WCFE-TV

WCFE-TV

Plattsburgh, New York Burlington–Montpelier, Vermont Montreal, Quebec United States–Canada
City	Plattsburgh, New York
Channels	Digital:36 (UHF) Virtual:57
Branding	Mountain Lake PBS Mountain Lake Journal (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations	57.1:PBS 57.2:NHK World 57.3:PBS Kids
Ownership
Owner	Mountain Lake Public Telecommunications Council
History
First air date	March 6, 1977(1977-03-06)
Former call signs	WNNE-TV (CP, 1970–1975)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:57 (UHF, 1977–2009) Digital:38 (UHF, 2004–2020)
Call signmeaning	Clinton,Franklin,andEssexCounties, New York (primary coverage area)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	46755
ERP	67 kW
HAAT	741.7 m (2,433 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	44°41′43″N73°52′59″W
Translator(s)	see§ Translators
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.mountainlake.org

WCFE-TV(channel 57) is aPBSmembertelevision stationlicensed toPlattsburgh, New York,United States, serving theChamplain ValleyandGreater Montrealareas. Owned by the Mountain Lake Public Telecommunications Council, the station maintains studios at OneSesame Streetin Plattsburgh, and its transmitter is located atopLyon Mountain,between Plattsburgh and nearbyMalone.WCFE-TV is branded asMountain Lake PBS;this name was adopted to reflect Plattsburgh's location between theAdirondacksandLake Champlain.

WCFE-TV is seen in NortheasternNew York,most ofVermont,EasternOntario(includingCornwalland parts ofOttawa), and SouthernQuebec(includingMontreal) oncable,and throughout most of Vermont, parts of New Hampshire and northern New York east of Massena onsatellite.

History

WCFE-TV signed on March 6, 1977, from its studios atSUNY Plattsburgh.In 1993, it rebranded itself as "Mountain Lake PBS" to reflect its growing viewership.

From 1990 to 1996, WCFE-TV had a sisterNPRstation, WCFE-FM on 91.9. However, in a case of exceptionally bad timing, WCFE-FM signed on just asNorth Country Public Radiobegan building a number of satellites and repeaters in the WCFE-TV service area. It did not help matters that much of the area got a strong signal fromVermont Public RadioflagshipWVPSinBurlington.It soon became apparent that Plattsburgh was too small for a standalone NPR station to be viable. Realizing that it was up against two established public radio broadcasters with more resources than it could hope to match, Mountain Lake sold WCFE-FM toAlbany'sWAMCin 1996, who operates 91.9 as a repeater, WCEL.

2007 transmitter tower collapse

On April 18, 2007, WCFE's 400-foot (122 m) transmitter tower located onLyon Mountaincompletely collapsed as a result of heavy amounts of ice and snow from theApril 2007 Nor'easter,and partially damaged the transmitter building at the base. The station started rebuilding a transmitter tower. In the meantime, the directfiber opticlines to the localCharter Communicationsfranchise were unaffected, and the station continued to broadcast on cable. On April 23, 2007, WCFE-TV went back on the air as a temporary digital subchannel ofWCAX-TV,broadcast fromMount Mansfield,Vermont. WCFE-TV was multicast on WCAX's digital channel 53, mapped tovirtual channel57.1. On August 10, 2007, WCAX-TV discontinued carriage of WCFE-TV, when interim facilities were established.

Following the collapse, cable viewers outside of the New York side of the Plattsburgh–Burlington market had to rely on distant affiliates for PBS programming. Cable systems in Vermont and some systems inMontérégiecontinued to have access toVermont Public Televisionstations, while Videotron systems in the latter region that offered WCFE-TV substituted its signal with that ofDetroit'sWTVS.On April 27, WCFE-TV's signal was reestablished on Videotron, which received WCFE-TV's signal from its temporary transmitter.

In addition,WPTZdonated its internet streaming facilities to WCFE-TV, which was used for WCFE-TV's annualArt Auction,which took place as scheduled, shortly after the collapse.

The transmitter that was damaged was a Thomson TBM unit. The company was able to provide one of their Affinity transmitters on lease to the station within two weeks of getting the request from the station. This temporary transmitter was located at the station's studio location until they could get the main transmitter facility repaired (which was a very involved process due to site access issues).

On October 9, 2007, WCFE-TV's new tower at Lyon Mountain went into service, almost six months after the collapse.WCFE-TV's digital signal went on the air on October 23.

Challenges

WCFE-TV is in a unique market. AcrossLake Champlainto the east lies the city of Burlington, Vermont, home to another PBS member station: Vermont PBS. To the west liesWatertown,home to PBS memberWPBS-TV/WNPI-DT.As a result, most of WCFE-TV's broadcast area viewers are served by two PBS members. For years, WCFE-TV has searched for a way to stand out.

One of its solutions has been to broadcast certain various signature PBS shows at different dates and times from the national PBS schedule, much asNew York City's secondary PBS outlet,WLIWhas done to differentiate itself from the market's primary PBS member,WNET(which also owns WLIW). For example, for a number of years WCFE-TV did not broadcast PBS'Masterpiece Theatreon Sunday evenings; it would also airWall Street Weekon Saturday instead of Friday, to name but two examples.

This practice has always been somewhat controversial amongst WCFE-TV's members, especially those who do not live in overlapping broadcast areas. As a result, the station has reduced the practice somewhat, and has taken to airing a number of the most popular PBS shows in pattern with the national schedule.

WCFE-TV is the second-smallest PBS member in New York state, ahead of only WPBS/WNPI. However, it reaches a potential audience of 3.9 million people. The great majority of its audience lives in Canada; Montreal alone has 10 times as many people as the Burlington–Plattsburgh market. Additionally, of its 8,500 members (as of August 2007), 4,500 live in Canada.Not only must WCFE-TV take Canadian interests into account in its programming, but its large Canadian viewership has an impact in itsfundraisingactivities. It not only includesFrench-languageelements in its fundraising efforts, but a significant portion of the proceeds from its pledge drives is inCanadian dollars.The station operates a separate fundraising arm for its Canadian viewers, Canadian Friends of Mountain Lake PBS.

WCFE-TV's American coverage area consists mostly of rural areas and small towns. The only major urban centers are Montreal and Burlington.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WCFE-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
57.1	1080i	16:9	MLPBSHD	Main WCFE programming /PBS
57.2	480i		NHK-WOR	NHK World
57.3			MLKIDS	PBS Kids

Translators

• W25AT-DTupper Lake
• W25BT-DMonkton, VT
• W29EW-DWillsboro

Analog-to-digital conversion

WCFE-TV began simulcasting digital and analog transmission in early 2005.

WCFE-TV shut down its analog signal, overUHFchannel 57, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 38,using virtual channel 57.

Until the beginning of 2010, an SD simulcast of WCFE-TV was broadcast on 57.2, whileThinkBrightwas broadcast on 57.3. From January to September 2010,Classic Arts Showcasewas on 57.3.

As a part of therepackingprocess following the2016-2017 FCC incentive auction,WCFE-TV relocated to UHF channel 36 on July 2, 2020.

WCFE-TV is currently transmitting at 67kW.

External links

• Mountain Lake PBS web site
• TV Hat: Trivial facts about Southern QC, Upstate NY and VT stations