WUCF will be at Channel 1 on Bright House Networks
Grant Heston is the assistant vice president of news, information and WUCF at the University of Central Florida. Photo credit: UCF
PBS enters a new era in Central Florida on Friday when WUCF TV launches.
But where will it be? Now we know: Bright House Networks will place WUCF at Channel 1 everywhere in the region and at Channel 1001 in high definition.
“We’re No. 1. That’s easy to remember,” said Grant Heston, assistant vice president of news, information and WUCF TV at the University of Central Florida.
On DirecTV, Dish Network and U-verse, WUCF will be at Channel 68.
On Comcast, WUCF will be at Channel 440 in high definition.
Over the air, WUCF will be at 68.1.
WUCF is a partnership of the UCF and Brevard Community College. BCC’s TV station, WBCC, will broadcast WUCF TV. “Our goal is to provide public television access to the broadest number of Central Florida viewers as possible, and we believe this agreement delivers that,” said Kate Junco, BCC’s director of marketing and media relations.
The college will continue broadcasting the partners’ channels, UCF TV and WBCC.
On Bright House, UCF TV will shift to Channel 9 and digital 457 in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. WBCC will be on Channel 9 in Brevard County and at digital 456.
“I could not have asked for a better end result than this,” Heston said. “I would not have been bold enough to ask for all that Bright House has given us. They’ve been incredibly supportive.”
Donald Forbes of Bright House said in a statement: “The new PBS offering is an exciting addition for our Central Florida customers. We look forward to working with them on offering advanced digital video services like On Demand, Start Over and Look Back to our mutual customers.”
Heston said that the website WUCFTV.org will relaunch before the channel starts airing the PBS lineup. The website will offer extensive information on the channel’s schedule.
WMFE, which has broadcast the PBS lineup, will allow WUCF to send mail announcements to 25,000 WMFE members, Heston said. But the mail isn’t fundraising, Heston said.
The message, Heston said: “We’re the new kids on the block. Thank you for welcoming us into your homes and we hope you enjoy the new channel.”
WUCF also will send out its news via Facebook, Twitter and email blasts, Heston said.
What do you think of WUCF’s placement?