Initially broadcasting in black-and-white, NHPTV converted its Durham studio to color in 1972, with an increase in the number of locally produced programs taking effect at that time.

Among local shows launched in the early 1970s were The State We're In, a nightly newscast focusing on state issues; A Time for Music, live performances by New England–based musicians; live coverage of most University of New Hampshire men's hockey home games; and Your Time, where representatives of non-profit groups were given a half-hour of airtime to showcase their organizations.

The State We're In, later renamed Channel 11 News, went off the air in July 1981 as a result of steep budget cuts, which also forced NHPTV to shut down its satellite transmitters in Hanover and Berlin.

[1] Because New Hampshire is split between the Boston, Portland, Maine and Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York viewing areas, nearly all NHPBS viewers also receive another PBS station on cable or satellite (in some cases more than one).

In September 2011, NHPTV was said to be in preliminary discussions with WGBH-TV and public broadcasters in Maine and Vermont about sharing infrastructure and content.

[3][4] As part of the arrangement, NHPTV began to follow PBS' national schedule in tandem with WGBH-TV on September 30, 2012 (with NHPTV Explore's lineup changing from a mix of educational, New England and local programming to a schedule nearly identical to that of WGBX-TV),[5] and master control operations were relocated to the WGBH studios in Boston.

Few viewers lost access to PBS programming as a result of these stations being shut down due to the high penetration of cable, which is all but essential for acceptable television in most of New Hampshire.

WHED-TV was eventually replaced, in 1994, by a translator (originally W15BK, operating on WHED's former analog channel 15, and then, starting in 2007, low-power digital station W50DP-D).

[16] Although NHPBS has been available for decades on cable systems in southern Maine, it has yet to be added to the Portland DBS feeds because of W26CQ and W34DQ-D's low-power status.

It also has a long-term goal of building a full-power transmitter atop Mount Washington, which would improve reception in northern New Hampshire and the Upper Connecticut Valley, as well as presumably offer city-grade coverage of Portland.