Georgia Public Broadcasting

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Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is the public radio and television network in the U.S. state of Georgia. It operates all of the PBS and NPR stations in Georgia, except WPBA-TV, WABE-FM and WCLK-FM in Atlanta, WFSL-FM in Thomasville (which relays WFSQ-FM from Tallahassee, Florida), and WTJB-FM in Columbus (which relays WTSU from Troy, Alabama).

GPB began in 1960 when the University of Georgia began WGTV, Georgia's second public television station (after WETV, now WPBA). From 1960 to 1964, in a separate initiative, the state Board of Education started up eight noncommercial educational stations across the state, aimed at in-school instruction. In 1965, the university and the board merged their efforts as Georgia Educational Television (GETV). It became Georgia Public Television (GPTV) in 1982, a year after the state legislature transferred authority for the stations to the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, the oversight board for GPB.

In 1984, the Commission entered public radio for the first time, starting stations in Macon and Columbus. These formed the nuclei of Peach State Public Radio, renamed Georgia Public Radio in 2001. During the 1980s and 1990s, stations that had been operated by other educational institutions and community groups became affiliated with the network.

On New Year's Day 2004, the two networks officially became known as Georgia Public Broadcasting, which had been the official corporate name since 1995. The name now serves as an umbrella title for all GPB operations. Its headquarters and primary production facility is on Fourteenth Street in midtown Atlanta, just west of the Downtown Connector.

1 GPB Radio
2 GPB Television
3 GPB Education
4 Television stations
5 Radio stations
6 External links

[edit] GPB Radio

GPB Radio broadcasts 24 hours per day on several FM (and one AM) stations across the state, except in Atlanta. The network had a translator station in Atlanta (callsign W264AE) on 100.7 FM with a tower located downtown. However, it was forced to go silent when a full-power station (WWWQ-FM) moved in from Anniston, Ala. on an adjacent channel. Little notice of this was taken, however, because metropolitan Atlanta listeners overwhelmingly preferred WABE, with a clearer and stronger signal and more concentrated focus on the city in news and arts coverage.

Still, GPB Radio can still be heard on the second audio program (SAP) of GPB TV at most times. It reaches nearly all of Georgia plus parts of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Some stations have some locally-produced programming.

GPB Radio stations in southern and southeastern Georgia also relay hurricane information for listeners approaching or leaving Georgia's Atlantic Coast or Florida's Gulf Coast. Signs along interstate and major highways in the region direct the evacuee to the nearest GPB Radio station carrying the emergency information.

[edit] GPB Television

GPB Television broadcasts PBS and GPB programming 24 hours per day on nine GPTC-owned stations across the state, plus numerous low-power LPTV broadcast translator stations (especially in the mountains in the state's northeastern counties). The Descriptive Video Service can be heard on the SAP channel when the current program offers it, and GPB Radio can be heard when it does not. It reaches nearly all of Georgia, plus parts of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. All stations are rebroadcasters, simulcasting at all times. Georgia based programming includes Conversations with Susan Hoffman, Gardening in Georgia, Georgia Backroads, Georgia's Business, Georgia Outdoors, Georgia Traveler, and many more.

[edit] GPB Education

GPB Education (formerly know as Peachstar) serves state agencies and the Georgia learning community through the use of telecommunications technology. GPB delivers high-quality educational programming that reflects state standards to Georgia classrooms using the GPB satellite network, open-air television, and the GPB video streaming portal. GPB provides professional development to Georgia educators through face-to-face trainings, satellite-delivered programs, and interactive webcasts. GPB also meets the training needs of state agencies through its video production, satellite broadcast, and interactive webcasting services, as well as through its extensive digital library.

[edit] Television stations

In station IDs for GPB's television stations, each station specifies two locations -- usually, the smaller community where the station is licensed by the FCC (almost always the transmitter location) and the larger city it serves. The exceptions are WVAN and WJSP, which are actually licensed in major Georgia cities. WVAN is licensed to Savannah, while WJSP is licensed to Columbus. However, in order to conform to the pattern, GPB lists the locations for the stations' transmitters as the second city.

This rule only applies to the television stations, not to those on radio, which, except for two, bear only the location of the transmitter.

WGTV (channel 8) Athens/Atlanta (flagship station)--signal reaches almost all of northern Georgia, including all of the metropolitan Atlanta area and the cities of Cleveland, Madison, Jackson, Douglasville, and Gainesville.
WVAN-TV (channel 9) Savannah/Pembroke--signal reaches the upper part of the Georgia Atlantic Coast, including the cities of Statesboro, Vidalia, and Baxley.
WJSP-TV (channel 28) Columbus/Warm Springs--signal reaches the west central part of the state, including the southwestern portion of metro Atlanta (Newnan, Griffin) and LaGrange, as well as parts of east central Alabama.
WCES-TV (channel 20) Wrens/Augusta--signal reaches the east central part of the state (the "Georgia-Lina" region), including the cities of Washington, Milledgeville, Waynesboro, and Thomson, as well as parts of west central South Carolina.
WMUM-TV (channel 29) Cochran/Macon--signal reaches much of the geographical center of the state, including the cities of Warner Robins, Perry, Cordele, Fitzgerald, and Dublin. (Formerly WDCO-TV.)
WCLP-TV (channel 18) Chatsworth/Dalton--signal reaches the northwestern corner of the state, including the cities of Rome, Canton, Calhoun, Ellijay, and Fort Oglethorpe, as well as the southeastern corner of Tennessee, including the city of Chattanooga.
WABW-TV (channel 14) Pelham/Albany--signal reaches the southwestern corner of the state, including the cities of Tifton, Moultrie, Thomasville, Bainbridge, and Camilla, as well as parts of north central Florida, including the city of Tallahassee.
WXGA-TV (channel 8) Waycross/Valdosta--signal reaches the southeastern corner of the state and the lower part of the Georgia Atlantic Coast, including the cities of Baxley, Jesup, Brunswick, St. Mary's, and Douglas. Much of the viewing area lies in the Okefenokee Swamp.
WACS-TV (channel 25) Dawson/Americus--signal reaches the Chattahoochee River valley of southwestern Georgia, including the cities of Columbus, Albany, Americus, Dawson, and Cuthbert, as well as parts of southeastern Alabama.

Several low-power translator stations are found in the hilly and mountainous terrain of northern Georgia. These include:

Carnesville, channel 52--signal reaches parts of Franklin County in northeastern Georgia.
Carrollton, channel 49--signal reaches parts of Carroll County in northwestern Georgia.
Cedartown, channel 65--signal reaches parts of Polk and Floyd counties in northwestern Georgia.
Draketown, channel 27--signal reaches parts of Haralson and Paulding counties in northwestern Georgia.
Elberton, channel 60--signal reaches parts of Elbert County in northeastern Georgia.
Flintstone, Channel 51--Signal reaches parts of Walker, Dade, and Catoosa Counties in Northwestern Georgia, as well as parts of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Hartwell, channel 22--signal reaches parts of Hart County in northeastern Georgia.
Hiawassee, channel 50--signal reaches parts of Towns and Rabun counties in northeastern Georgia.
LaFayette, channel 35--signal reaches parts of Walker and Dade counties in northwestern Georgia.
Toccoa, channel 68--signal reaches parts of Stephens and Habersham counties in northeastern Georgia.
Young Harris, channel 4--signal reaches parts of Towns and Union counties in northeastern Georgia.

[edit] Radio stations

WJSP-FM 88.1 Warm Springs/Columbus (flagship station)--signal reaches all of west central Georgia, the southwestern part of metropolitan Atlanta, and portions of east central Alabama, traveling in a 55-mile radius.
WMUM-FM 89.7 Cochran/Macon--signal reaches all of the geographical center of the state, traveling in a 60-mile radius.
WSVH FM 91.1 Savannah--signal reaches the upper part of the Georgia Atlantic Coast, traveling in a 60-mile radius.
WUGA FM 91.7/97.9 Athens--signal travels in a 35-mile radius around Athens in northeastern Georgia.
WACG-FM 90.7 Augusta--signal reaches a good portion of east central Georgia and west central South Carolina.
WUNV FM 91.7 Albany--signal travels in a 40-mile radius around Albany in southwestern Georgia.
WWET FM 91.7 Valdosta--signal travels in a 20-mile radius, serving Brooks, Lanier and Echols counties in extreme southern Georgia.
WUWG FM 90.7 Carrollton--signal travels in a 20-mile radius, serving Carroll and Haralson counties in western Georgia.
WPPR FM 88.3 Demorest--signal travels in a 30-mile radius, serving several counties in northeastern Georgia.
WNGU FM 89.5 Dahlonega--signal travels in a 30-mile radius, serving several counties in north central Georgia.
WJWV FM 90.9 Fort Gaines--signal travels in a 40-mile radius, serving the Chattahoochee Valley region of southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama.
WGPB-FM 97.7 Rome--signal travels in about a 35-mile radius, serving the area immediately northwestward of the Atlanta metropolitan area. This is the only Georgia Public Radio station in the commercial portion of the FM band. Until June 29, 2006, when GPB took control of 97.7 FM, the station operated commercially with a Hot Adult Contemporary music format as WKCX, "K98."
WABR FM 91.1 Tifton--signal travels in a 40-mile radius around Tifton in south central Georgia.
WXVS-FM 90.1 Waycross--signal travels in a 50-mile radius around Waycross in southeastern Georgia.
WWIO-FM 88.9 Brunswick--signal reaches the lower part of the Georgia Atlantic Coast, traveling in a 40-mile radius.
WWIO AM 1190 St. Mary's*

* WWIO-AM simulcasts WWIO-FM, and operates as a daytime signal reaching the extreme southeastern corner of Georgia and into the Jacksonville market.

In addition to the immediate territory around the city of Atlanta, several parts of the state do not receive GPB Radio service. These areas receive public radio service from adjacent states:

Extreme Northwestern Georgia (Dalton, Ellijay)--WSMC-FM and WUTC-FM, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Southwestern Georgia (Thomasville, Bainbridge, Pelham)--WFSU-FM and WFSL-FM, Tallahassee, Fla.