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UCF could easily adopt Orlando PBS

Guest Columnist

Published: Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Updated: Wednesday, April 6, 2011 23:04

Central Florida Future

On April 1, WMFE, our local Public Broadcasting Company (PBS) announced it would be selling their television station to focus solely on radio.  

This means that the station that has been in existence for 45 years, the station that has brought to the city of Orlando quality television such as Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street will be gone.

In its place will be two sister stations, WDSC in Daytona and WBCC in Cocoa. Both are available on Brighthouse Networks — not Comcast — and vary in their program selection.

But neither are suitable replacements for WMFE.

Needless to say, when I first heard of WMFE's decision to sell I was angry. And like most of us, my initial reaction was to find someone to blame.  Should we blame WMFE for not trying hard enough? Should we blame the public for never donating to the station? Or should we blame Republicans for their aspirations to cut funding to public broadcasting?

Looking for that someone to blame often becomes both useless and pointless — the real key to anger is to find solutions. And that's where my friend Ali Kurnaz had an idea: Have UCF buy WMFE.

UCF already has a television station called UCFTV. The channel itself actually airs PBS programming on occasion, so it's obvious that UCFTV values good television. It should also be noted that the other two PBS stations in the area — WDSC in Daytona and WBCC in Cocoa, are both owned and operated by local college campuses. Why can't UCF do the same? Why can't we save PBS for the city of Orlando?

For the second largest campus by enrollment  in the nation, I feel that being our community's source of Public Broadcasting is not only feasible — it just makes sense. Supporting a local PBS station would also serve as an excellent learning tool for students from all disciplines — imagine the opportunity. (And isn't that what UCF stands for?)

For me, an Orlando native, losing our local WMFE station feels like losing a friend — but at the macro level it means so much more. It means that our children are losing access to one of the most essential learning tools that exist. And with the majority of our children spending hours of the day watching TV, wouldn't we want them to at least watch something beneficial to their mental health? Shouldn't a public good be just and fair, shouldn't it be nondiscriminatory, available to everyone?

The easy option would be to just sit back, and waste more of my tuition money on pointless T-shirts, Frisbees, iPads and rubber ducks.

Or we could do big things. We could be innovative and be the change we want to see in the world.

This doesn't take effort, it just takes passion. Where's yours?

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9 comments

Anonymous
Thu Dec 6 2012 00:03
So excited to see WUCF-TV still in motion!!
Anonymous
Fri Jun 10 2011 10:55
WUCF-TV!! :D
Kons
Mon Apr 18 2011 13:34
Unfortunately, although the cause is a noble one, financially and pragmatically it's not sound.

"In February 1988, channel 15 (wdsc) signed on as WCEU with a limited schedule of three hours a day, three days a week. Support in the area was enough that within nine months, it was recognized by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. By January 1989, it was a full-fledged PBS station, though it didn't expand to a fuller broadcast day until 1993."

Right now, WMFE is operating at around a cost of $1 million per year where it's afiliate stations are operating at a fraction of the cost and providing similar programming. As the aforementioned letter of intent stated, the biggest problem is the overlap of viewership. WDSC covers a market of over 1.3 million people and operates at a lower cost while WMFE absorbs a large portion of that market, yet incurs tremendous costs to effectively pay for something that's already been payed for.

Aside from the financial standpoint, market trends are showing that there is a highly coveted intrerest in the radio segment of PBS Orlando, as illustrated by meeting donation goals for the radio station rather than the television broadcast.

Moreso, as far as internships are concerned, as I recalled (because I inquired about an internship off of SR 50), they primarily provide internships in radio broadcasting rather than TVB.

Assuming UCF absorbs the cost of acquiring the Orlando PBS branch, it would require an additional $1 million per year funding, not inclusive of overhead, maintanence costs and broadcasting fees.

If we were to spread the cost accross the UCF student body, that's nearly a $20 fee increase per student (almost unheard of), and in a time when the Florida Senate is placing heavy pressure on secondary education funding and tuition prices are skyrocketing, I wouldn't be presumptious in saying its a high price to pay for a few unpaid internships

Keep PBS in Orlando
Wed Apr 13 2011 18:24
Do you love WMFE's public broadcasting television station?

Join the campaign to Keep PBS in Orlando!
facebook.com/KeepPBSinOrlando

Anonymous
Thu Apr 7 2011 17:04
You have a good idea however your a bit misinformed. All those promo items you talk about "The easy option would be to just sit back, and waste more of my tuition money on pointless T-shirts, Frisbees, iPads and rubber ducks." are funded through the Activity and Service Fee Budget. WUCF is funded through the university itself. With the university having to cut entire programs I think it would be an incredibly poor decision to buy and fund this stations because who/what is going to pay for that? WUCF and UCFTV are independent of the Nicholson school and for all that I know are just merely affiliated.

Before your going to write an article just do a little bit of research.

Citizen
Wed Apr 6 2011 20:19
Well I was a little skeptical at first, but if other colleges can do it, why can't UCF? You make a great case. UCF should adopt PBS.
Anna
Wed Apr 6 2011 19:02
First of all, thank you for your interest!! And thank you Ali for conjuring up this idea in the first place! :)

Great points, both of you! And Chris you make an excellent point-- UCFTV being the main provider of PBS programming in Orlando would be huge, both for the community and the university itself. The Nicholson School would benefit-- but even the advertising, non-profit, business admin, finance, and education disciplines could benefit.

And yes, when I wrote this article, I didn't want to attract attention to the fact that the WMFE-TV station was sold to a Texas-based Christian television network.

I don't have anything against religion, but what made PBS so great was the objective educational programming that it provided. A Christian channel is not going to provide us with an unbiased perspective, even if their programming was perceived to be educational to some.

And if we can prove this to the FCC, this sale could be delayed or declined. Which is one of our next steps to take. :)

Ali
Wed Apr 6 2011 18:45
I completely agree with you, Chris. This would mean so much for our community at a time when they need us the most. One thing that Anna did not mention in this awesome column is that the channel is being sold to a Christian television network based in Dallas, Texas called Daystar. [sarcasm]Isn't it just *wonderful* that we're replacing those liberal children's propaganda with the lessons of the Bible and Jesus Christ?[/sarcasm]
Chris
Wed Apr 6 2011 16:49
I think it's great idea for UCF to purchase WMFE. It would be huge for the Nicholson School and communications majors, and would bring the university in line with other elite schools. It could also serve as a medium to broadcast UCF athletic events, such as baseball games and such that are not picked up by networks such as BHSN. If UCF were to purchase WMFE, as Vice President Biden would say, "It's a big f'n deal."




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