While WUSF TV ceased operations Oct. 15, the station leaves behind a rich legacy of educational outreach both at the University of South Florida and in the wider community of West Central Florida. (National Public Radio station WUSF 89.7 continues to serve as a resource for Tampa Bay and Sarasota, as does Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9.)
Over its 51-year history of public broadcasting, WUSF TV produced a variety of programming, including television courses, news, public affairs and sports shows, documentaries, election coverage and science series.
“So many people have talked to me or written letters about having been on WUSF-TV, or about the shows they’ve watched and loved. There are so many fond memories,” said WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky.
In early October, Urofsky sat down at a conference table in her office to share some of the history and accomplishments of the university-based public television station. She arrived at USF Tampa in 1997 and served several years as station manager for WUSF radio before assuming the leadership of WUSF Public Media, which included WUSF TV (Ch. 16) and WUSF’s two radio stations, WUSF 89.7 and Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9.
WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky | Photo by Freddie Coleman, University Communications and Marketing
WUSF TV first signed on the air in September 1966 to provide University of South Florida students with distance learning and educational programming. In the early years, the station broadcast weekdays from 3 to 10 p.m. with a signal transmitting only as far as the surrounding Temple Terrace area, where most faculty members lived.
For 35 years, the Tampa campus station and studios were housed in the basement of USF’s old library (the Student Services Building, or SVC), which was prone to flooding from heavy rains or burst pipes, Urofsky said. “The staff actually had a yardstick on the wall where they would mark water heights.”
WUSF staff worked with USF faculty both to showcase professors’ expertise and to create televised courses for students, which also benefitted those in the community, Urofsky said. The telecourses -- covering topics from anthropology and business to international studies and statistics -- could be watched when they aired on Ch. 16. If you missed a class or wanted a refresher on a particular lecture, beta tapes of the broadcasts (and in later years CDs and DVDs) could be viewed at the library.
On-air programming at WUSF TV included showcasing the expertise of USF professors.
“Some of the most popular courses were the Spanish and French language programs,” Urofsky said. “People from community not registered for the course would buy the books at the university bookstore and watch on TV to learn French and Spanish.”
Another popular offering, which Ch. 16 started carrying in 1992 on its secondary audio program (SAP) channel, was the WUSF Radio Reading Service. Volunteers, including students and retirees, would read newspaper and magazine articles to visually impaired listeners.
“The people who volunteered to read newspapers did them as a team,” Urofsky said. “They would meet at the station early to circle the articles they were going to read, and then went back and forth reading the news. It was the ultimate lectore in the old Tampa tradition.”
Russell Gant, who got his start at WUSF as a part-time production assistant while studying music at USF, shown here reading birthday cards for WUSF's Radio Reading Service for visually impaired listeners. The popular segment was also broadcast on Ch. 16's secondary audio program channel.
WUSF moved from its cramped, windowless quarters in the SVC basement into a $9.1 million, state-of-the art telecommunications facility in 2001. The new broadcast building, shared by TV, video production and radio staffers, served as a modern training ground for many broadcast production interns from USF’s Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications.
Among them was Kimberly Thurman, who said she gained invaluable experience working at WUSF-TV as a student and was hired by the station shortly after graduating in December 2007.
“Interns got to do a little bit of everything,” said Thurman, now a traffic assistant who programs and tracks corporate support and promotional on-air time. “It was great for helping build technical skills – how to edit and learn about lighting and audio.”
WUSF staff pull up the satellite dish on the Ch. 16 TV truck.
Thurman, who has worked both the TV and radio sides of WUSF over the last nine years, will continue as an employee for WUSF Public Media and add video production to her duties.
In 2013, a new tower and transmitter were jointly built with WEDU TV (Channel 3) in Riverview, extending the strength WUSF TV’s signal and the station’s coverage area to from six to eight counties in West Central Florida.
With television’s digital transition in the 21stcentury, WUSF-TV’s main channel grew to four unique channels. With PBS favorites and locally produced programs in HD on WUSF-TV 16.1, the station offered top-quality educational children’s programming on WUSF Kids 16.2 and expert advice on cooking, crafts, gardening, home improvement and travel on WUSF Create 16.3. The Florida Knowledge Network (16.4) featured documentaries, news and public affairs series, and encore presentations.
WUSF TV production staffer checks the lighting as former City of Tampa Mayor Dick Greco prepares to go on air.
Over its 51-year history, WUSF-TV has produced a variety of local programming, including election coverage, documentaries, and a weekly show called Inside USF Sports hosted by USF coaches. Beyond Science, a series produced with the USF Division of Sponsored Research, included a popular one-hour special on killer viruses “Super Bugs” that was updated annually and distributed nationally by American Public Television.
Along the way WUSF TV garnered its fair share of Telly and other awards honoring excellence in television and video.
“The people at the station have been extraordinary – some worked here more than 30 years,” Urofsky said. “I can’t imagine a finer group of people to be associated with.”
WUSF TV won its fair share of Telly and other awards honoring excellence in television and video. | Photo by Freddie Coleman, University Communications and Marketing
A few select WUSF-TV historical highlights
1966:
* Signed on the air September 1966
1976-85:
* Transitioned to full color studios and acquired color remote van
* Reached 300,000 viewers weekly in a six-county area.
Ch. 16 celebrated 16 years of service to the Tampa Bay community in 1982 with an open house for the public. Guests met on-air personalities and staff, won door prizes, and enjoyed refreshments as they toured the station's studios.
1988:
* Year of the “Great Flood” in basement studio, after which
station has opportunity to rebuild its technical equipment infrastructure
1992:
* 46,000 households watching each week.
* Begins broadcasting WUSF Radio Reading Service on its SAP channel.
1994:
*Station completes extensive remodeling of engineering infrastructure, adding
interface through fiber optics to other facilities and satellite, as well as
production capability in three suites at once.
* Audience size reaches over 553,000 households watching each week.
1996 (30 years of operation):
*Station partners with The League of Women Voters of
Hillsborough County to host a series of election debates.
Major William G. Warner of the Civil Air Patrol presents Brenda Ladun, co-host of Ch. 16's WEEKEND, with a certificate of appreciation for contributing to public awareness about the Civil Air Patrol. The station had broadcast a WEEKEND segment about the citizen auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.
1997:
*With the USF Library, WUSF begins recording oral histories of community
leaders.
* WUSF-TV airs first Florida Focus, a
daily news break reported, written and produced on deadline by USF School of
Mass Communications students.
1998:
* Station airs programs 24 hours a day.
* With NBC affiliate Newschannel 8, WUSF covers 1998 Florida Governor’s
election, with live analysis of the candidate debate between Jeb Bush and Buddy
McKay and election day coverage.
2000:
* WUSF’s series Beyond
Science wins a regional Emmy and national Aurora Award.
*Station begins a relationship with ESPN, airing USF football and basketball
games on delay.
2001:
* Move to a new WUSF Ch. 16 telecommunications facility
WUSF TV signed off the air Oct. 15, 2017. The station's positions on the broadcast spectrum are being transitioned to WEDU PBS. Radio stations WUSF 89.7 and Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9 remain on the air.
2003:
* New tower and transmitter built in Riverview.
2004-2009:
* WUSF begins digital TV broadcasts, growing to four unique channels.
2017:
* WUSF-TV signs off the air midnight Oct. 15, 2017, following a marathon
rebroadcast of Tony Pizzo’s Tampa, an
award-winning, 10-part documentary produced by WUSF-TV in 1979.
To read the WUSF TV Final Sign-Off message from Urofsky, click here.
-Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, University Communications and Marketing
-Photos courtesy of USF Tampa Library, Special Collections