WOUB-TV

WOUB-TV
Athens–Marietta, Ohio; Parkersburg, West Virginia; ; United States;
City	Athens, Ohio
Channels	Digital: 32 (UHF); Virtual: 20;
Branding	PBS WOUB
Programming
Affiliations	20.1: PBS; for others, see § Subchannels;
Ownership
Owner	Ohio University; (WOUB Public Media);
Sister stations	WOUB; WOUB-FM;
History
First air date	January 7, 1963; (61 years ago)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 20 (UHF, 1963–2009); Digital: 27 (UHF, mid 2000s–2019);
Former affiliations	NET (1963–1970)
Call sign meaning	"Ohio University Broadcasting"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	50147
ERP	250 kW
HAAT	245.5 m (805 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	39°18′52″N 82°8′59″W / 39.31444°N 82.14972°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Website	woub.org
Satellite station
	WOUC-TV
Cambridge–Zanesville, Ohio; United States;
City	Cambridge, Ohio
Channels	Digital: 6 (VHF); Virtual: 44;
Programming
Affiliations	44.1: PBS; for others, see § Subchannels;
History
First air date	July 26, 1973; (51 years ago)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 44 (UHF, 1973–2009); Digital: 35 (UHF, mid 2000s–2019);
Call sign meaning	"Ohio University, Cambridge"
Technical information
Facility ID	50141
ERP	7.11 kW
HAAT	337.8 m (1,108 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	40°5′32″N 81°17′18″W / 40.09222°N 81.28833°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;

WOUB-TV (channel 20) is a PBS member television station in Athens, Ohio, United States. The station's transmitter is located west of the city off SR 56. Its programming can also be seen on satellite station WOUC-TV (channel 44) in Cambridge, with transmitter near Fairview, Ohio.

The WOUB/WOUC studios and offices are located in the Radio-TV building on the Athens campus of Ohio University, which owns the stations' licenses through the WOUB Center for Public Media. The Center is a non-academic unit of the Scripps College of Communication. The two stations, combined, serve southeastern Ohio and portions of neighboring West Virginia and Kentucky. The public media center also serves as a laboratory for Ohio University students who are interested in gaining experience in broadcasting and related technologies. In addition to radio (WOUB AM and FM) and television, WOUB is also active in online services and media production.

Unlike most PBS stations, the channel produces a regular local newscast by university students studying and training on television newscasts at Ohio University. With that, they mainly focus on the area around Athens, which is mostly ignored by the Columbus, Zanesville and Huntington–Charleston stations that serve the Athens area.

Coverage area

Athens and surrounding Athens County are located in the fringes of the Columbus market. However, the combined power of the two stations reaches most of the Huntington–Charleston and Zanesville markets, as well as portions of the Columbus, Parkersburg and Wheeling–Steubenville markets. The station leases commercial fiber line to permit it to be carried on the Columbus local feeds of the DBS providers.

Technical information

As of April 11, 2018, when they expanded to six broadcast streams per transmitter,^[3] WOUB-TV and WOUC-TV share the same programming.^[4]

Subchannels

The stations' signals are multiplexed:

Subchannels of WOUB-TV^[5] and WOUC-TV^[6]
Channel		Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
WOUB-TV	WOUC-TV	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
20.1	44.1	1080i	16:9	WOUB-HD	PBS
20.2	44.2	480i		Classic	WOUB Classic
20.3	44.3			World	World
20.4	44.4			Create	Create
20.5	44.5			Ohio	The Ohio Channel
20.6	44.6	1080i		Kids	PBS Kids
20.7	44.7	480i		VoiceCo	Audio

Analog-to-digital conversion

In 2009, when the analog to digital conversion was completed, WOUB-TV and WOUC-TV used channels 27 and 35, respectively for digital television operations. Following the transition, the stations remained on those channels; however, they use 20 and 44 as their respective virtual channels.^[7] In 2019, both stations moved to new physical channels as part of the FCC's spectrum re-pack process.