MPBN's television and radio signals reach virtually all of the populated portions of Maine, and nearby parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts as well as the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.

[2][3] On November 13, 1961, WCBB signed on the air, based in Lewiston, as the first educational television station in Maine and the third in New England, after WGBH-TV in Boston and WENH-TV in Durham, New Hampshire.

[10] Cuts in federal funding led to the closing of MPT Plus on June 30, 1996;[11] WMEA and W30BF then reverted to carrying the primary Maine Public Television service[12] (though the latter station was sold in 1999[13] and became Positiv affiliate WCKD-LP), while W39BQ eventually ceased operations.

The main network was eliminating classical music programming, with a three-hour weekday block between 9 a.m. and noon switching to news and talk shows.

Despite Bunker's willingness to continue his popular morning music show from the Portland studios of MPBN, he was let go and Leitha Christie hired in his place.

The program (a spinoff of Arthur) is about a cartoon rabbit named Buster Baxter, who travels the country with his father and interacts with children from different cultures and in different family structures.

PBS headquarters had pulled the episode from its national broadcast schedule after receiving a critical letter from newly installed Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who was upset that Buster was visiting a Vermont family headed by two women.

[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] WGBH, the Boston-based PBS affiliate and original producer of the program, subsequently made the episode available to stations that still wished to air it on an individual basis.

[26] Maine humorist Robert Skoglund was host of a weekly jazz and humor program called The Humble Farmer on MPBN starting in 1978.

[27][32] MPBN regarded this as advocating a position on Maine's upcoming Taxpayer Bill of Rights referendum question and chose to not air the program.

[29] MPBN VP for Programming, Charles Beck, then sent Skoglund a letter outlining guidelines and warning him that further comments perceived as political would lead to the show's cancellation.

[28] In December 2008, due to the economic crisis and a lack of state funding, MPBN announced plans on temporarily closing down WMED-TV and -FM in Calais, and WMEF FM in Fort Kent, for at least six months, beginning January 2009.

Another concern is for MPBN's role as the state's primary carrier for the Emergency Alert System, which will be hampered during the times it is not on the air, as well as in areas where aerial service has been discontinued.

[37] On February 12, 2009, MPBN officially rescinded plans to close down the transmitters, after responses from its viewers and listeners, as well as stakeholders, legislators, and then-Governor John Baldacci.

[39] The Republican-controlled Legislature rejected this proposal and instead passed a budget directing MPBN funding be changed to a fee-for-service model instead of a general appropriation over the next five years.