WPBT

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WPBT
Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Branding	Channel 2 2HD
Slogan	Explore Your Possibilities
Channels	Digital: 18 (UHF)
Affiliations	PBS
Owner	Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.
First air date	August 12, 1955
Call letters’ meaning	Public Broadcasting Television
Former callsigns	WTHS-TV (1955-1979, timeshare partner)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 2 (1955-2009)
Former affiliations	NET (1955-1970)
Transmitter Power	1000 kW
Height	309 m
Facility ID	13456
Transmitter Coordinates	25°57′30.9″N 80°12′43.3″W / 25.958583°N 80.212028°W / 25.958583; -80.212028
Website	www.channel2.org

WPBT is the callsign of a PBS member public television station in Miami, Florida, serving the South Florida region. WPBT, Florida's first public television station, organized in November 1953, is owned and operated by the Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., a private, nonprofit multi-media organization that serves the communities of South Florida, reaching 1.5 million families weekly from Martin County to the Florida Keys.

Some of WPBT's notable national programs include Jack Horkheimer's Star Gazer, ¿Qué Pasa, USA?, and the Nightly Business Report. Programs for local consumption include Check, Please! South Florida, a restaurant review show based on a program created by Chicago station WTTW.

[edit] History

WPBT signed on for the first time August 12, 1955 as WTHS-TV (meaning Worlds To Hear and See, licensed to the Dade County Board of Public Instruction).[1] During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the Community TV Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, shared channel 2 with the DCBPI (each entity had its own transmission tower and its own call letters). The School Board would broadcast educational programming for five hours in the daytime on WTHS, then the CTF would broadcast two hours of programming in the evenings on WPBT.^[1][2] This arrangement, a rarity in American television, would continue until 1979, when the Dade County School Board returned the license of WTHS to the Federal Communications Commission. The CTF continued broadcasting on WPBT, now on a fulltime basis.

[edit] Digital television

WPBT's digital channel is multiplexed:

[edit] uVu

Launched in 2007, uVu (pronounced you view) is an alternative platform for WPBT programs, launched at first as a website and digital subchanmnel. uVu partners with community associations.

uVu consists of user-generated video along with content created and submitted to the site by community groups and cultural/educational institutions. Re-purposed broadcast content, previously aired on WPBT, is also available for viewing and sharing in clip format.

uVu TV Episode 102

In October 2007 WPBT launched a weekly companion TV show called uVuTV on a digital subchannel. Popular content is incorporated. uVuTV is repurposed for uVuPulse, a podcast.

[edit] References

1. ^ 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook TV Markets defined - The Broadcasting Guide to Spot Planning - Broadcasting
2. ^ Ruling of U.S. Court of Appeals, Tele-Media Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission" (1983) - appeal of FCC ruling of 1977

[edit] External links

• WPBT Homepage
• uVu
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPBT
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WPBT-TV