WUCF-TV

WUCF-TV
Channels
BrandingWUCF PBS
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WUCF-FM
History
First air date
  • Station: March 15, 1965; 59 years ago (1965-03-15)
  • WUCF intellectual unit: July 1, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-07-01)
Former call signs
WMFE-TV (1965–2012)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 24 (UHF, 1965–2009)
  • Digital: 23 (UHF, until 2020)
  • NET (1965–1970)
  • PBS (1970–2011)
  • V-me (2011–2012)
Call sign meaning
University of Central Florida
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID12855
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT379.6 m (1,245 ft)
Transmitter coordinates28°36′8″N 81°5′36″W / 28.60222°N 81.09333°W / 28.60222; -81.09333
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wucftv.org

WUCF-TV (channel 24) is a PBS member television station in Orlando, Florida, United States. Owned by the University of Central Florida (UCF), it is the region's sole PBS member station, reaching an estimated population of 4.6 million people in its viewing area.[a][2] WUCF-TV is sister to WUCF-FM (89.9), Central Florida's secondary NPR station. The two outlets share studios on Research Parkway on the UCF campus. Through a channel sharing agreement with religious station WTGL (channel 45), the two stations transmit using WUCF-TV's spectrum from an antenna in unincorporated Bithlo, Florida.

Channel 24 had previously been WMFE-TV, the main ETV and PBS outlet for Central Florida from 1965 to 2011, when then-owner Community Communications dropped PBS programming in preparation for a sale. In response, UCF and Brevard Community College (BCC) partnered to approve the creation of WUCF-TV, a new PBS station to serve the Central Florida market. The station operated on the primary digital channel of BCC's PBS station, WBCC.[3][4] Days after the agreement was reached to replace WMFE, Daytona Beach PBS station WDSC-TV announced that it would cease its membership due to financial hardship, leaving WUCF as the only PBS member station in Central Florida.[5] In 2012, PBS programming returned to WMFE, as the station's ownership announced that it would sell all of the station's assets, except the studio facilities, to UCF for $3.3 million.[6] In September 2012, WMFE was relaunched as WUCF following approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[7][8]

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WUCF-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WUCF Q&A". WUCF. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  3. ^ "PBS to play on WUCF in Orlando". Orlando Sentinel. May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  4. ^ "UCF board approves WUCF TV station". Orlando Business Journal. May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  5. ^ Bodeker, Hal (June 17, 2011). "PBS: Daytona Beach station will stop PBS lineup July 1". The Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 19, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  6. ^ "WMFE Plans to Sell TV License to UCF". WMFE Plans to Sell TV License to UCF. June 21, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  7. ^ "Orlando TV history: WMFE TV becomes WUCF TV". Orlando Sentinel. September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  8. ^ Boedecker, Hal (August 15, 2012). "FCC grants UCF the license for Channel 24". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.


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