West Virginia PBS
Since transitioning to digital broadcasting on June 12, 2009, West Virginia PBS – the statewide public television system – can offer three different viewing options:
• WVPBS offers a variety of programs beginning the day with news, fitness and children’s programs. The children’s programming “ages up” throughout the day and evening programs feature viewer favorites such as PBS NewsHour, Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece, NOVA, Nature, and more. The channel designation will be the channel number followed by a 1 (Example: 10-1 or 10.1)
• WVPBS.2 features how-to programs throughout the day including travel, arts, and cooking. The 9-11:30 a.m. block presents a variety of public affairs programs including Think Tank, Out of Ireland Weekly, This is America and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. In the evening, enjoy a variety of entertainment and documentary programs. The channel designation will be the channel number followed by a 2 (Example: 33-2 or 33.2)
• WVPBSHD currently mirrors WVPBS very closely except when exclusive high definition content is available. The channel designation will be the channel number followed by a 3 (Example: 24-3 or 24.3)
The program schedules for each of these channels are available by clicking here.
Click here for the channel designations throughout the state for over-the-air reception of West Virginia PBS channels.
If you subscribe to a cable or satellite service, your provider most likely has different channel designations. Contact your provider to obtain the correct channel assignment for WV PBS, WV PBS.2 and WV PBSHD.
What if my provider doesn’t carry WV PBS?Viewers who subscribe to a cable or satellite television service that doesn’t carry West Virginia PBS and who reside within the state’s boundaries have two options:
1. Contact your provider and specifically request that West Virginia PBS be added to the channel lineup in the basic level of service.
2. Contact your state legislators and/or congressional representatives and ask them to support legislation that requires cable providers operating in West Virginia to select West Virginia PBS -- the PBS station that serves this state -- as the “local” option.
Find your WV Legislators here or call (304) 347-4836
Sen. Jay Rockefeller 202-224-6472
Sen. Robert Byrd 202-224-3954
Congressman Alan Mollohan 202-225-4172
Congresswoman Shelley Capito 202-225-2711
Congressman Nick Rahall 202-225-3452
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There are several varieties -- LCD, plasma and rear-projection. Each type has its pros and cons. Consumer Reports recommends the following tips when researching which television is best for you:
- Look at the TV’s picture on the showroom floor and ask the salesman for the remote control so you can adjust the picture settings to your liking. Make sure the colors are bright, the image is clear and the blacks look black, not grayish or bluish (a more common problem with LCD TVs). Check the viewing angle on an LCD because the picture can fade as you move off angle, some worse than others. Check before you buy to make sure you can live with it.
- Whichever TV type you choose, make sure you have enough inputs to accommodate your DVD player and maybe video games.
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Analog TV: The technology that has been used for the past 50 years to transmit conventional TV signals to consumers. Analog signals vary continuously, creating fluctuations in color and brightness.
Digital Television (DTV): The umbrella term encompassing High Definition Television and several other applications, including Standard Definition Television, datacasting, multicasting and interactivity.
High-definition TV (HDTV or HD): The highest quality level of digital television, with clear, sharp, colorful images and surround sound in a wide screen (16 x 9) movie-like format. You need an HD TV set to see the full effect, but you can receive HD on an analog TV set with a converter box. With a digital TV, you can check your onscreen menu to tell what quality level you are receiving.
Standard Definition TV Format (SDTV): This is the lower quality level of digital broadcasting, though it still produces markedly better images than those of traditional analog TV. SDTV’s quality level is somewhat akin to current digital cable pictures, though its images are not nearly as sharp as those of HDTV. Transmission of SDTV may be in either the traditional (4 x 3) or widescreen (16 x 9) format.
Set-top Converter Box: This is a unit that connects to an analog TV, receives the Digital TV signal and converts it to an analog signal that the TV can display.
Multicasting: Digital technology allows each digital broadcast station to split its signal into 2, 3, 4 or more individual channels of programming and/or data services.
Find out more:
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