Meet WVPT

WVPT Today
Our Beginning
Open Meetings
Meet the WVPT Staff
EEO Outreach Report
WVPT Awards

WVPT Today

Since 1968, WVPT has been the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia's public television station. But that's just scratching the surface. WVPT is also a classroom, a concert hall, a conference center, a college, and a library of the airwaves. WVPT is one of the most accessible educational institutions in the region, utilizing the power of broadcasting to help carry out its mission of education, culture, and citizenship for everyone within its reach.

Beyond an exciting mix of public broadcasting and locally produced programming, WVPT conducts groundbreaking literacy programs, science-related family events, morale-building awards projects, community assistance projects and educational seminars. The reason? To educate all ages, affirm high ideals for social good, assist neighbors in need, promote our diverse culture, and to celebrate life in Virginia.

Local series and specials lift up unique cultures that make up the WVPT viewing area, remember times when the human spirit triumphed in adversity, open up pages of little-known area history, and promote that which is "Virginia" and of which we can all be proud.

WVPT's over-the-air broadcast coverage area consists of 29 counties.

The signal is also carried on numerous cable channels, including Charlottesville, Lexington, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Winchester.

WVPT is carried on DirecTV in the Harrisonburg Market. WVPT’s sister station WVPY, licensed to Front Royal, is carried on both Dish Network and DirecTV in the Hagerstown/Washington, DC Market.

WVPT broadcasts on two main analog transmitters, two digital transmitters, five analog translators and five digital repeaters.
Transmitters: Analog and Digital 51 (Elliot Knob, Staunton), Analog and Digital 42 (Signal Knob, Front Royal).
Translators/Repeaters: Analog 58 (Fork Mountain, Madison County), Analog 38 (Big Mountain, Page County), Analog 50 (Carter Mountain, Albemarle County), Analog 45 (Little North Mountain, Rockingham County), and Analog 8 (Sounding Knob, Highland County).

For a map showing WVPT's transmitters and translators, click here.

Our Beginning

A small group of visionaries filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission January 7, 1966 for the establishment of the Shenandoah Valley Education Television Corporation. Dr. G. Tyler Miller, president of Madison College; Arthur Hamilton, who would become WVPT's first general manager; Dr. O.L. Boyd of Augusta County Schools; and Wilbur Pence of Rockingham County
Schools wanted an adequate facility to broadcast educational programming to local schools. Land for the offices was leased from Madison College on September 1, 1967 and the building program began in January 1968.

WVPT first signed on the air September 9, 1968, initially broadcasting from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays with instructional programs geared to children from kindergarten to senior high. Taking many giant leaps from there, WVPT has grown to become the vibrant institution it is today. Thank you for the privilege of serving you.


Open Meetings
In keeping with WVPT's open meeting policy, Board of Directors, Community Advisory Board and other advisory committee meetings are open to the public. Below are the dates, times and locations of upcoming meetings. For more information, call (540) 434-5391.

Board of Directors:
Board of Directors will meet at WVPT (298 Port Republic Road, Harrisonburg) unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, April 24 – 3:00 pm (The Miller Center, Charlottesville)
Thursday, June 19 – 3:00 pm
Thursday, October 16 – 3:00 pm

Community Advisory Board:
Wednesday, June 4, 10:30 – noon

Regional Schools Contract Planning Committee (RSCPC):
April 17 & May 22, 2008
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: WVPT Conference Room (298 Port Republic Road, Harrisonburg)

EEO Outreach Report

Since the effective date of the new EEO rules, the WVPT/WVPY employment unit has undertaken a number of measures to achieve broad and inclusive outreach in disseminating information throughout the community it serves about specific station employment opportunities, as well as about broadcasting in general. The employment unit has engaged in more than the suggested supplemental outreach effort required for the employment unit for this time period.

As reflected in the Annual EEO Public File Reports charts below, the employment unit routinely utilizes a wide assortment of recruitment sources to disseminate widely the notice of full-time job vacancies to qualified applicants. The employment unit often has promoted specific job openings through local newspapers, including the Daily News-Record, Harrisonburg (circulation 33,000); The News Leader, Staunton (circulation 18,600); The News Virginian, Waynesboro (circulation 8,800), and The Daily Progress, Charlottesville (circulation 32,000). These newspapers enjoy broad circulation-as noted above-in the television market served by the employment unit, insuring broad reach for the notifications throughout the area.

To achieve greater exposure and inclusion, the station routinely disseminates information about specific vacancies to many different outreach or job bank services. Outreach notifications go, for example, to a number of local educational institutions, including James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University, Radford University, Mary Baldwin College, Bridgewater College, and Blue Ridge Community College and Lord Fairfax Community College. A variety of local groups and organizations also receive announcements, including the Virginia Employment Commission, Working Women's Forum, Rotary Club and various local churches and civic organizations. Furthermore, for production or engineering positions, WVPT uses popular Internet websites of special interest to those considering careers in broadcasting, including PBS Connect, The Society of Broadcast Engineers, and CPB job line. To encourage participation in the station's job notification program, WVPT periodically broadcasts 15-second announcements notifying the public that organizations recruiting job seekers may request the station include them on its outreach referral list.

WVPT/WVPT DT Staunton & WVPY/WVPY DT Front Royal Annual EEO public file report

Annual EEO Report June 1, 2006 - May 31, 2007

Full time positions filled and recruitment sources used as part of the process:

Recruitment Sources Used:
1 Word of mouth, 2 ALEX Site, 3 Daily News Record.com, 4 Career Builders, 5 Newspaper, 6 Daily News-Record, 7 NewsLeader.com, 8 Staunton News Leader, 9 Northern Virginia Daily, 10 Shen-andoah Shopper, 11 Newspaper, 12 Daily Progress, 13 Internet, 14 Manpower, 15 WVPT web,
16 TV Jobs.com, 17 NAB.com, 18 SBE.org, 19 VAB.com, 20 Broadcast Engineering.com, 21 Outside search committee

Total number of applicants for all full time positions: 165
Total interviewees for all full time positions: 30

Supplemental Outreach Services:
In addition, the employment unit engages in outreach activities that help provide information about opportunities in broadcasting not related to specific job openings. WVPT established an internship program through which interns have gained hands-on experience in many of the facets of broadcast operations, such as production of taped and live shows, marketing and development and corporate communications. In addition, WVPT participated in the following activities to promote awareness of opportunities at the television station:

- Career/intern Job Fair at James Madison University
- Rockingham County Fair (voted one of the top ten fairs in the country), a table and display of the activities at the station and opportunities available for employment, interns, volunteers
- National Development Convention where additional training on the topic was provided
- Pamphlets and flyers distributed throughout the community on an ongoing basis
- Quarterly newsletters to over 1500 individuals and companies
- Weekly/monthly contacts to area colleges--James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University, Bridgewater College, Mary Baldwin College, Blue Ridge Community College, and Lord Fairfax Community College
- Business After Hours in Harrisonburg/Charlottesville/Winchester