View source for WCFE-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Plattsburgh, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = WCFE-TV
| city                   = Plattsburgh, New York
| logo                   = Mountain Lake PBS logo 2021.png
| logo_size              = 240px
| logo_alt               = 
| branding               = {{ubl|Mountain Lake PBS|''Mountain Lake Journal'' (newscasts)}}
| analog                 = 
| digital                = 36 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 57
| subchannels            = 
| translators            = ''see {{section link||Translators}}''
| affiliations           = {{ubl|'''57.1:''' [[PBS]]|'''57.2:''' [[NHK World]]|'''57.3:''' [[PBS Kids]]}}
| network                = 
| country                = United States–Canada
| founded                = 
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1977|03|06|p=y}}
| last_airdate           = 
| location               = {{ubl|[[Plattsburgh, New York]]|[[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]]–[[Montpelier, Vermont]]|[[Montreal]], Quebec}}
| callsign_meaning       = [[Clinton County, New York|Clinton]], [[Franklin County, New York|Franklin]] and [[Essex County, New York|Essex]] counties, New York (primary coverage area)
| former_callsigns       = WNNE-TV (CP, 1970–1975)<ref>{{Cite web|title=FCC History Cards for WCFE-TV|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=83605}}</ref>
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 57 (UHF, 1977–2009)|'''Digital:''' 38 (UHF, 2004–2020)}}
| owner                  = Mountain Lake Public Telecommunications Council
| licensee               = 
| sister_stations        = 
| former_affiliations    = 
| erp                    = 67 kW
| haat                   = {{convert|741.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class                  = 
| facility_id            = 46755
| coordinates            = {{coord|44|41|43|N|73|52|59|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{url|https://mountainlake.org/}} 
}}
'''WCFE-TV''' (channel 57) is a [[PBS]] member [[television station]] licensed to [[Plattsburgh, New York]], United States, serving the [[Champlain Valley]] and [[Greater Montreal]] areas. Owned by the Mountain Lake Public Telecommunications Council, the station maintains studios at One [[Sesame Street]] in Plattsburgh, and its transmitter is located atop [[Lyon Mountain, New York|Lyon Mountain]], between Plattsburgh and nearby [[Malone (village), New York|Malone]]. WCFE-TV is branded as '''Mountain Lake PBS'''; this name was adopted to reflect Plattsburgh's location between the [[Adirondacks]] and [[Lake Champlain]].

WCFE-TV services northeastern [[New York (state)|New York]], most of [[Vermont]], [[Eastern Ontario]], Canada (including [[Cornwall, Ontario|Cornwall]] and parts of [[Ottawa]]), and parts of Southern [[Quebec]] (including [[Montreal]]) on [[cable television|cable]], and  parts of [[New Hampshire]] and northern New York east of Massena on [[satellite television|satellite]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000672982-how-do-i-find-my-local-station-in-canada-|title=How do I find my local station in Canada?|website=PBS Help|accessdate=December 28, 2024}}</ref>

==History==
WCFE-TV signed on March 6, 1977, from its studios at [[SUNY Plattsburgh]]. In 1993, it rebranded itself as "Mountain Lake PBS" to reflect its growing viewership.

From 1990 to 1996, WCFE-TV had a sister [[NPR]] station, WCFE-FM on 91.9. However, in a case of exceptionally bad timing, WCFE-FM signed on just as [[North Country Public Radio]] began building a number of satellites and repeaters in the WCFE-TV service area. It did not help matters that much of the area got a strong signal from [[Vermont Public Radio]] flagship [[WVPS]] in [[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]]. It soon became apparent that Plattsburgh was too small for a standalone NPR station to be viable. Realizing that it was up against two established public radio broadcasters with more resources than it could hope to match, Mountain Lake sold WCFE-FM to [[Albany, New York|Albany]]'s [[WAMC]] in 1996, who operates 91.9 as a repeater, WCEL.

===2007 transmitter tower collapse===
On April 18, 2007, WCFE's {{convert|400|ft|m|0|adj=on}} transmitter tower located on [[Lyon Mountain, New York|Lyon Mountain]] completely collapsed as a result of heavy amounts of ice and snow from the [[April 2007 Nor'easter]], and partially damaged the transmitter building at the base. The station started rebuilding a transmitter tower. In the meantime, the direct [[fiber optic]] lines to the local [[Charter Communications]] franchise were unaffected, and the station continued to broadcast on cable. On April 23, 2007, WCFE-TV went back on the air as a temporary digital subchannel of [[WCAX-TV]], broadcast from [[Mount Mansfield]], Vermont. WCFE-TV was multicast on WCAX's digital channel 53, mapped to [[virtual channel]] 57.1. On August 10, 2007, WCAX-TV discontinued carriage of WCFE-TV, when interim facilities were established.

Following the collapse, cable viewers outside of the New York side of the Plattsburgh–Burlington market had to rely on distant affiliates for PBS programming. Cable systems in Vermont and some systems in [[Montérégie]] continued to have access to [[Vermont Public Television]] stations, while Videotron systems in the latter region that offered WCFE-TV substituted its signal with that of [[Detroit]]'s [[WTVS]]. On April 27, WCFE-TV's signal was reestablished on Videotron, which received WCFE-TV's signal from its temporary transmitter.

In addition, [[WPTZ]] donated its internet streaming facilities to WCFE-TV, which was used for WCFE-TV's annual ''Art Auction'', which took place as scheduled, shortly after the collapse.

The transmitter that was damaged was a Thomson TBM unit. The company was able to provide one of their Affinity transmitters on lease to the station within two weeks of getting the request from the station. This temporary transmitter was located at the station's studio location until they could get the main transmitter facility repaired (which was a very involved process due to site access issues).

On October 9, 2007, WCFE-TV's new tower at Lyon Mountain went into service, almost six months after the collapse.<ref name="WCAX-TV News Script for 10/9/2007">{{cite news|url=http://tv3.wcax.com/n/tue6p.htm|access-date=October 12, 2007| title=WCAX-TV News Script for 10/9/2007}}</ref><ref name="Radio-Info: WCFE in Plattsburgh has its new transmission tower">{{cite news|url=http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,82833.0.html|access-date=October 12, 2007| title=Radio-Info: WCFE in Plattsburgh has its new transmission tower}}</ref> WCFE-TV's digital signal went on the air on October 23.

==Challenges==
WCFE-TV is in a unique market. Across [[Lake Champlain]] to the east lies the city of Burlington, Vermont, home to another PBS member station: Vermont PBS. To the west lies [[Watertown (city), New York|Watertown]], home to PBS member [[WPBS-TV|WPBS-TV/WNPI-DT]]. As a result, most of WCFE-TV's broadcast area viewers are served by two PBS members. For years, WCFE-TV has searched for a way to stand out.

One of its solutions has been to broadcast certain various signature PBS shows at different dates and times from the national PBS schedule, much as [[New York City]]'s secondary PBS outlet, [[WLIW (TV)|WLIW]] has done to differentiate itself from the market's primary PBS member, [[WNET]] (which also owns WLIW). For example, for a number of years WCFE-TV did not broadcast PBS' ''[[Masterpiece Theatre]]'' on Sunday evenings; it would also air ''[[Wall Street Week]]'' on Saturday instead of Friday, to name but two examples.

This practice has always been somewhat controversial amongst WCFE-TV's members, especially those who do not live in overlapping broadcast areas. As a result, the station has reduced the practice somewhat, and has taken to airing a number of the most popular PBS shows in pattern with the national schedule.

WCFE-TV is the second-smallest PBS member in New York state, ahead of only WPBS/WNPI. However, it reaches a potential audience of 3.9 million people. The great majority of its audience lives in Canada; Montreal alone has 10 times as many people as the Burlington–Plattsburgh market. Additionally, of its 8,500 members (as of August 2007), 4,500 live in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mountainlake.org/info/aboutus.asp |title=Mountain Lake PBS 2007 Fact Sheet |date=October 28, 2007 |access-date=January 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028152816/http://www.mountainlake.org/info/aboutus.asp |archive-date=October 28, 2007 }}</ref> Not only must WCFE-TV take Canadian interests into account in its programming, but its large Canadian viewership has an impact in its [[fundraising]] activities. It not only includes [[Canadian French|French-language]] elements in its fundraising efforts, but a significant portion of the proceeds from its pledge drives is in [[Canadian dollar]]s. The station operates a separate fundraising arm for its Canadian viewers, Canadian Friends of Mountain Lake PBS.

<!-- The fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Canadian and [[U.S. dollar]] make budgeting difficult. In addition, in the past decade the decrease in the value of the Canadian dollar compared to its American counterpart has meant a decrease in revenues for WCFE-TV. The Canadian dollar has gained ground since 2003, meaning a slight increase for WCFE-TV.
-->
WCFE-TV's American coverage area consists mostly of rural areas and small towns. The only major urban centers are Montreal and Burlington.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WCFE-TV<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WCFE#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WCFE|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=December 28, 2024}}</ref>
! scope="col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope="col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope="col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope="col" | Short name
! scope="col" | Programming
|-
! scope="row" | 57.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=3|[[16:9]] || MLPBSHD || [[PBS]] 
|-
! scope="row" | 57.2 
| rowspan=2|[[480i]] || NHK-WOR || [[NHK World]]  
|-
! scope="row" | 57.3 
| MLKIDS || [[PBS Kids]] 
|}

===Translators===
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|44031|3=W25AT-D}}''' [[Tupper Lake, New York|Tupper Lake]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|44029|3=W25BT-D}}''' [[Monkton, VT]]
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|44028|3=W29EW-D}}''' [[Willsboro]]

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WCFE-TV began simulcasting digital and analog transmission in early 2005.

WCFE-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 57, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to [[Digital television transition in the United States|transition from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 38, using virtual channel 57.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Until the beginning of 2010, an SD simulcast of WCFE-TV was broadcast on 57.2, while [[ThinkBright]] was broadcast on 57.3. From January to September 2010, [[Classic Arts Showcase]] was on 57.3.

As a part of the [[Spectrum reallocation#Repacking|repacking]] process following the [[Spectrum reallocation#Broadcast incentive auction|2016-2017 FCC incentive auction]], WCFE-TV relocated to UHF channel 36 on July 2, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nab.org/repacking/clearinghouse.asp|title = Searchable Clearinghouse &#124; National Association of Broadcasters}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://mountainlake.org/ Official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027002815/http://geocities.com/tvhatton/  TV Hat : Trivial facts about Southern QC, Upstate NY and VT stations]

{{Champlain Valley TV}}
{{Watertown TV}}
{{PBS New York}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcfe-Tv}}
[[Category:1977 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:PBS member stations]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1977]]
[[Category:Television stations in New York (state)|CFE-TV]]
[[Category:Television stations in Vermont|CFE-TV]]