WCFE
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| WCFE (PBS) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Plattsburgh, New York | ||
| Channel 57 | ||
| Owner | Mountain Lake Public Telecommunications Council | |
| Founded | 1977 | |
| Signal Radius | Northern New York, northwestern Vermont, Quebec and Ontario, Canada | |
| Callsign Meaning | W Clinton Franklin and Essex Counties, New York | |
Television station WCFE is a PBS affiliate broadcasting from Plattsburgh, New York. It broadcasts on Channel 57 from transmitters on top of Lyon Mountain, between Plattsburgh and nearby Malone. WCFE's over-the-air coverage reaches many communities in Northeastern New York, Eastern Ontario (including Cornwall and parts of Ottawa), Vermont, and Southern Quebec (including Montreal.) WCFE's signal is also carried in Quebec City on cable. WCFE is available in over 1.6 million homes, either off-air or via cable, in this area.
Challenges
WCFE is in a unique market. Across Lake Champlain to the east lies the city of Burlington, Vermont, home to another PBS affiliate: Vermont Public Television. To the west lies Watertown, New York, home to PBS affiliate WPBS. As a result, in much of WCFE's broadcast area viewers are actually served by two PBS affiliates. For years, WCFE has searched for a way to stand out.
One of its solutions has been to broadcast certain various signature PBS television shows at different dates and times from the main network. For example, for a number of years WCFE did not broadcast PBS's Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday evenings; it would also broadcast Wall Street Week on Saturday instead of Friday, to name but two examples.
This practice has always been somewhat controversial amongst WCFE's members, especially those who do not live in overlapping broadcast areas. As a result, the station has reduced the practice somewhat, and has taken to airing a number of the most popular PBS shows at the same time as the main network.
WCFE has some 8,500 members (according to figures as of August 2004), 4,500 of whom live in Canada. The fact that more than half of its members are Canadian presents some challenges. First, WCFE has to take Canadian interests into account in its programming. Second, the Canadian presence has an impact in its fundraising activities. Not only does WCFE make an effort to include French-language elements in its fundraising for the Quebec market, but it must take into account that a part of the funds that it receives is in Canadian dollars. The fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Canadian and American dollar make budgeting difficult. In addition, in the past decade the decrease in the value of the Canadian dollar compared to its American counterpart has meant a decrease in revenues for WCFE. Fortunately, the Canadian dollar has gain ground since 2003, meaning a slight increase for WCFE.
Trivia
- The call letters in WCFE stand for Clinton, Franklin and Essex Counties, which make up its primary coverage area.
- WCFE's studios and offices are located at One Sesame Street (pun intended) in Plattsburgh.
- WCFE is also known under its corporate identity of Mountain Lake PBS. This name was adopted to reflect Plattsburgh's location between the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain.
External links
- Mountain Lake PBS web site (http://www.mountainlake.org/)
- Mountain Lake PBS at TVHat (http://www.geocities.com/tvhatton/champ-local/wcfe.html)