WLVT-TV (channel 39) is a PBS member television station in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned by the Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation, doing business as Lehigh Valley Public Media, it is a sister station to Philadelphia-licensed PBS member WPPT (channel 35) and WLVR-FM (91.3 MHz, owned by Lehigh University and co-managed by Lehigh Valley Public Media). WLVT-TV and WLVR-FM share studios at the Univest Public Media Center on the SteelStacks Campus on Sesame Street in the south side of Bethlehem; WLVT-TV's transmitter is located south of nearby Allentown atop South Mountain.
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| City | Allentown, Pennsylvania |
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| Channels | |
| Branding | PBS 39 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | September 7, 1965 |
Former channel numbers | |
| NET (1965–1970) | |
Call sign meaning | Lehigh Valley Television |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| 36989 | |
| ERP | 80.6 kW |
| HAAT | 332.5 m (1,091 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°33′52″N 75°26′24″W / 40.56444°N 75.44000°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wlvt |
History
edit20th century
editThe station first signed on the air on September 7, 1965,[4] as a member station of National Educational Television (NET), and eventually joined PBS upon its 1970 founding. WLVT-TV is commonly known as "PBS39", a reference to the main virtual channel, 39.1.
The Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia market, the fourth-largest television market in the United States. Since the turn of the millennium, it has been picked up by many cable providers in the area, including Comcast, Service Electric, RCN, Blue Ridge Cable, and others. WLVT-TV is also available throughout the region on Philadelphia's DirecTV and Dish Network feeds. In recent years, it has expanded its reach to the entire Philadelphia market.
WLVT serves one of the largest potential audiences in the country with 6.7 million people in eastern Pennsylvania, western and southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware. With its recent focus on the broader market, channel 39 frequently competes with Philadelphia's main PBS member station, WHYY-TV (channel 12), one of the most-watched PBS stations in the country. To a lesser extent, WLVT-TV also competes with NJ PBS's two outlets in the market, WNJT-TV and WNJS-TV.
21st century
editIn 2011, WLVT-TV moved from its longtime studio on Mountain Drive North to a new studio facility, the PPL Public Media Center (now the Univest Public Media Center), on the south side of Bethlehem. The new facility is adjacent to the ArtsQuest complex on the SteelStacks Campus, previously home to Bethlehem Steel.[5] The new station is equipped with two large studios, where local productions, including Focus (a local magazine show), You Bet Your Garden (formerly on WHYY-FM), Scholastic Scrimmage, Faces of Jazz, and Behind the Guitar, are filmed.
WLVT also broadcasts PBS and American Public Television distributed programming.
Technical information
editSubchannels
edit| License | Channel | Res. | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBPH-TV | 60.1 | 720p | WBPH-D1 | Lighthouse TV |
| 60.2 | 480i | WBPH-D2 | Radiant TV | |
| WPPT | 35.1 | 39EXTRA | PBS | |
| WLVT-TV | 39.1 | 720p | WLVT-DT | PBS |
| 39.3 | 480i | FRAN24 | France 24 | |
| WFMZ-TV | 69.1 | 720p | WFMZ-HD | Independent |
| 69.2 | 480i | WFMZ-WC | Local weather | |
| 69.3 | WFMZ-ME | MeTV (WDPN-TV) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
editWLVT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 39, on January 31, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated on its pre-transition UHF channel 62, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its former analog-era UHF channel 39 for post-transition operations.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Modification of a Licensed Facility for DTV Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- ↑ Paul, Carpenter (February 13, 2009). "Jumping elephants provide proof that TV switch was unnecessary". MCall.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WLVT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ↑ FCC History Cards for WLVT-TV. Federal Communications Commission.
- ↑ "WLVT PBS39 now more public in new location at Bethlehem SteelStacks". July 18, 2011.
- ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WBPH". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
- ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.