About MPTV

As a public service outreach venture for the Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee Public Television serves 2.1 million potential viewers with public and educational television programming. More than 116 hours of programming each day, 365 days a year, are delivered by the unique operation of three, co-located, full power broadcast services. Nearly 1.9 million viewers watch MPTV each week. The Nielsen rating service currently ranks Milwaukee the 33rd largest television market in the nation.

WMVS, Channel 10, began broadcasting in October 1957 as the 28th educational television station to go on the air in the nation. Today, Channel 10 mixes quality occupational, cultural, minority, public affairs, entertainment, recreation, Ready to Learn and life-long educational television programming from PBS, regional PTV networks and independent producers. Locally produced specials and series deal with topics of importance to the diverse audience served.

WMVT, Channel 36, began service in January 1963, and fulfills a more formal educational mission with dayparts devoted to statewide K-12 in-classroom instruction, and regularly scheduled news, sports and information programs.

WMVS-DT, Channel 8, inaugurated digital television service in the Milwaukee area in April 2000 and currently carries pass-through High Definition (HDTV) specials and four multicast Standard Definition (SDTV) services from PBS.

MPTV-HD began carrying high definition programming 24 hours a day in 2003.

The stations have a rich history of technological and programming firsts:

1954: MATC establishes TV technician and telecasting training programs
1957: the first live instructional broadcasts to the Milwaukee Public Schools as part of Ford Foundation experiment
1960: first adult telecourse, Inquiring Mind, produced for National Educational Television (NET)
1961: first live remote broadcast form Wisconsin State Fair
1963: first live broadcast of Great Circus Parade (eventually coverage offered nationwide)
1963: live coverage of Milwaukee Public Schools Desegregation Hearings
1965: the nation's first educational TV broadcast of a color program using an experimental flying spot scanner
1969: first Great TV Auction — raised $67,000
1969: live broadcast of the opening of the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
1970: Hatha Yoga with Kathleen Hitchcock premieres (becomes national series)
1975: first on-air membership campaign raised $23,000
1977: first program underwriting announcement
1979: first live Satellite Forum on the Nation's Economy broadcast with Rep. Henry Reuss in Washington D.C.
1979: first live telecast of a courtroom trial in Wisconsin, second in nation — 'Amaro Murder Trial'
1980: public/private transmission tower cooperative between WVTV-TV, Channel 18 and Channels 10&36
1984: Outdoor Wisconsin premiers (becomes national series)
1985: first station in Wisconsin to broadcast stereo sound
1987: National Emmy award recognition for participation in national Descriptive Video Service experiment
1987: Local Hispanic program Conciencia offers Spanish translation on Second Audio Program (SAP)
1989: The Great Circus Parade taped in experimental HDTV format
1990: Tracks Ahead series premieres (becomes national series)
1992: WMVT-TV used to conduct worlds first full-power digital broadcast test with Zenith/ATT
1994: installed digital satellite reception equipment
1994: began cooperative effort with WTMJ-TV for local news breaks and election coverage
1995: inaugurated web site: www.mptv.org
1998: ground was broken for 1,221-foot digital tower cooperative with American Tower, Inc.
1998: first experimental DTV transmission of John Glenn Space Shuttle Lift-Off
1999: Great Circus Parade produced as the first live HDTV broadcast on PBS
2000: WMVS-DT, Channel 8, first DTV to sign on the air in Milwaukee

In 1946, the Milwaukee Radio and Television Council formed to encourage quality programming. In 1967, that group evolved into the Community Broadcast Council and took on the added role of seeking financial support for the stations. Today, MPTV Friends, Inc., a not-for-profit fundraising organization, supplies more than 50% of the operating budget for the stations through generous donations from individual members, corporate underwriters, and auction donors. The licensee, the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), provides substantial support for station equipment and operating expenses. Additional funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the State of Wisconsin for services provided to the Educational Communications Board (ECB).

The stations' blend of national and locally produced programs provides opportunities for personal, civic, and multicultural enrichment, as well as increased understanding of the global economy, international business and world affairs. Local production efforts continues to be responsive to the community with the series Black Nouveau and Adelante!. Program Advisory Panels enlist stakeholder input from the African American and Latino communities to further enhance the content of these programs.

Ongoing weekly series include: Outdoor Wisconsin, Interchange, I Remember Milwaukee, and Great Lakes Gardener. They are augmented with specials that showcase area arts activities or deal with compelling issues in the community. A new season of the nationally distributed Tracks Ahead is being produced in high definition and will be scheduled soon for release. Overall station performance is discussed monthly by the Public Television Committee of the MATC Board and in quarterly meetings with the Community Advisory Board, a group of interested citizens from each county in the MPTV coverage area.

More than 60 MATC degree program students gain real-life TV industry experience by utilizing MPTV facilities, staff mentors, and local production settings.

The 1950 proposal for an educational TV system for the Milwaukee area was championed by Dr. William Rasche, Director of Milwaukee Vocational and Adult Schools, Milwaukee Mayor Frank Ziedler, and Milwaukee Public School Superintendent Harold Vincent and supported by the Milwaukee Public Museum, the UW-Milwaukee Extension service and the Milwaukee Public Library.

Their vision led to the development Milwaukee Public Television of today, a viewer supported service of Milwaukee Area Technical College, that has grown into a recognized contributor to the area's quality-of-life. On the eve of the digital age, MPTV has assembled services that include full service analog television, full service HDTV and SDTV digital television, broadcast data delivery, world-wide-web presence, 4 channels of ITFS, closed captioning for the hearing impaired, descriptive video for the visually challenged, publishing of Fine Tuning Magazine. The station will continue to add new services as opportunities and needs occur.