Kathleen Hohl, Communications and Events Director
414-297-6208 (office); 414-235-7105 (cell); hohlk@matc.edu

MILWAUKEE (Oct. 12, 2010) – Milwaukee Area Technical College, license holder of Milwaukee Public Television, has received a $778,504 grant from the United States Department of Commerce for upgrades to transmission equipment for WMVS Channel 10.

The grant was awarded through the Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications’ Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), a program that helps public broadcasting stations, state and local governments, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations construct facilities to bring educational and cultural programs to the American public using broadcast and non-broadcast telecommunications technologies. This was the largest PTFP award for a television transmission project this year and it was the second highest dollar award granted.

“Besides providing great content on Milwaukee Public Television, it is critical that we transmit a broadcast signal that is strong, crisp, and reliable,” said MPTV General Manager Ellis Bromberg. “With the transition to digital television last year, some of our over-the-air viewers have found it more difficult to receive Channel 10. This very generous grant will enable us to upgrade our signal to address that problem.”

Milwaukee Public Television serves 2.1 million potential viewers with public and educational television programming. More than 216 hours of programming each day, 365 days a year, are delivered by the unique operation of nine, co-located, full power broadcast services. Nearly 1.9 million viewers watch MPTV each week. The Nielsen rating service currently ranks Milwaukee the 35th largest television market in the nation.

Visit http://www.mptv.org/ for more information about Milwaukee Public Television.