WMHT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

WMHT-TV

Q: What does WMHT stand for?
A: The W signifies that our station is located east of the Mississippi River (all stations west of the Mississippi River start with a K). The MHT stands for Mohawk Hudson Telecommunications.

Q: Where can WMHT-TV be found?
A: If you don�t subscribe to cable or have a satellite signal, WMHT-TV can be found over the air on Channel 17. WMHT-TV (17 or on Time Warner Cable channel 11) offers the regular analog WMHT programming that most viewers are accustomed to receiving. For satellite subscribers, WMHT-TV can be found on DirecTV channel 17 or Dish Network channel 7111.

Q: Where else can I find WMHT on my television?
A: WMHT also broadcasts digital channels from its digital transmitter. Digital broadcasting gives WMHT the potential to play multiple programs on multiple channels over the air at the same time.

WMHT-HD (17.1 or on TWC 1811) offers widescreen high definition programs scheduled by PBS and provided directly to WMHT for broadcast, including many beautiful PBS series such as NATURE, NOVA, MASTERPIECE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
WMHT ThinkBright/Create (17.2 or on TWC 200) offers programming from two different sources. ThinkBright comes from the New York State Interconnect system and features themed educational programming from 8 pm � 7:30 am daily. Create comes from a national feed from American Public Television and features how-to and lifestyles programs during the hours of 7:30 am � 8 pm.
WMHT World (17.3 or on TWC 532) offers documentary, public affairs and news programming from public television�s award winning signature series and acclaimed independent filmmakers. Programming includes such popular series as AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, FRONTLINE, NATURE, THE NEWSHOUR WTH JIM LEHRER and NOVA.

FOR SATELLITE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY:

PBS Sprout (DirecTV channel 295) offers 24 hour kids programming.

Q: Where can I find the most up-to-date schedule for all of these channels?
A: All updated schedules can be found on wmht.org.

Q: What are the advantages of digital TV over analog TV?
A: A digital signal is much more flexible and efficient. Due to the nature of the digital signal, it is virtually free of interference/static and the picture is crystal clear. Another feature of DTV is that broadcasters will be able to fit more data or information into the same size frequency they had before, allowing for a wealth of new programming to be introduced to the viewers.

Q: Where does WMHT-TV programming come from?
A: WMHT pays for national programming from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), American Public Television (APT), National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and from independent producers. WMHT also produces programs of its own.

WMHT RADIO

WMHT-FM

Q: Where can WMHT-FM be found on the dial?
A: WMHT-FM can be found on radio stations WMHT-FM 89.1 and WRHV-FM 88.7. WMHT-FM is unique in its commitment, playing classical music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Q: Where does WMHT-FM programming come from?
A: WMHT-FM programming is purchased from National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), Classical 24 from Minnesota, and from independent producers.

Q: Why does WRHV 88.7 in Poughkeepsie switch over to non-classical music at night?
A: WRHV 88.7 shares it�s frequency with a college radio station and switches to non-classical music during the night. The classical music WMHT-FM 89.1 programming airs during the day.
WEXT - EXIT 97.7

Q: Is WEXT associated with WMHT?
A: WEXT is a special listener-supported music service owned and operated by WMHT Educational Telecommunications.

Q: What kind of music can be found on WEXT?
A: WEXT offers adult alternative independent rock music and highlights local artists each hour of every day.

Q: Why does WEXT and WMHT-FM get different radio reception in our area if both are broadcast from the WMHT Studios in Troy?
A: Even though the two radio stations are programmed in Troy, they have different radio towers that send out their signals. WEXT uses a tower located in Amsterdam with less wattage than the WMHT-FM signal out of Schenectady. Therefore, the reception for WEXT has a smaller coverage area, and receives less reception than WMHT-FM throughout our area.

RISE

Q: What is RISE?
A: RISE is WMHT's 24 hour radio information service for the blind and print disabled, serving New York's Capital Region and Hudson Valley. RISE transmits on a sub-carrier of the main WMHT-FM signal. Through a specially tuned table-top radio receiver, listeners have access to readings of local and national newspapers, popular periodicals and books, as well as specialty programming. Receivers are loaned free of charge to eligible applicants.

Q: What are the qualifications and how do I obtain a receiver?
A: Anyone with a visual impairment or physical condition that makes reading difficult is eligible for RISE. To apply for a receiver, call RISE at 518-880-3436.

Q: Will I have to pay for RISE?
A: Receivers are loaned free of charge to eligible applicants.

EDUCATION

Q: What kinds of educational services does WMHT provide to the community?
A: WMHT offers numerous community outreach and family learning initiatives that inspire, educate and entertain for a lifetime.

Q: What is Ed Video Online?
A: WMHT�s new Ed Video Online service, provided by Clearvue & SVE�s PowerMediaPlus provides digital video resources to students and educators in New York State. The new service has 3,200 full-length videos, nearly 20,000 curriculum correlated video segments, 4,000 audio files, 25,000 photographs, animations and illustrations, and new features like podcasting.

Q: How does someone access this service?
A: Parents, teachers and administrators can access this FREE service directly from the WMHT website at http://www.wmht.org/learning/teachers.php. Once there, they can sign up for a user login and password.

FUNDING

Q: How does the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) support WMHT?
A: The CPB distributes funds granted by Congress and partially funds all public television stations throughout the country so that they can develop, and ensure universal access to non-commercial high-quality programming and educational services to communities across the country. This represents 13% of WMHT�s total funding.

Q: How does the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) support WMHT?
A: It is through State Ed that WMHT receives funds each year to support educational activities and programming. NYSED also receives money from the NY State Lottery as a sponsor for Ed Video Online. This represents 17% of our total funding.

Q: What is WMHT�s annual budget?
A: WMHT�s annual budget is 8 million dollars.

Q: Where does the rest of WMHT�s budget come from?
A: Most of WMHT�s financial support comes from the members of WMHT. This is accomplished through pledge drives, auctions, program-underwriting, grants, fundraising events and direct donations. Community supports 70% of our total funding.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Q: Why does our station identification say WMHT-Schenectady even though we are located in Troy?
A: WMHT is required by the FCC to keep the WMHT-Schenectady station identification even though our physical address is in Troy because Schenectady is the city to which the original license was issued. As soon as the FCC allows us to change our city of license, we will. However, right now they are not accepting applications. We do not know when they will accept applications again.

Q: Why did WMHT move to a new facility?
A: Like many public stations across the country, WMHT had to move to a new building in order to successfully transition to digital broadcasting. The transition was mandated, but not funded, by the Federal Government. In order to meet the mandate, WMHT needed to purchase a digital tower and transmitter; move to a new facility capable of supporting digital technology; and purchase all new digital broadcasting equipment. In many instances, WMHT is the first public station in the nation to launch the new technology.

Q: How big is the new building?
A: WMHT�s Public Broadcasting Center is a 53,000 square-foot refurbished facility.

Q: What benefits does being in a new digital building offer?
A: When WMHT moved to its new facility, it became the first PBS station in the country to employ PBS�s ACE Solutions. ACE enabled WMHT to move from a manually operated tape-based facility to a fully automated server-based facility, representing a huge leap forward for the station. The name ACE was chosen by PBS and the letters do not stand for anything. Importantly, ACE allows for future multicasting of WMHT programs by accommodating the current analog broadcast, as well as up to three additional digital streams of programming -- including an High Definition (HD) stream and ThinkBright TV, a continuous educational programming stream. When fully operational, WMHT could have up to 6 programs on the air at the same time.