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Media Alert !
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Colleen Wright
February 4, 2002
Marketing Communications Account Executive
Telephone: (410) 581-4293
E-mail: colleenwright@mpt.org
MPT. This is bigger than television
MPT to temporarily suspend signal
from Annapolis on February 6, 7, 8
WMPT-TV 22 will be off-air for tower construction, future
signal improvements
what: Maryland Public Television will temporarily suspend its broadcast
signal from WMPT-TV 22, affecting viewers in Central Maryland, Southern
Maryland, metropolitan Washington, DC and Northern Virginia, and the upper
Eastern Shore. FCC requirements and safety procedures require the outage
to protect workers assembling a new tower adjacent to MPT's existing tower.
The new tower will hold the antennas for MPT's analog signal (WMPT-TV
22) and its new digital signal (WMPT-DT 42).
when: The outage will be for all or parts of February 6-8,
2002. Cable subscribers may experience a difference in audio and video
quality, though service for most is expected to be available. Viewers
who are DirecTV subscribers, however, will not be able to get MPT during
the temporary down time since DirecTV receives only our Annapolis station,
Channel 22. Normal service will be resumed by Saturday, February 9, although
other outages will be required before the end of the year.
where: MPT's tower site in Crownsville, MD in Anne Arundel County,
near Annapolis.
who: Viewers most likely to be affected are those who watch MPT
from the on-air signal of channel 22
- in Central Maryland, in Anne Arundel and Howard counties, and in parts
of Baltimore and Baltimore County;
- in suburban and southern Maryland, in Calvert, Charles, Montgomery,
Prince George's, and St. Mary's counties;
- on the upper Eastern Shore, in Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's,
and Talbot counties;
- and in Washington, DC and in some counties in Northern Virginia.
visuals: Photo of towers along I-97 and Crownsville Road in Crownsville.
why:
- When the construction crew is high on the new tower, federal regulations
require the broadcast signal from the antenna on the old tower to be
turned off to protect the workers' safety (the signal is broadcast at
five million watts).
- The construction crew has to finish attaching the top of the new tower.
This will cause some additional outages between now and the end of the
year. MPT will endeavor to keep these outages to a minimum.
- Upon their completion, the upgrades at the Crownsville tower site
will allow MPT to provide improved analog service and a high-quality
digital signal to this important part of the network's service area.
- Viewers on the edges of WMPT-TV's service area may still be able to
see MPT programming on WMPB-TV 67 in Owings Mills; WCPB-TV 28 in Salisbury;
and WFPT-TV 62 in Frederick.
- For viewers watching on cable, arrangements are being made for the
cable companies in affected areas to receive MPT's signal from one of
the other stations in the statewide network.
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