WGCU (TV)
| Fort Myers/Naples, Florida United States |
|
|---|---|
| City of license | Fort Myers, Florida |
| Branding | WGCU TV 3 (cable channel) |
| Slogan | Florida's Gulf Coast Public Television Station |
| Channels | Digital: 31 (UHF) Virtual: 30 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 30.1 PBS 30.2 World 30.3 Create/PBS Encore 30.4 The Florida Channel |
| Affiliations | PBS |
| Owner | Florida Gulf Coast University (Board of Trustees, Florida Gulf Coast University) |
| First air date | August 15, 1983 |
| Call letters' meaning | Florida Gulf Coast University |
| Sister station(s) | WGCU-FM |
| Former callsigns | WSFP-TV (1983–1996) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 30 (UHF, 1983–2009) |
| Transmitter power | 50 kW |
| Height | 276 m |
| Facility ID | 62388 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: | Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.wgcu.org |
WGCU, virtual channel 30 (UHF digital channel 31), is a PBS-member television station located in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The station is owned by Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU maintains studio facilities located on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus in Fort Myers, and its transmitter is located in unincorporated southern Charlotte County.
The station is known on-air as "TV 3", derived from WGCU's primary cable position in the market on Comcast Xfinity and most other cable providers in the area. This practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable penetration rate, which is one of the highest in the United States. In addition, WGCU is carried on cable providers in Sarasota. WGCU has long claimed Sarasota as part of its primary coverage area, even though Sarasota is part of the Tampa Bay media market.
National programming on WGCU comes from PBS, American Public Television, and other distributors, as well as from independent producers.
Contents
History
The station first signed on the air on August 15, 1983 as WSFP-TV. It was originally owned by the University of South Florida in Tampa, owners of Tampa Bay's secondary PBS member station, WUSF-TV, and primary NPR member WUSF-FM. At the time, the Fort Myers/Naples area was the only media market in Florida without a public television station of any sort that was available over-the-air. Area cable providers usually piped WEDU in Tampa or WPBT in Miami, depending on the location. WSFP-TV operated as a typical PBS member station.
The broadcast license was transferred to the new Florida Gulf Coast University in 1996, while construction on the university's campus was being completed. The station then changed its call letters to WGCU on August 11, 1997, two months before FGCU opened.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WGCU-HD | Main WGCU programming / PBS |
| 30.2 | 480i | 4:3 | W0RLD | World |
| 30.3 | 16:9 | CREATE | Create (6 a.m.-6 p.m.) PBS Encore (6 p.m.-6 a.m.) |
|
| 30.4 | 4:3 | FLCH | The Florida Channel |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WGCU discontinued regular programming on analog signal, over UHF channel 30, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31,[2] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 30.
References
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WGCU
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- WGCU Public Media
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WGCU
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WGCU-TV
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