WXXI-TV (channel 21) is a PBS member television station in Rochester, New York, United States. It is owned by the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council alongside NPR members WXXI (1370 AM), WXXI-FM (105.9), and WXXO (91.5 FM). The three outlets share studios at 280 State Street near downtown Rochester; WXXI-TV's transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton.

Programming

National productions

WXXI-TV's national public television productions include A Warrior in Two Worlds, Echoes from the Ancients, Out of the Fire, Albert Paley: Man of Steel, Biz Kid$, and Flight to Freedom. WXXI-TV also produced Assignment: The World, a weekly current-events program for schools, which aired on approximately 100 public television stations nationwide, and was the nation's longest-running instructional television program. Due to funding cuts, it was canceled and its last episode aired on May 23, 2013.

Former programming

ThinkBright, broadcast from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on 21.3 until the digital transition.

Technical information

Subchannels

WXXI-TV entered the digital era in September 2003 when it signed on with Rochester's first full-power digital television signal. The station's signal is multiplexed: {{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}} Channel 21.4, now PBS Kids since February 1, 2016, was originally a digital standard definition simulcast of WXXI-TV's analog signal.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WXXI-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 21, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 16, using virtual channel 21. As part of the SAFER Act, WXXI-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 10, 2009, to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. WXXI-TV had been awarded a $202,498 federal contract for an outreach initiative to help Rochester's over-the-air viewers prepare for the digital transition.