-D	Franklin (Wine Springs)	31 (UHF)	0.5 kW	736 m (2,415 ft)	69058	35°19′40″N 83°20′11″W	Former call signs W56AG and W60DA.
W35CK-D	Highlands	35 (UHF)	0.6 kW	346 m (1,135 ft)	168594	35°02′21″N 83°13′04″W
W35CO-D	Burnsville	35 (UHF)	0.5 kW	431 m (1,414 ft)	69291	35°56′16″N 82°17′48″W	Former call signs W27BF, W67AQ and W67DV.
W42DF-D	Cashiers	42 (UHF)	0.6 kW	539 m (1,768 ft)	168590	35°07′54″N 82°59′01″W
W46AX-D	Bryson City	46 (UHF)	0.5 kW	250 m (820 ft)	69123	35°24′47″N 83°30′02″W	Former call signs W46AX and W67AV.
W47DM-D	Cullowhee	47 (UHF)	1 kW	−138 m (−453 ft)	69388	35°18′12″N 83°10′40″W	Former call sign W23AF.
W20EK-D	Andrews	20 (UHF)	1 kW	595 m (1,952 ft)	69015	35°15′26″N 83°47′43″W	Former call signs W49DB-D and W59AD.
Direct repeaters of WUNG-TV
W30EF-D	Jefferson	30 (UHF)	1 kW	502 m (1,647 ft)	68993	36°27′40″N 81°29′19″W	Former call signs W25AY and W25AY-D.
W31DI-D	Spruce Pine	31 (UHF)	0.5 kW	311 m (1,020 ft)	69347	35°52′47″N 82°06′17″W	Former call sign W28AO.
Direct repeaters of WUNL-TV
W15EF-D	Sparta	15 (UHF)	0.6 kW	259 m (850 ft)	69172	36°31′13″N 81°07′27″W	Former call signs W50DV-D and W35AD.
W30CS-D	Zionville	30 (UHF)	0.6 kW	585 m (1,919 ft)	69374	36°18′09″N 81°43′20″W	Former call sign W59AK.
W27EK-D	Boone	27 (UHF)	0.5 kW	390 m (1,280 ft)	69204	36°14′07″N 81°42′20″W	Former call signs W46AG, W27AO, W65DT, and W41DL-D

Cable and satellite carriage

PBS NC is carried on all cable television providers in North Carolina. Additionally, WUND in Edenton is carried by Cox Communications' systems in the southern portion of the Hampton Roads market in Virginia; Edenton is part of the Hampton Roads market. It has also been carried on some cable systems in the Roanoke market in Virginia and the Tri-Cities market in Tennessee.

On DirecTV and Dish Network, WUNC-TV, WUNG, WUNL, WUNF, WUND, WUNJ, and WUNU are carried on the respective local feeds for the Research Triangle, Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Hampton Roads, Wilmington, and Florence/Myrtle Beach markets. In previous years, WUNL has also been carried on the Roanoke DirecTV feed;[27] the Piedmont Triad market includes portions of western Virginia.

See also

• North Carolina Public Radio

References

1. "New Name. Same Public Media You Trust. Coming January 2021". UNC-TV. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
4. "Exclusive News for Facebook Fans like April Green: UNC-TV Announces an Exciting New Service Coming on November 1...UNC-EX". October 2, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
5. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
6. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
7. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
8. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
9. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
10. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
11. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
12. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
13. UNC-TV Presents...UNC-EX The Explorer Channel Retrieved 2009-11-03.
15. "Power Outage Problem - Help". DBSTalk Community.
16. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
17. "Ask SAM: Are chickens allowed in the city?". Winston-Salem Journal. January 23, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
18. Caine, Brooke (July 1, 2016). "UNC-TV launches Rootle, a new statewide 24-hour channel for kids". News & Observer. Raleigh, NC. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
19. "Channel Sharing Transition PSA and Crawl Regarding WRAY, Channel 42, Wilson, NC" (PDF). FCC. April 16, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
20. "Channel Sharing Transition PSA and Crawl Regarding WLXI, Channel 43, Randleman, NC" (PDF). FCC. April 16, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
21. "UNCTV - FAQs". UNCTV. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
22. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
23. "RabbitEars.Info: Repack Plan for UNC-TV". April 13, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
25. "BMPEDT-20100908AAI". September 17, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
26. "BDRTET-20090428AAE". July 22, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2012-07-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• PBS North Carolina official website