slogan imagine . discover . experience . channels digital 16 uhf virtual 16 psip subchannels 16.1 pbs in hd 16.2 again 16.3 life 16.4 ohio channel 16.5 pbs in sd affiliations pbs owner public media connect greater dayton public television inc. first air date march 8 1972 ; 44 years ago 1972 03 08 call letters meaning watch public television dayton sister station s wpto wcet former callsigns wktr tv 1967 1971 woet tv 1972 1977 former channel number s analog 16 uhf 1972 2009 digital 58 uhf 2003 2009 63 w63ah maplewood 2009 former affiliations dt3 create 2003 2009 abc as wktr tv independent as wktr tv transmitter power 155 kw height 350 m facility id 25067 transmitter coordinates 39 43 16 n 84 15 0 w 39.72111 n 84.25000 w 39.72111 ; 84.25000 coordinates 39 43 16 n 84 15 0 w 39.72111 n 84.25000 w 39.72111 ; 84.25000 website www.thinktv.org wpto oxford cincinnati ohio united states branding thinktv 14 slogan imagine . discover . experience . channels digital 28 uhf virtual 14 psip subchannels 14.1 pbs in hd 14.2 prime 14.3 learn pbs kids 14.4 world ohio channel 14.5 pbs in sd affiliations pbs owner public media connect greater dayton public television inc. first air date october 14 1959 ; 56 years ago 1959 10 14 call letters meaning watch public television oxford sister station s wptd wcet former callsigns wmub tv 1959 1977 former channel number s analog 14 uhf 1959 2009 former affiliations net 1959 1970 transmitter power 400 kw height 268.4 m facility id 25065 transmitter coordinates 39 7 19 n 84 32 52 w 39.12194 n 84.54778 w 39.12194 ; 84.54778 wpto website www.thinktv.org wptd uhf digital channel 16 is a pbs member television station located in dayton ohio united states . the station s signal is relayed by w32ds d in maplewood ohio . wptd s digital transmitter is located off south gettysburg avenue in the highview hills neighborhood in southwest dayton . wptd has a sister station wpto virtual channel 14 uhf digital channel 28 also a pbs member . licensed to oxford wpto provides a second choice for pbs programming in cincinnati alongside that city s flagship pbs station wcet . wpto s transmitter is located in the south fairmount neighborhood on the northwest side of cincinnati and is shared with cincinnati s fox affiliate wxix tv channel 19 . together the two stations are known on air as the thinktv network . wptd brands as thinktv16 while wpto brands as thinktv14 . despite shared branding wpto does not operate as a satellite of wptd . the two stations are separately programmed and scheduled . while the two stations share some programs there is virtually no overlap except during pledge drives . thinktv operates as a subsidiary of public media connect a regional non profit company that also owns wcet . master control operations for all three stations are based at thinktv s facilities on south jefferson street in dayton . 1 wptd s broadcast coverage includes much of southwestern ohio including dayton and cincinnati as well as portions of eastern indiana . wpto s smaller coverage area largely overlaps that of wptd but is more concentrated in the extreme southwest corner of ohio providing a stronger signal to cincinnati and a weaker rimshot signal to the dayton area . both stations are available on time warner cable throughout southwestern ohio though some providers may offer only wptd s set of digital subchannels or wpto s depending on their location . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 analog to digital conversion 2.2 digital channels 2.2.1 wptd 2.2.2 wpto 3 translators 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit wptd first signed on the air on april 24 1972 as woet tv standing for ohio educational television ; it was operated by the ohio educational broadcasting network commission oeb . prior to the station s launch the channel 16 frequency in dayton was occupied by a commercial independent and sometime abc affiliated station wktr tv . 2 that station was owned by kitty hawk television corporation and licensed to kettering when it began broadcasting in april 1967 . it went dark february 27 1971 but returned to the air with a limited schedule from april until october while the license transfer to oeb was pending federal communications commission approval . the fcc formally reallocated the frequency as non commercial september 14 1977 . wpto began broadcasting on october 14 1959 as wmub tv operated by miami university . the call letters matched those of then co owned wmub radio and stood for miami university broadcasting . it was the secondary educational station in the cincinnati area alongside future sister wcet . the two stations joined forces in 1975 under the banner of university regional broadcasting a consortium of miami wright state and central state universities . wmub tv served as the primary station for a year until woet tv became the primary station in 1976 . in 1977 the stations were transferred to a new community organization greater dayton public television and received their current callsigns with woet tv becoming wptd and wmub tv becoming wpto . from the creation of university regional broadcasting onward the secondary station operated as a semi satellite of the primary station only rarely airing different usually local public affairs type programs . this situation existed until cable television began to become widely available in cincinnati and dayton . as cable availability rose greater dayton public television began to differentiate its stations programming gradually with the stations eventually becoming separately programmed . the stations rebranded themselves as the thinktv network in 1998 though the legal name remained greater dayton public television . on october 31 2008 greater dayton public television and the greater cincinnati television educational foundation owner of wcet announced plans to merge their resources into one non profit organization serving all of southwest ohio while maintaining separate identities . 3 the merger completed on may 8 2009 with the formation of public media connect inc. both thinktv and cet operate as subsidiaries under the new organization . 4 the merger resulted in the july 2010 transfer of wcet s master control operations to thinktv s facilities in dayton . 1 digital television edit analog to digital conversion edit on may 1 2003 thinktv marked the beginning of its conversion to digital technology with the introduction of four new digital program services and a digital simulcast channel for wptd . wptd originally operated its digital signal on uhf channel 58 . one year later in may 2004 thinktv entered phase two of its digital conversion with the installation of new digital master control equipment and the introduction of new digital channels for wpto . wpto operated its digital signal on uhf channel 28 broadcasting from cincinnati . during this period the digital channels were 16.2 thinktv 16 dt 16.3 thinktv 16 again 16.4 thinktv 16 create 16.5 thinktv 16 ohio and 16.6 thinktv hd for wptd ; and 14.2 thinktv 14 dt 14.3 thinktv 14 prime 14.4 thinktv 14 learn 14.5 thinktv 14 world and 14.6 thinktv hd . neither wptd nor wpto had an x. 1 subchannel ; the x. 2 subchannels matched their respective analog channels ; also 16.6 and 14.6 carried identical pbs hd programming which was distinct from the separate analog programming on wptd and on wpto . on may 1 2009 just over one month before full power television stations in the united states were scheduled to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate wptd shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 16 and wpto shut down its analog signal broadcasting from oxford over uhf channel 14 . wptd s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 58 which was among the high band uhf channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition to its analog era uhf channel 16 ; wpto s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 28 continuing to broadcast from cincinnati 5 using psip to display wpto s virtual channel as 14 on digital television receivers . the subchannels were realigned as shown below . digital subchannel 16.3 was changed from thinktv 16 create to thinktv 16 life later in 2009 . digital channels edit the digital signals of wptd and wpto are both multiplexed wptd edit channel branding video aspect psip short name programming 6 16.1 thinktv 16 hd 1080i 16 9 16hd main wptd programming pbs 16.2 thinktv 16 again 480i 4 3 16again repeat broadcasts of wptd primetime shows 16.3 thinktv 16 life 16life lifestyle and how to programming 16.4 thinktv 16 ohio 16ohio the ohio channel 16.5 thinktv 16 dt 16 9 16dt sd simulcast of 16.1 wpto edit channel branding video aspect psip short name programming 7 14.1 thinktv 14 hd 1080i 16 9 14hd main wpto programming pbs 14.2 thinktv 14 prime 480i 4 3 14prime repeat broadcasts of wpto primetime shows 14.3 thinktv 14 learn 14learn pbs kids and college telecourses 14.4 thinktv 14 world 14world world and the ohio channel 14.5 thinktv 14 dt 16 9 14dt sd simulcast of 14.1 while the dt designation on 16.5 and 14.5 appears on the thinktv website and displays on screen via psip it is omitted from thinktv s advertising and on screen bugs . translators edit per fcc filings wptd s translator station w17aa in celina had authorization in 2009 to flash cut to digital operations on uhf channel 17 at a tower site near its existing analog tower . however before this conversion could be completed w17aa suspended operations on january 5 2011 due to circumstances beyond greater dayton public television s control namely a loss of site . the tower owner the state of ohio has plans to dismantle the tower utilized by w17aa and in anticipation has disconnected power to the tower site location . as a result gdptv was forced to suspend operations on w17aa . on january 14 2011 gdptv requested a six month authorization to maintain silent off air status . gdptv then began the process of considering its options for modification of the w17aa license to allow for its resumption of service . on july 26 2011 the fcc accepted gdptv s surrender for cancellation of w17aa s license . citation needed wptd s other translator station w63ah channel 63 in maplewood also had authorization in 2009 to switch to digital operations on channel 32 . however w63ah suspended operations on march 30 2010 also due to a loss of site following a change in ownership for the translator station s licensed tower location . on april 5 2010 gdptv requested a six month authorization to maintain silent status . on september 9 2010 gdptv was granted authorization to relocate its approved digital broadcast facility to a tower near celina with the community of license remaining maplewood . on january 18 2011 the station was granted license to cover allowing it to resume broadcasting . the station now operates digitally on channel 32 as w32ds d it officially took the w32ds callsign in may 2009 . w32ds d covers both celina and the maplewood ohio area and operates with a directional antenna towards the southeast . 8 see also edit channel 14 virtual tv stations in the united states channel 16 digital tv stations in the united states channel 16 virtual tv stations in the united states channel 28 digital tv stations in the united states list of television stations in ohio list of television stations in ohio by channel number list of television stations in the united states by call sign initial letter w references edit a b kiesewetter john 2010 07 19 . merger cuts cet jobs . the cincinnati enquirer . gannett company . retrieved 2010 07 20 . five full time positions including both master control operators have been eliminated by