WDSE (TV)

WDSE and WRPT
Channels for WDSE
Channels for WRPT
BrandingPBS North
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerDuluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation
WDSE-FM
History
First air date
  • WDSE: September 1, 1964 (1964-09-01)
  • WRPT: December 27, 2008 (2008-12-27)
Former call signs
  • WDSE: WDSE-TV (1964–2009)
Former channel numbers
  • WDSE:
    • Analog: 8 (VHF, 1964–2009)
    • Digital: 38 (UHF, 2003–2009)
  • WDSE: NET (1964–1970)
Call sign meaning
  • WDSE: Duluth–Superior Educational
  • WRPT: Iron Range Public Television
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID
  • WDSE: 17726
  • WRPT: 159007
ERP
  • WDSE: 34 kW
  • WRPT: 250 kW
HAAT
  • WDSE: 295 m (968 ft)
  • WRPT: 167 m (548 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information
Websitepbsnorth.org

WDSE (channel 8), branded PBS North, is a PBS member television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Owned by the Duluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation, it is sister to adult album alternative radio station WDSE-FM (103.3). The two outlets share studios on rented space at the University of Minnesota Duluth; the television station's transmitter is located west of downtown Duluth in Hilltop Park.

WRPT (channel 31) in Hibbing, Minnesota, operates as a full-time satellite of WDSE; this station's transmitter is located at Maple Hill Park south of Hibbing. WRPT covers areas of Minnesota's Iron Range (including Grand Rapids, Virginia and Chisholm) that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WDSE, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. WRPT is a straight simulcast of WDSE; on-air references to WRPT are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-mandated hourly station identifications during programming. Aside from the transmitter, WRPT does not maintain any physical presence locally in Hibbing.