KWCM-TV

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox television station dual KWCM-TV (channel 10) and KSMN (channel 20) are PBS member television stations licensed respectively to Appleton and Worthington, Minnesota, United States, owned by the West Central Minnesota Educational TV Corp. The stations maintain studios on Pioneer Drive in Granite Falls. KWCM-TV's transmitter is located near Appleton, while KSMN's tower is near Chandler, Minnesota.

KSMN operates as a full-time satellite of KWCM-TV; its existence is only acknowledged in station identifications. Aside from the transmitter, KSMN does not maintain any physical presence locally in Worthington.

The two stations are collectively branded as Pioneer PBS. Their combined signal can also be received in parts of Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota. Several other translators carry the signal into other communities.

History

File:PioneerPublicTV.jpg

Logo used from 2012 until November 3, 2019

KWCM went on the air for the first time on February 7, 1966. In the early years, it repeated the signal of KTCA-TV in the Twin Cities. It adopted the Pioneer Public Television name in 1982, and added KSMN in 1997.

The station is available on the DirecTV and Dish Network feeds for the Twin Cities and Sioux Falls markets. Appleton is part of the Twin Cities market, while Worthington is in the Sioux Falls market. This gives Pioneer a potential audience of 4.8 million people in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. As of November 3, 2019, the station became Pioneer PBS due to PBS' overhaul.

Pioneer-produced shows

Some locally produced shows include Postcards, Prairie Sportsman, Funtime Polka, Your Legislators, Country Spires and programs produced with the University of Minnesota Morris, Prairie Yard and Garden, Academic Challenge, Echoes of Cry of the Marsh and Minnesota Rivers and Fields. Some of these shows have also been shown on the Minnesota Channel, a statewide network originated at KTCI-TV in the Twin Cities which carries local programs on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' signals are multiplexed:

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref> and KSMN<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Channel			Res.	Aspect	Short name		Programming
Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
10.1	20.1	8.1	720p	16:9	KWCM-HD	KSMN-HD	PBS
10.2	20.2	8.2	480i		KWCM-CR	KSMN-CR	Create
10.3	20.3	8.3			KWCM-MN	KSMN-MN	Minnesota Channel
10.4	20.4	8.4			KWCM-WD	KSMN-WD	World
10.5	20.5	8.5			KWCM-KD	KSMN-KD	PBS Kids
10.6	20.6	8.6			KWCMFNX	KSMNFNX	First Nations Experience

Analog-to-digital conversion

KWCM-TV and KSMN shut down their analog transmitters on June 12, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> KWCM-TV's digital signal relocated to VHF channel 10 from UHF channel 31, while KSMN's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 15.

Translators

A network of digital translators in western Minnesota translates KWCM.

City of license	Callsign	Channel	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter coordinates	Owner
Alexandria	Template:FCC-LMS-Facility	27	1.1 kW	Template:Convert	59645	Template:Coord	Selective TV
Fergus Falls	Template:FCC-LMS-Facility	8	3 kW	Template:Convert	71562	Template:Coord	West Central Minnesota Educational TV Corporation
Olivia	Template:FCC-LMS-Facility	20	0.79 kW	Template:Convert	55749	Template:Coord	Renville County TV Corporation
Willmar	Template:FCC-LMS-Facility	22	0.7 kW	Template:Convert	68708	Template:Coord	UHF TV, Inc.

External links

• Template:Officialwebsite