Detroit Public Television (DPTV) began broadcasting in 1955 as WTVS Channel 56, a non-commercial, educational TV station licensed to the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. As a community licensee, DPTV now operates three digital broadcast television channels:

• 56.1 (DPTV’s High Definition main channel)
• 56.2 (DPTV PLUS, with alternate scheduling of many national and local shows, such as for adults in the daytime and children in the late afternoon to evening, and extended coverage of regional special events like the Mackinac Policy Conference, Great Lakes Week)
• 56.3 CREATE (how-to, cooking, travel, and home improvement programs).

The digital service was launched in October 2000. The former analog Channel 56 service ended in 2009 when all broadcast television completed the changeover to digital.

Detroit Public TV also operates three websites:

• dptv.org (the station’s primary site)
• MiWeek.org (with analysis of current news and policy issues)
• MiVote.org (with candidate interviews and debates and civic engagement information for voters)
• Greatlakesnow.org (with environmental information and postings)
• Milearns.org (with educational tools and policy issues)

Detroit Public TV also manages WRCJ 90.9 FM, a public radio classical and jazz station licensed to Detroit Public Schools, whose website is wrcjfm.org. The radio station is located in the Detroit School of Arts in Detroit’s Cultural Center in Midtown.

Detroit Public Television is governed by a Board of Trustees led by Board Chair Chuck Ciuni. The board is composed of representatives from the local, business, civic, and cultural communities. A separate Community Advisory Panel reviews the station’s content (programming, productions) and community engagement and connects the station to ideas and interests of other organizations in Southeast Michigan. Rich Homberg is the Station's President and General Manager. The TV and radio stations employ and are helped by about 70 people full time plus a large number of part-timers, freelancers, interns, and volunteers.

DPTV is the only public television station in the Detroit market and Michigan’s most watched public station, regularly viewed by some 1.5 million people in southeast Michigan each week. Additionally, DPTV is viewed by 1.2 million people per week throughout Canada via cable and Shaw Direct satellite-to-home.

Detroit Public Television operates from the Riley Broadcast Center, named for lead donors Dolores and George Riley, at 1 Clover Court in Wixom, Michigan 48393. Move-in began in 2005.

The Capital Campaign for the facility, its equipment, and the production truck reached a successful conclusion in 2009. DPTV completed building its new studios in 2010. In addition, the station operates Michigan’s first High Definition production truck to shoot full programs from anywhere in America. DPTV added a Midtown Detroit TV Studio in 2011 in partnership with Wayne State University to facilitate productions in the city.

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