see wvue delaware . whyy tv wdpb whyy wilmington delaware philadelphia pennsylvania wdpb seaford delaware salisbury maryland united states branding whyy tv12 slogan where you go to know channels digital whyy 12 vhf wdpb 44 uhf virtual whyy 12 psip wdpb 64 psip affiliations .1 pbs .2 y2 .3 y info world channel owner whyy inc. first air date whyy september 2 1957 ; 59 years ago 1957 09 02 wdpb december 4 1981 ; 34 years ago 1981 12 04 call letters meaning whyy wider horizons for you and yours wdpb delaware public broadcasting sister station s whyy fm former channel number s analog whyy 35 uhf 1957 1963 12 vhf 1963 2009 wdpb 64 uhf 1981 2009 digital whyy 50 uhf 1999 2009 former affiliations net 1957 1970 transmitter power whyy 20 kw wdpb 98 kw height whyy 259 m wdpb 196 m facility id whyy 72338 wdpb 72335 transmitter coordinates whyy 40 2 30.9 n 75 14 21.9 w 40.041917 n 75.239417 w 40.041917 ; 75.239417 wdpb 38 39 16.1 n 75 36 39.1 w 38.654472 n 75.610861 w 38.654472 ; 75.610861 wdpb licensing authority fcc public license information wdpb profile wdpb cdbs website whyy whyy tv vhf digital channel 12 is the primary pbs member television station serving philadelphia pennsylvania united states that is licensed to wilmington delaware . the station is owned by whyy inc. and is a sister station to npr member radio station whyy fm 90.9 . the two stations maintain studio and office facilities on independence mall in center city philadelphia ; whyy tv also operates a secondary studio in wilmington ; both stations share a transmitter located in the roxborough section of philadelphia . whyy tv also operates a satellite station wdpb channel 64 in seaford delaware which serves the delmarva peninsula region . it is one of three pbs member stations serving the philadelphia market alongside wlvt tv channel 39 and njtv channels 23 and 52 as well as the other pbs member station serving the salisbury market alongside mpt channel 28 . contents 1 history 2 programs produced by whyy 2.1 pbs shows 2.2 syndicated programs 2.3 local programming 3 funding 4 digital television 4.1 digital channels 4.2 analog to digital conversion 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the station signed on the air on september 2 1957 originally broadcasting on uhf channel 35 . it was the 23rd non commercial educational television station in the united states and the second to operate in pennsylvania wqed tv in pittsburgh had signed on three years earlier . it was owned by the metropolitan philadelphia educational radio and television corporation . it broadcast from a studio on chestnut street in center city which had previously been occupied by wcau tv channel 10 . the station found the going difficult at first in part because television sets were not required to have uhf tuning capability . additionally the federal communications commission had collapsed most of delaware the lehigh valley and the jersey shore into the philadelphia market and the channel 35 transmitter was not nearly strong enough to serve this large area . whyy wdpb tv id 2011 . then in 1958 wvue a station on vhf channel 12 in wilmington which had lost its nbc affiliation and then struggled as an independent station went off the air . whyy s owners applied to move to the vacant channel 12 which was the nearest available vhf allocation to philadelphia . a few years earlier the fcc had changed its rules to allow a station to have its main studio in a city outside its official city of license . the fcc granted whyy s request to move the station to channel 12 in 1963 and whyy began broadcasting on that allocation for the first time on september 12 . it operated from wvue s old tower in glassboro new jersey . wvue is now the call sign that belongs to the fox affiliated station in new orleans . however for all intents and purposes whyy has always been a philadelphia station ; to this day it identifies its service area on air as wilmington philadelphia . a similar situation exists in new york city ; its flagship pbs station wnet is licensed to newark new jersey . as part of an agreement with delaware officials and the fcc whyy tv also opened a satellite studio in wilmington and began producing a newscast focused on delaware issues delaware tonight . later in 1963 whyy moved its main studio in philadelphia to the former facility operated by wfil tv channel 6 now wpvi tv on 46th and market streets . in 1971 whyy tv moved its transmitter to the roxborough tower farm home to most of philadelphia s television stations . the new tower provides at least grade b coverage as far west as lancaster ; as far south as dover delaware and as far north as new brunswick new jersey . in 1979 channel 12 moved to its current facilities on independence mall first in the old living history center museum and theatre which was also used for nickelodeon game shows such as double dare finders keepers and the bill cosby revival of you bet your life before it was transformed into their current building in 1999 as part of the redevelopment of the independence mall area . in 1984 whyy bought seaford based wdpb which had signed on three years earlier in 1981 and turned it into a full time satellite of channel 12 . controversy erupted in the summer of 2007 when station ceo bill marrazzo was cited by the watchdog group charity navigator as the highest paid ceo in all of public broadcasting . frustrated by a perceived lack of local coverage in december 2009 the city of wilmington filed a challenge to whyy s license with the fcc . 1 programs produced by whyy edit whyy tv has long been a major producer of pbs programming . it currently produces four regular series that are distributed to pbs member stations pbs shows edit hometime 1986 present pbs syndicated programs edit christina cooks flavors of america with chef jim coleman moneytrack flicks a weekly three minute program hosted by film critic patrick stoner featuring reviews of the latest films released in theaters plus interviews with celebrities . daring to resist 2000 pbs scenes from modern life 2002 pbs the station has also developed several television specials such as the great comet crash and trading women . local programming edit creative campus art and culture program focusing on greater philadelphia s colleges and universities experience art and culture program first weekly 30 minute news magazine focused on the state of delaware ; replaced delaware tonight which aired nightly from the whyy delaware broadcast center in wilmington . friday arts monthly art and culture program on tour program that spotlights philadelphia s cultural and ethnic heritage articulate with jim cotter weekly arts and culture magazine show funding edit whyy receives grants from the states of delaware and pennsylvania . government grants are not underwriting grants and are not used to produce individual programs and are used mainly to help ensure service to constituents . some people believe whyy programs are produced with funding from the state of delaware raising conflict of interest issues about the program s ability to report independently on state government and current officeholders . the historical review of the programs confirms that this concern is invalid . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 12.1 1080i 16 9 whyy main whyy tv programming pbs 12.2 480i whyy2 y2 12.3 y info world whyy tv also has plans for a mobile dtv feed of subchannel 12.1 . 3 4 analog to digital conversion edit the station s digital signal initially operated at so low a power that even those who lived in some areas of the city of philadelphia could not receive it reliably . 5 6 whyy tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 12 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 signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 50 to vhf channel 12 for post transition operations . 7 after the problems with vhf digital signals emerged whyy was permitted to increase its transmitting power upon the transition . 8 however the problems with digital broadcasts in the vhf spectrum remain the same at the increased power level and still prevent many people in the philadelphia area from being able to view the high band vhf signal of whyy especially when also attempting to view abc owned and operated station wpvi on channel 6 which operates in the low band vhf spectrum and requires a different vhf antenna configuration . 9 10 11 12 13 see also edit whyy fm list of television stations in delaware list of television stations in pennsylvania references edit http www.philly.com philly news homepage 79116362.html rabbitears tv query for whyy http www.rabbitears.info market.php request atscmph http www.mdtvsignalmap.com http www.seedship.com dtv problems.htm http www.phillyblog.com philly showpost.php p 967651 & postcount 6 dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . http broadcastengineering.com news dtv transition not so smooth some markets http www.dtv.gov consumertips.pdf http www.hdtvmagazine.com columns 2012 01 hdtv expert useful gadgets superflat indoor tv antennas do they really work.php http www.tvtechnology.com news 0110 fixing vhf dtv reception problems 202489 http www.dtvusaforum.com dtv hdtv chat 30906 low band tv spectrum.html http www.philadelphiaspeaks.com forum center city 19636 cant get channel 6 center city.html external links edit whyy website query the fcc s tv station database for whyy query the fcc s tv station database for wdpb biafn s media web database information on whyy tv biafn s media web database information on wdpb tv philadelphia city paper philadelphia magazine v t e broadcast television in the delaware valley including philadelphia delaware south jersey and the lehigh valley reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations kjwp 2.1 metv 2.2 escape 2.3 grit 2.4 justice network kyw tv 3.1 cbs 3.2 decades wpvi tv 6.1 abc 6.2 lwn hd 6.3 laff wefg ld 7.1 ssn 7.2 tuff tv 7.3 fam 7.4 nazca network telos tv 7.5 tvc 7.6 vmas well ld 8.1 daystar wcau 10.1 nbc 10.2 cozi tv 62.3 telemundo whyy 12.1 pbs 12.2 y2 12.3 y info wphl tv 17.1 mntv 17.2 antenna tv 17.3 this tv 17.4 comet wnjs 23.1 pbs njtv 23.3 audiovi wfpa cd 28 unim s wtxf 29.1 fox 29.2 movies 29.4 buzzr wzpa ld 33.1 qvc 33.2 hsn 33.3 sbn 33.4 latv 33.5 color bars 33.6 peace tv 33.7 aza wqav cd 34 av ind wybe 35.1 public ind 35.2 nhk world 35.3 france 24 35.4 rt 35.5 wnyj dt1 simulcast wpha cd 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 infomercials wdum lp 41 hsn wgtw 48.1 tbn 48.2 hillsong 48.3 smile juce tv 48.4 enlace 48.5 salsa wpsg 57.1 cw wppx tv 61.1 ion 61.2 qubo 61.3 ion life 61.4 ion shop 61.5 qvc over the air 61.6 hsn wuvp tv 65.1 uni 65.2 wfpa cd 65.3 gettv 65.4 bounce tv outlying stations atlantic city wacp 4.1 ind 4.2 wacp .2 4.3 sonlife 4.4 wacp wpsj cd 8.1 mundomax 8.2 sbn 8.3 god 8.4 a1 wmgm 40.1 ind wmcn 44.1 ind 44.2 ssn wwsi 62.1 tmd 62.2 telexitos 10.3 nbc lehigh valley w07dc d 7.1 abc 7.2 antenna tv 7.3 justice network wlvt 39.1 pbs 39.3 v me 39.4 create wbph 60.1 ind 60.2 biztv wfmz 69.1 ind 69.2 accuwx 69.3 heroes & icons 69.4 retro tv reading wtve 51.1 ind 52.2 the works 51.3 vietv vietnamese trenton wphy cd 25.1 a1 wnjt 52.1 pbs njtv 52.3 audiovi