Technical Profile: WMAH-DT

TV Technical Profile: WMAH

Channel:: 16
Programming:: 19.1 - MPB / PBS HD; 19.2 - PBS Kids; 19.3 - PBS Create
19.4 - Audio only: WMPN-FM "MPB Think Radio"
19.5 - MPB Classroom TV / PBS World
Transmitter Location:: [map] Near intersection of TV Tower Road and Cable Bridge Road southeast of Wiggins. Co-located with WMAH-FM.
Power (ERP):: 540 kW
593 kW (CP)
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 1,563 feet
Antenna:: Directional
Other Information:: 41 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.; [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars]; [Wikipedia]
[Facebook] Facebook for Mississippi Public Broadcasting, which covers both radio and TV.
History:: The original analog version of this station came on in January of 1972 on channel 19, with a directional antenna that restricted coverage to the northwest and southwest, ostensibly because those areas were served by the Jackson MPB station and WYES out of New Orleans, respectively.

WMAH-DT signed in April 2003 at 150 kW, using the same directional pattern as the analog broadcast used.

The current facility came online sometime in the spring of 2011, employing higher power and a non-directional antenna for better coverage of the entire Mississippi Gulf coast. The digital station originally carried just PBS in SD, HD and PBS Create, but added an audio feed of MPB Think Radio to the -.4 subchannel sometime in either 2014 or 2015. On 12 December 2016 the MPB network of stations dropped the SD version of PBS and moved the HD to the -.1 space, making room for PBS Kids, which was said to debut sometime in the first quarter of 2017.

The station added "MPB Classroom TV" to the —.5 subchannel, mostly like in 2020. At night it airs programming PBS World.

In early December 2024 the station was granted a construction permit to raise power from 540 kW to 593 kW, with no other changes.