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WXXI-TV

Rochester, New York United States
Channels	Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 21
Branding	WXXI
Programming
Affiliations	21.1: PBS for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	WXXI Public Broadcasting Council
Sister stations	WXXI (AM) WXXI-FM WXXO
History
Founded	1966
First air date	September 6, 1966 (58 years ago) (1966-09-06)
Former call signs	WROH (CP, 1952–1966) WXXI (1966–1984)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 21 (UHF, 1966–2009) Digital: 16 (UHF, 2003–2019)
Former affiliations	NET (1966–1970)
Call sign meaning	"XXI" is the Roman numeral for 21
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	57274
ERP	273 kW
HAAT	152 m (499 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	43°8′7″N 77°35′2″W / 43.13528°N 77.58389°W / 43.13528; -77.58389
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.wxxi.org

WXXI-TV (channel 21) is a PBS member television station in Rochester, New York, United States. It is owned by the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council alongside NPR members WXXI (1370 AM), WXXI-FM (105.9), and WXXO (91.5 FM). The three outlets share studios at 280 State Street near downtown Rochester; WXXI-TV's transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton.

Programming

National productions

WXXI-TV's national public television productions include A Warrior in Two Worlds, Echoes from the Ancients, Out of the Fire, Albert Paley: Man of Steel, Biz Kid$, and Flight to Freedom. WXXI-TV also produced Assignment: The World, a weekly current-events program for schools, which aired on approximately 100 public television stations nationwide, and was the nation's longest-running instructional television program. Due to funding cuts, it was canceled and its last episode aired on May 23, 2013.

Former programming

ThinkBright, broadcast from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on 21.3 until the digital transition.

Technical information

Subchannels

WXXI-TV entered the digital era in September 2003 when it signed on with Rochester's first full-power digital television signal.

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Channel 21.4, now PBS Kids since February 1, 2016, was originally a digital standard definition simulcast of WXXI-TV's analog signal.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WXXI-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 16, using virtual channel 21.

As part of the SAFER Act, WXXI-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 10, 2009, to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. WXXI-TV had been awarded a $202,498 federal contract for an outreach initiative to help Rochester's over-the-air viewers prepare for the digital transition.

References

1. "History Cards for WXXI-TV".
2. "Facility Technical Data for WXXI-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. RabbitEars TV Query for WXXI
4. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
5. "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
6. "WXXI Awarded Digital Television Contract | interactive.wxxi.org". interactive.wxxi.org. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009.

External links

• Official website
• John S. Porter papers, at the University of Maryland libraries. Porter served as the president and general manager from 1966 to 1969.

• PBS member stations
• 1966 establishments in New York (state)
• Television channels and stations established in 1966
• Television stations in Rochester, New York