PBS Programming Returning To Local Airwaves November 1, Transmitting From North Escambia

October 3, 2026

PBS programming is returning to Northwest Florida airwaves on November 1, broadcasting directly from a transmission tower located in North Escambia.

The service will broadcast over the air via WPAN television, which operates its broadcast tower on Barrineau Park School Road in Barrineau Park, just west of Molino. WPAN is licensed to Fort Walton Beach.

Viewers across Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties in Florida, as well as Baldwin County, Alabama, will be able to access main network programming over the air on channel 53.1, along with dedicated PBS KIDS content on digital subchannel 53.2.

The return restores free, commercial-free access to viewer favorites for all ages. Audiences will once again be able to watch primetime mainstays like “Masterpiece,” “Antiques Roadshow,” and “Finding Your Roots,” along with popular children’s staples such as “Sesame Street,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Wild Kratts,” and “Arthur.”

Longtime public broadcasting veteran Jill Hubbs serves as the executive director overseeing station operations, educational outreach, fundraising, and programming development. According to Hubbs, the initiative was formed to restore access for households relying strictly on free over-the-air television antennas without cable or high-speed internet connections.

“I’m very excited,” Hubbs said Friday afternoon. She spent 30 years in outreach at WSRE, the former local PBS station. “I know the value of that we lost, and it was too important to lose.”

The launch follows the departure of PBS from local airwaves on July 1, 2026, when Pensacola State College terminated WSRE Channel 23’s longtime network affiliation. Facing budget constraints after losing approximately $1.5 million in state and federal funding—including the elimination of federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants—the PSC District Board of Trustees voted to decertify the WSRE-TV Foundation, end the network partnership, shut down its digital subchannels, and shift WSRE to independent educational programming.

To restore regional broadcast access, local citizens established Emerald Coast PBS as an independent, community-supported nonprofit organization that will rely on contributions from viewers, businesses, and foundation partners.

“It’s not just about television, but service to the community,” Hubbs said.

“This is about much more than restoring television programming,” said Marci Levin Goodman, chair of the Emerald Coast PBS Board of Directors and a retired First Judicial Circuit judge. “PBS has served generations of families as a trusted source of education, inspiration and connection. Emerald Coast PBS was established because our community deserves continued access to that service and because we believe strongly that public television should remain available to everyone.”

Hubbs noted that the station plans to raise $1 million over the coming year to support operations. The lineup will include signature national programs such as Antiques Roadshow, Finding Your Roots, Ken Burns historical documentaries, and curriculum-aligned children’s educational series, alongside planned initiatives covering regional history, local veterans’ stories, and classroom support resources.

Emerald Coast PBS is headquartered at 316 South Baylen Street in downtown Pensacola, utilizing office space and television production studios donated by the Levin Papantonio law firm to produce future local content.

Donations in any amount are being accepted to support the station. Viewers who make a qualifying contribution of $60 or more per year will receive access to PBS Passport, an extended on-demand streaming service for PBS programming.

“We need to raise a million dollars, but $5 means just as much as the Passport ($60),” she said.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES