WEDU

WEDU, virtual channel 3 (VHF digital channel 13), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States and also serving the nearby city of St. Petersburg. Owned by Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting, it is a sister station to fellow PBS member WEDQ (channel 3.4). The two stations share studios on North Boulevard in Tampa, and transmitter facilities in Riverview, Florida.

WEDU
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
United States
CityTampa, Florida
BrandingWEDU PBS
SloganWest Central Florida's PBS Station
ChannelsDigital: 13 (VHF)
(shared with WEDQ)
Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
Affiliations3.1: PBS
3.2: World
3.3: The Florida Channel
3.4: PBS
3.5: PBS Kids
3.6: Create
OwnerFlorida West Coast Public Broadcasting, Inc.
First air dateOctober 17, 1958 (1958-10-17)
Call sign meaningEDUcation
Sister station(s)WEDQ
Former channel number(s)Analog:
3 (VHF, 1958–2009)
Digital:
54 (UHF, until 2009)
Former affiliationsNET (1958–1970)
Transmitter power25 kW
38 kW (application)
Height470.9 m (1,545 ft)
471.9 m (1,548 ft) (application)
Facility ID21808
Transmitter coordinates27°50′51.5″N 82°15′49.4″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.wedu.org

History

The station first signed on the air on October 17, 1958. For many years, WEDU has been one of the highest-rated stations in the PBS system. At one point, it was the third most-watched PBS member station in the country.[1][2]

On February 8, 2017, USF announced that the license for secondary PBS outlet WUSF-TV had been sold for $18.8 million in the FCC spectrum auction, and that it would cease operations;[3][4] on August 11, it announced that the station would go off the air on October 15.[5]

On October 8, it was announced that WUSF-TV had entered into a channel sharing agreement with WEDU, enabling the station to continue operations. WUSF-TV's broadcast license would also be transferred to WEDU's owner, Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting;[6] the transfer was completed on January 24, 2018.[7]

On October 16, 2017 at midnight, WEDU began airing two of WUSF-TV's former subchannels, PBS Kids and Create, located on 3.5 and 3.6, respectively. Also on that date, WUSF-TV changed its calls to WEDQ, and began airing the secondary lineup of PBS programming that had previously aired on WEDU's fourth subchannel under the branding "WEDU Plus."

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[8]
3.11080i16:9WEDU-HDMain WEDU programming / PBS
3.2480iWEDU WDWorld
3.3WEDU FLThe Florida Channel
3.4WEDQMain WEDQ programming / PBS
3.5PBS KIDPBS Kids
3.6WEDU CRCreate

Analog-to-digital conversion

WEDU shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on February 17, 2009, to conclude the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[9][10] The station moved its digital signal from its pre-transition UHF channel 54. That channel was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcast service. On June 12, 2009, it moved to VHF channel 13. Channel 13 originally was the analog channel for Fox owned-and-operated station WTVT but that station vacated Channel 13 on the rescheduled date of the digital television transition,[11] using PSIP to display WEDU's virtual channel as 3 on digital television receivers.

References
  1. WEDU history section from 2002 archive of Website
  2. "WEDU.org". Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  3. McNeill, Claire. "Auction nets USF $18.8M, but spells end to WUSF-TV". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  4. WUSF TV License Sold; Station Will End Operations
  5. "WUSF TV to shut down Oct. 15". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  6. WUSF-WEDU CSA
  7. "Consummation Notice". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  8. http://www.wedu.org/channels/
  9. Congress delays digital TV switch, but WEDU will switch this month, Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times, February 5, 2009
  10. List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  11. WEDU FCC DTV status report
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