verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message wpba atlanta georgia united states branding pba 30 slogan atlanta s pbs station channels digital 21 uhf virtual 30 psip iptv 134 southern fibernet subchannels 30.1 pbs affiliations pbs owner atlanta public schools board of education of the city of atlanta first air date february 17 1958 ; 58 years ago 1958 02 17 call letters meaning public broadcasting atlanta sister station s wabe fm 90.1 aps cable channel 22 former callsigns wetv 1958 1984 former channel number s analog 30 uhf 1958 2009 former affiliations net 1958 1970 transmitter power 55.4 kw digital height 265.7 m 872 ft digital facility id 4190 transmitter coordinates 33 45 32.6 n 84 20 5.7 w 33.759056 n 84.334917 w 33.759056 ; 84.334917 wpba tv 21 30.1 transmitter coordinates 33 45 32.6 n 84 20 5.7 w 33.759056 n 84.334917 w 33.759056 ; 84.334917 wpba tv 21 30.1 transmitter digital licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.pba.org wpba or simply pba ; channel 30.1 dtv 21 is one of two pbs member tv stations in the atlanta metropolitan area . the callsign stands for public broadcasting atlanta and it is counterpart to wabe fm 90.1 the atlanta area s local national public radio station . both are licensed to and operated by the atlanta public schools . the two stations share a studio on bismark road in the morningside lenox park neighborhood of atlanta . it is the only pbs station in georgia not run by georgia public broadcasting as part of the gpb television network . there is some duplication but only rarely simulcasting of programming with gpb primary station wgtv . unlike wgtv wpba datacasts updatetv an over the air programming service which updates the firmware on some brands of atsc tuners via the pbs national datacast network thus being able to receive the station will benefit owners of those devices . conversely wpba is also one of the few pbs stations not to broadcast any digital subchannels possibly because some of the bitrate is occupied by datacasting wgtv operates two subchannels on its frequency serving the area . the station has also datacast tv guide on screen since the beginning of october 2009 after cbs affiliate wgcl tv ended the service following technical issues the service caused for some viewers with certain dtv converter set top boxes . prior to the permanent shutdown of all analog tv in the u.s. the station typically turned off its analog tv transmitter late at night generally 1 5 am but could still be seen on most cable tv systems directv and over the air on digital tv at all hours . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channel 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 transmission tower 4 references 5 external links history edit the station signed on on february 17 1958 as wetv educational television georgia s first public television station . at first it only broadcast during school hours but gradually added programming for the general public . originally a member of national educational television it joined pbs on october 5 1970 . the station had the callsign changed to wpba in 1984 . the wetv callsign today is now used by a low power television station in murfreesboro tennessee wetv lp channel 11 . in 2000 wpba s digital signal on channel 21 began operation . digital television edit digital channel edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 30.1 1080i 16 9 wpba dt main wpba programming pbs analog to digital conversion edit wpba shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 30 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 2 the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 21 using psip to display wpba s virtual channel as 30 on digital television receivers . on june 12 2009 the official end of full power analog broadcasting in the united states comcast cut off wpba to analog subscribers . this contradicted a moratorium on such actions which runs until well after the over the air cutoff in order to prevent viewers from losing all sources of any channel all at once . comcast now only airs wpba for atlanta area viewers over digital cable on virtual channel 16 816 for hdtv as part of post digital transition rules allowing the system to carry only one pbs station in their area for analog viewers . in this case wgtv was chosen for carriage since it was presumed as the atlanta area s flagship station for pbs . however all analog subscribers are entitled by fcc regulation to receive simplified digital television adapters dtas from the cable company at no extra charge and extra boxes for a maximum of two dollars each per month in order to recover channels that have been taken away but are still on the basic tier of service below channel 100 . these devices require a separate remote control which may not work with universal remotes or personal video recorders ir blasters for recording wpba programming . the termination of wpba s analog over the air signal allows lptv station wtbs lp 26 to proceed with its construction permit for digital wtbs ld which is also for physical channel 30 . transmission tower edit main article list of atlanta broadcast stations by location edgewood kirkwood wpba and wabe share two adjacent towers s in the east side of the city between edgewood and kirkwood with the single antenna used by wsb fm 98.5 wstr fm 94.1 and wvee fm 103.3 . those three radio stations transmitters are diplexed together so that they all feed to the antenna instead of into each other . wabe was formerly on stone mountain but had to leave when wgtv needed the space for its digital equipment in addition to maintaining analog and the use of the tower by kec80 to transmit noaa weather radio . like wgtv wpba also has a weak signal well below the maximum power allowed limiting its useful broadcast range . as a result its over the air signal is marginal at best outside the perimeter i.e. atlanta itself and the inner suburbs . references edit rabbitears tv query for wpba list of digital full power stations permanent dead link external links edit wpba website query the fcc s tv station database for wpba biafn s media web database information on wpba tv v t e broadcast television in north georgia including atlanta and athens reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television metro atlanta wsb tv 2.1 abc 2.2 metv 2.3 laff waga tv 5.1 fox 5.2 movies 5.3 buzzr wxia tv 11.1 nbc 11.2 wn 11.3 justice network wpxa tv 14.1 ion 14.2 qubo 14.3 ion life 47.1 simulcast of wktb cd1 tmd wpch tv 17.1 ind. wuvg dt 34.3 gettv 34.4 escape watl 36.1 mntv 36.2 bounce 36.3 ant . wire cd 40.3 video mix tv wgcl tv 46.1 cbs 46.2 cozi 46.3 grit watc dt 57.2 ind. family wupa 69.1 cw 69.2 decades spanish language stations wuvg dt 34.1 univision 34.2 unim s wuvm lp 4 aza wyga cd 16.1 6 mex . 16.2 sbn wtbs ld lp 26 26.1 mmax 26.2 lwn 26.5 tuff 26.6 lmm wann cd 32.1 zap2it biz 32.2 this tv 32.4 moxie 32.5 oldie 32.6 myfam . 32.7 la mega 32.8 latv 32.9 retro 32.10 estrella tv wthc ld 42.1 tourist wktb cd 47.1 telemundo 47.3 telexitos wagc ld 50.1 ind. bnn religious stations wdta ld 53.1 ds watc dt 57.1 ind. relg . wire cd 40.4 3abn wktb cd 47.4 mc tv whsg tv 63.1 tbn 63.2 church 63.3 juce 63.4 enlace 63.5 smile wggd ld 15 ds public television wciq 7.1 pbs apt 7.2 apt world 7.3 create wgtv 8 wngh 18 wjsp 28 .1 pbs gpb .2 create .3 knowledge wpba 30.1 pbs home shopping stations w45dx d 45.1 hsn wann cd 32.3 ads wtbs ld 26.3 jtv wire cd 40.1 2 ads wpxa tv 14.4 shop 14.5 qvc ethnic stations wktb cd 47.2 ktn kbs 47.3 mbc d wskc cd 22.1 mbc wtbs ld 26.4 france 24 outlying areas wksy ld 21.1 ind. 21.2 rtv 21.3 3abn 21.4 watc dt 21.5 news wdww lp 28 unknown wgta 32.1 h & i 32.2 decades 32.3 movies wjcn ld 33.1 ind. local cable channels aib cobbtv cobb edtv people tv fox sports south fox sports southeast audio only stations wann cd 32.11 wgst am 640 32.12 wubl fm 94.9 32.13 wrda fm 105.7 32.14 wwpw 96.1 32.15 wwpw 96.1 2 32.16 wbzy fm 105.3 32.17 la mega 32.18 wpbc am 1310 defunct wrom tv 9 ind. nbc cbs abc dumont wqxi watl old 36 ind. wxid lp 49 jctv ds comcast charter sports southeast atsc m h mobile dtv encrypted channels are italicized wsb 2.1 abc waga 5.1 fox wxia 11.1 nbc wpxa 14.2 qubo 14.82 gran cine 14.85 nfl net 14.87 gol tv 14.88 nfl redzone 14.90 starz 14.96 airbox 14.97 mtv classic wpch 17.1 ind. watl 36.1 mntv wgcl 46.1 cbs wqjy980 56.1 unknown wupa 69.1 cw georgia broadcast television areas by city albany atlanta augusta chattanooga tn columbus greenville sc jacksonville fl macon savannah tallahassee fl see also huntsville birmingham tv v t e pbs member stations in the state of georgia gpb wgtv 8 atlanta wxga 8 waycross valdosta wvan 9 savannah wabw 14 albany wngh 18 dalton wces 20 augusta wacs 25 dawson americus wjsp 28 columbus wmum 29 macon other wpba 30 atlanta see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in georgia v t e public schools in atlanta high schools carver commercial douglass girls grady mays north atlanta south atlanta m. h. jackson therrell washington middle schools brown bunche coan harper archer inman kennedy king long parks price sutton sylvan hills turner young elementary schools adamsville beecher hills benteen bethune blalock bolton academy boyd brandon burgess peterson campbell capitol view cascade centennial place cleveland ave. connally continental colony cook deerwood academy dobbs dunbar east lake fain fickett finch garden hills gideons grove park heritage academy herndon hill hope humphries hutchinson jackson jones kimberley lin miles morningside oglethorpe parkside perkerson peyton forest rivers scott slater smith d. h. stanton f. l. stanton thomasville heights toomer towns usher collier heights venetian hills waters west manor white whitefoord williams woodson non traditional schools aps cep school alonzo a. crim open campus high school west end academy charter schools achieve academy of atlanta atlanta charter middle school charles r. drew charter school kipp academy neighborhood charter school siat tech high school best academy c. s. king academy university community academy sports facilities lakewood stadium grady stadium broadcasting wabe fm 90.1 wpba tv 30.1 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wpba tv & oldid 743267097 categories atlanta public schoolspbs member stationstelevision stations in atlantatelevision channels and stations established in 19581958 establishments in georgia u.s. state hidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from july 2016articles with permanently dead external linksarticles needing additional references from september 2014all articles needing additional referencescoordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged 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