WEFS
|
Cocoa / Orlando, Florida United States |
|
|---|---|
| Branding | WEFS-TV |
| Channels |
Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 68 () |
| Subchannels | 68.1 Educational Ind. 68.2 Classic Arts Showcase 68.3 NASA Educational Channel 68.4 Florida Channel |
| Owner | Eastern Florida State College |
| First air date | June 18, 1987 |
| Call letters' meaning |
Eastern Florida State College |
| Former callsigns | WRES (1987–1991) WBCC (1991–2013) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 18 (UHF, 1987–1991) 68 (UHF, 1991–2008) |
| Former affiliations | PBS (2002–2012) |
| Transmitter power | 300 kW |
| Height | 491 m |
| Facility ID | 6744 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 28°36′35″N 81°3′35″W / 28.60972°N 81.05972°WCoordinates: 28°36′35″N 81°3′35″W / 28.60972°N 81.05972°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | WEFS |
WEFS is a public broadcast station serving the Orlando television market. Owned by Eastern Florida State College, formerly Brevard Community College, it is based at EFSC's campus in Cocoa, where the station is licensed. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 30.
WEFS began on June 18, 1987 as WRES on channel 18. The station's original slogan was "WRES, Your Educational Resource;" the call letters were derived from the word "resource." It was originally an educational independent station. In 1991, the station changed its call letters to WBCC and swapped channel positions with commercial WKCF, moving to channel 68.
On January 1, 2002, the station became a secondary PBS member station, showing some limited programming from the network. By that April, renovations began to accommodate WBCC-DT channel 30, which took to the air on November 4, 2003.
Partnerships with University of Central Florida, Brevard Public Schools, Florida Knowledge Network and The Florida Channel filled out the channel lineup. Until the summer of 2010 BPS-TV, the program stream for the educational channel of Brevard Public Schools, was originated from the studios of WBCC, and was carried on a WBCC subchannel; after the arrangement ended, BPS-TV became available only on cable.
Prior to July 2011, WMFE-TV had been the flagship PBS station for central Florida. In Fall 2010, WMFE's owner, Community Communications, announced that it had been forced to furlough several employees due to financial difficulties. On April 1, 2011, WMFE announced that it would sell channel 24 and leave PBS due to these financial difficulties and "critical uncertainties in federal and state funding".
When news spread of the sale, a campaign was undertaken by local residents and students at UCF to try to keep an active PBS station in the Orlando market. On May 26, 2011, the UCF Board of Trustees approved a partnership with BCC to create WUCF-TV, the new primary PBS station for Central Florida. The new station would lease WBCC's primary digital channel, and operate from WBCC's facilities. However, WBCC would retain its license and call letters. On June 2, PBS approved the creation of WUCF and announced that it would become Central Florida's primary PBS channel. The station served as the Orlando market's only PBS station, as WDSC-TV in Daytona Beach left PBS on July 1, concurrent with WMFE's departure from PBS and the launch of WUCF.
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