Maryland Public Television

Maryland Public Television (MPT) is the PBS member state network for the U.S. state of Maryland. It is run by the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, an agency of the Maryland state government that holds the licenses for all PBS stations in the state.

The main office of MPT is at the Irene and Edward H. Kaplan Production Studio on Owings Mills Boulevard in Owings Mills, which is in northwestern Baltimore County. MPT uses six powerful transmitters to bring its programs to almost all of Maryland, as well as to Washington, D.C., and parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

History

WMPB, the first station of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting, started in 1969 in Baltimore. Over the next few years, it added stations in Salisbury, Hagerstown, and Annapolis, creating a statewide network. The network changed its name to Maryland Public Television in 1984.

In 1987, two more stations began: WFPT in Frederick and WGPT in Oakland. In the late 1990s, the network started a special afternoon block of British shows called Afternoon Tea. By 2009, it began showing kids' shows during the day on its MPT Select channel. In 2015, the network moved some of its operations to a company called Public Media Management.

Productions

MPT creates many shows for viewers to enjoy.

Current regional productions

• Chesapeake Collectibles: a weekly series about people and their collections
• Maryland Farm & Harvest: a weekly series about farming in Maryland
• Chesapeake Bay Week: a special week of programs in April about the Chesapeake Bay
• Direct Connection: a call-in show about politics and news
• Outdoors Maryland: a show about the beauty of the Mid-Atlantic region
• State Circle: news about Maryland's government
• Ways to Pay for College: a special show about paying for college
• Artworks: updates about art in Maryland
• Destination Maryland: discover interesting places in Maryland
• Made in Maryland: learn about products made in Maryland

Nationally distributed productions

• The McLaughlin Group: a weekly discussion about politics
• Steven Raichlen's Project Smoke & Project Fire: a cooking show about outdoor cooking
• MotorWeek: a show about cars and new car technology
• Great Performances: Star-Spangled Spectacular: a music special celebrating the 200th Anniversary of FSK's National Anthem
• F.S. Key and the Song That Built America
• Planet Forward: a special about energy and the environment
• For Love of Liberty: a series about America's black servicemen
• Music of Ireland: Welcome Home
• National Geographic Bee
• Veterans Day: A Musical Tribute
• My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas: a cooking show about Greek food
• To Dine For with Kate Sullivan: stories about creators and their favorite restaurants

Regional documentaries and specials

• Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay (2024)
• Water's Edge: Black Watermen of the Chesapeake (2023)
• Kent County's Storied Landscape: Place Past & Present (2023)
• Discovering the Dove (2023)
• Eatin' Blue Catfish: Chesapeake Style (2023)
• Chesapeake Decoys: The Nature of Waterfowl Art (2022)
• Creatures of the Chesapeake (2021)
• Chesapeake Beacons (2020)
• Chesapeake & Delaware Canal: Gateway to the World (2019)
• Eatin' The Chesapeake: The Five Feasts (2018)
• Eatin' Oysters: Chesapeake Style! (2017) about oysters and where to find them
• Search for the USS Scorpion: (2017) Search for the Commodore Barney's Flotilla
• The Chesapeake Bay Summit: (2016–2024) a discussion about the Chesapeake Bay
• Conowingo Dam: Power on the Susquehanna (2016) about the dam's history
• Eatin' Crabcakes: The Best I Ever Had: (2011) a search for the best crab cakes
• Potomac by Air: (2015) about the Potomac River
• Eatin' Crabs Chesapeake Style: (2008) about blue crabs
• Distinctive Homes of the Chesapeake: (2013) about homes around the Chesapeake Bay
• The Chesapeake Bay Bridge: Spanning the Bay (2014) about the history of the bridge

Past productions

• A.M. Weather (1978–1995): a daily weather program
• Baking with Julia (1996–1998) a cooking show with Julia Child
• Barbecue University (2003–2006) a cooking show with Steven Raichlen
• Bob the Vid Tech (1993–2010), children's specials
• Camp David with Ann Compton (1987), a look at Camp David
• Coastal Cooking with John Shields (2005), a cooking show with John Shields
• Consumer Survival Kit (1970s), a consumer news program
• Cooking in America with Pierre Franey (1991), a cooking series
• Cooking With Master Chefs (1993), a cooking show with Julia Child
• Cuisine Rapide (1990), a cooking show with Pierre Franey
• Dessert Circus (1997), a dessert cooking show
• Hodgepodge Lodge (1970s), a nature show for children
• Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan (1998–2002) a cooking show
• Julia Child: Lessons With Master Chefs (2000–2011) a cooking show
• Lynn Fischer's Healthy Indulgences (late 1990s), a cooking show
• Maryland State of Mind (1994–2001), a series about Maryland schools
• Minidragons (1991–1993), a series about Asian economies
• MPT Salutes Vietnam Veterans: honoring those who served in the Vietnam era
• Newsnight Maryland, a local news program
• On Nature's Trail (1978), a nature show
• On Stage at Wolf Trap (1980s), a concert series
• Of Earth and Man (1970s), an educational series
• Our Town: documentaries about towns in Maryland
• Primal Grill (2008–2011) a cooking show with Steven Raichlen
• The Transformation Age: Surviving a Technology Revolution with Robert X. Cringely (2007), a documentary on technology
• To the Contrary (1992–2011) a discussion show
• Volvo Ocean Race: a sailing race show
• Wall $treet Week with Louis Rukeyser (1972–2002), a financial news program
• Wall $treet Week (with Fortune) (2002–2005), a financial news program
• Weeknight Alive! (1980s), an arts series
• Your Money & Business: a business news program

Children's programs

• Kratts' Creatures (1996); a children's series with the Kratt Brothers
• Space Racers (2014); an animated children's series
• Wimzie's House; a children's series
• Zoboomafoo (1999–2001); a children's series with the Kratt Brothers

Stations

The Maryland Public Television (MPT) stations are listed below.

Notes:

WGPT is assigned to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market and elects must-carry status on satellite providers there. For pay-television, WMPT and WMPB are in the Baltimore market, WFPT and WWPB are in Washington–Hagerstown, and WCPB is in Salisbury.

Technical information

The stations' signals are multiplexed:

  Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

MPT's stations stopped regular programming on their old signals on June 12, 2009. This was when TV stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts as required by law. Here’s what happened to each station:

• WMPB turned off its old signal on UHF channel 67; its new signal stayed on UHF channel 29, using virtual channel 67.
• WMPT stopped its old signal on UHF channel 22; its new signal stayed on UHF channel 42, using virtual channel 22. Because of the SAFER Act, WMPT kept its old signal on until June 26 to help viewers learn about the change through public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.
• WCPB turned off its old signal on UHF channel 28; its new signal moved from UHF channel 56 to UHF channel 28.
• WWPB turned off its old signal on UHF channel 31; its new signal stayed on UHF channel 44, using virtual channel 31.
• WGPT turned off its old signal on UHF channel 36; its new signal moved from UHF channel 54 to UHF channel 36.
• WFPT turned off its old signal on UHF channel 62; its new signal stayed on UHF channel 28, using virtual channel 62.

Spectrum reallocation

After the 2016–2017 FCC incentive auction, channels 38 through 51 were no longer used for TV broadcasting. MPT did not sell any of its channels, but five stations changed their channels within the UHF band: WMPT moved to channel 21, WMPB to channel 22, WWPB to channel 29, WGPT to channel 26, and WCPT to channel 16.

ATSC 3.0

MPT joined the Baltimore market's ATSC 3.0 lighthouse station, hosted at WNUV, on June 24, 2021. In return, WMPT and WMPB host WNUV's main channel (54.1) to make sure older TV sets could still receive the signal.