View source for WDSE (TV)

{{Short description|Television station in Duluth, Minnesota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
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{{original research|date=October 2015}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2015}}
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{{Infobox television station dual
| name1 = WDSE
| city1 = {{ubl|[[Duluth, Minnesota]]|[[Superior, Wisconsin]]}}
| logo = PBS North logo 2023.png
| branding = PBS North
| digital1 = 8 ([[VHF]])
| virtual1 = 8
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''8.1/31.1:''' [[PBS]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| airdate1 = {{start date and age|1964|9|1|p=y}}
| country = United States
| callsign_meaning1 = Duluth–Superior Educational
| former_callsigns1 = WDSE-TV (1964–2009)
| owner = Duluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation
| sister_stations = [[WDSE-FM]]
| former_channel_numbers1 = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 8 (VHF, 1964–2009)|'''Digital:''' 38 ([[UHF]], 2003–2009)}}
| former_affiliations1 = [[National Educational Television|NET]] (1964–1970)
| erp1 = 34 [[kW]]
| haat1 = {{convert|295|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id1 = 17726
| coordinates1 = {{coord|46|47|29.7|N|92|7|21.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://pbsnorth.org/}}
| name2 = WRPT
| digital2 = 31 (UHF)
| virtual2 = 31
| airdate2 = {{start date and age|2008|12|27|p=y}}
| city2 = [[Hibbing, Minnesota]]
| callsign_meaning2 = [[Iron Range]] Public Television
| erp2 = 250 kW
| haat2 = {{convert|167|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id2 = 159007
| coordinates2 = {{coord|47|22|53|N|92|57|16|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=WRPT}}
}}

'''WDSE''' (channel 8), branded '''PBS North''', is a [[PBS]] member [[television station]] in [[Duluth, Minnesota]], United States. Owned by the Duluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation, it is [[sister station|sister]] to [[adult album alternative]] radio station [[WDSE-FM]] (103.3). The two outlets share studios on rented space at the [[University of Minnesota Duluth]]; the television station's transmitter is located west of downtown Duluth in Hilltop Park.

'''WRPT''' (channel 31) in [[Hibbing, Minnesota]], operates as a full-time [[broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of WDSE; this station's transmitter is located at Maple Hill Park south of Hibbing. WRPT covers areas of Minnesota's [[Iron Range]] (including [[Grand Rapids, Minnesota|Grand Rapids]], [[Virginia, Minnesota|Virginia]] and [[Chisholm, Minnesota|Chisholm]]) that receive a marginal to non-existent [[terrestrial television|over-the-air]] signal from WDSE, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' [[broadcast range|contours]] otherwise. WRPT is a straight [[simulcast]] of WDSE; on-air references to WRPT are limited to [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC)-mandated hourly [[station identification]]s during programming. Aside from the transmitter, WRPT does not maintain any physical presence locally in Hibbing.

==History==
WDSE first went on the air on September 13, 1964, as the second educational station in Minnesota. The founding general manager was George Beck, former principal of [[Duluth Central High School]], who had led the campaign for educational television in the Twin Ports for over a decade.

The station originally operated from the Bradley Building in downtown Duluth. When the building was condemned to make room for [[Interstate 35 in Minnesota|Interstate 35]], UMD offered the station space on campus for a new studio. WDSE moved to its current facility in 1978. It is named the Sax Brothers Memorial Communications Center in honor of the brothers of Duluth physician Milton Sax, who gave the initial $200,000 bequest for the project.

In November 1982, WDSE was the first Minnesota television broadcaster to utilize a circularly polarized broadcast antenna, and in April 1985 it was the first in Minnesota to begin full-time [[stereo]] television broadcasting. Its digital signal first went on the air on April 28, 2003, and in May 2003, WDSE became the first broadcaster in Minnesota to launch a channel, 8.2 PBS-HD, fully devoted to high-definition programming. In June 2008, WDSE became the first station in the Duluth–Superior market to begin producing local programming in high definition. WDSE/WRPT was the first station in the Duluth–Superior market to begin broadcasting in 5.1 [[Dolby Pro Logic|Dolby surround sound]] starting June 12, 2009. On June 16, 2009, WDSE-TV/DT officially changed the station's call sign to simply WDSE, dropping the "TV" or "DT" at the end of the call sign.

WRPT began broadcasting December 27, 2008, utilizing a directional antenna that beams the signal across the Minnesota Iron Range communities. Much of this area had been among the few areas without a clear over-the-air signal from a PBS station; Iron Range viewers had only been able to watch WDSE when cable arrived in the area in the 1970s. WRPT was one of the first of two construction permits ever granted by the FCC as a "digital singleton" facility; making it a rare ground-up digital only station that had no analog counterpart. On March 1, 2010, WRPT-DT officially changed the station's call sign to simply WRPT dropping the "DT" at the end of the call sign.

In late August 2010, WDSE was rebranded from "PBS eight" to "PBS North" to reflect their extended coverage with WRPT into more of northeastern Minnesota. In 2012, the stations rebranded under their call letters as "WDSE-WRPT". The PBS North branding was reinstated in January 2023, with a new [[North Star]]-inspired logo symbolizing the stations' goal to "illuminate, inspire and enrich lives to strengthen community".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minnesota-Wisconsin PBS stations switch to new name |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2023/01/19/wdse-wrpt-pbs-north-logo-design/?og=1 |access-date=January 20, 2023 |website=NewscastStudio |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Programming==
Along with programming from PBS, Minnesota Public Television and [[PBS Wisconsin]], locally produced programs such as ''Minnesota Legislative Report'', ''WDSE Cooks'', ''Almanac North'', ''Venture North'', ''Native Report'', ''Great Gardening'', ''Lawyers on the Line'', and ''Doctors on Call'' are area favorites included in the broadcast schedule. WDSE produces, broadcasts, and supplies to the networks an intensive schedule of local and regional programming.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The stations' signals are [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WDSE<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WDSE|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WDSE|website=www.rabbitears.info|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> and WRPT<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WRPT|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WRPT|website=www.rabbitears.info|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref>
! scope="col" colspan="2"|[[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope="col" rowspan="2"|[[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope="col" rowspan="2"|[[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope="col" colspan="2"|Short name
! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Programming
|-
! scope="col" | {{small|WDSE}} || {{small|WRPT}} || scope="col" | {{small|WDSE}} || {{small|WRPT}}
|-
! scope="row"| 8.1 || 31.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=5| [[16:9]] || WDSEpbs || WRPTpbs || [[PBS]]
|-
! scope="row"| 8.2 || 31.2 
| rowspan=2| [[720p]]<ref name="northpine">{{Cite web|url=http://www.northpine.com/blog/2020/01/22/pbs-kids-more-hd-channels-coming-to-duluth-superior/|title=PBS Kids, More HD Channels Coming to Duluth-Superior|website=Northpine.com|date=January 22, 2020|access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref> || WDSE2nd || WRPT2nd || PBS Explore / [[World Channel]]
|-
! scope="row"| 8.3 || 31.3 
| WDSEcrt || WRPTcrt || [[Create (TV channel)|Create]]  
|-
! scope="row"| 8.4 || 31.4 
| rowspan=2| [[480i]] || WDSEmn || WRPTmn || [[Minnesota Channel]] 
|-
! scope="row"| 8.5 || 31.5 
| WDSEkids || WRPTkids || [[PBS Kids]]<ref name="northpine"/>
|}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WDSE discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over [[VHF]] channel 8, on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]].<ref name="Analog to Digital">[http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations]</ref> The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition [[UHF]] channel 38 to VHF channel 8.

===Translator===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! City of license
! Callsign
! Channel
! Translating
! [[effective radiated power|ERP]]
! [[HAAT]]
! [[Facility ID]]
! Transmitter coordinates
! Owner
|-
| [[Kabetogama, Minnesota|Kabetogama]] ||'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|14106|3=K36LA-D}}'''|| style="text-align: center;"| 36 || WRPT || 0.1&nbsp;kW || {{convert|125|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} || 14106 || {{coord|48|21|40.0|N|93|00|37.0|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=K30AF-D}} || [[Koochiching County]]
|}

The last translator owned directly by WDSE was K67CT in [[Grand Marais, Minnesota|Grand Marais]]. Rather than move from channel 67 to a channel between 2 and 51 as required to comply with the [[digital television transition in the United States]], the translator was taken off the air December 1, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Marais Translator Service Ends 12/1|url=http://wdse.org/news/grand-marais-translator-service-ends-121|publisher=WDSE • WRPT - PBS 8 & 31|access-date=December 1, 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://pbsnorth.org/ Official website]

{{Duluth TV}}
{{PBS Minnesota}}
{{PBS Wisconsin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wdse (Tv)}}
[[Category:1964 establishments in Minnesota]]
[[Category:PBS member stations]]
[[Category:Public broadcasting in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1964]]
[[Category:Television stations in Duluth, Minnesota]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota Duluth]]