In early 1980, WEDU moved to its present, purpose-built facility on North Boulevard, abandoning its original studios, a surplus United States Navy power plant in dilapidated condition.

WEDU and Hubbard ultimately reached an understanding that moved channel 3's transmitter to WTOG-TV's tower, replacing its outdated, failing facility.

In the 1990s, WEDU grew its stature in national programming production but failed to find promised revenue in the sector; the ten-year management tenure of Steve Rogers ended with layoffs of nearly a third of the station's staff amid a downturn in viewer contributions.

[7] As planning began in earnest in Tampa, Gene Dyer, permittee of the unbuilt UHF station WTVI at Fort Pierce, Florida, proposed to have channel 3 moved there for his use.

[15] In expectation of getting the construction permit, the station began organizing program proposals and contacting regional school superintendents to solicit ideas for educational telecasts.

[16] The permit was granted by the FCC on September 19, 1957, and Florida West Coast Educational Television announced that their station would have studios in St. Petersburg and Tampa and would begin fundraising drives in both areas.

[19] For its Tampa studios, WEDU moved into a former Navy power plant on 20th Street, on land that been deeded to the Hillsborough County school board.

[24] She was followed by teachers with courses on high school American history, Spanish, and science,[25] as well as after-school programs for adult audiences—then comparatively rare on educational stations that were mostly devoted to classroom instruction.

[28] Over the course of 1959, the station won a major Ford Foundation grant to support its teaching programs, obtained its first video tape recorder, and boosted its power to improve coverage and reception.

[38] After obtaining federal grant money,[39] The site was completed two years later, and WEDU began broadcasting from it on August 30, 1966, with the maximum low-VHF power of 100,000 watts.

Instead, it focused on providing local shows and college-level telecourses; during the day, the station was off the air while the studios were in use to produce closed-circuit programs.

[43] WEDU was supportive of WUSF-TV because, per general manager R. Leroy Lastinger, it provided an outlet for college and higher education needs that channel 3 could not serve alone with its existing commitments.

[45] Channel 16 sought parity and the ability to simulcast PBS programs, and it indicated a desire to begin fundraising in the community, which irked WEDU officials fearing a dilution of viewer support and audience.

[51] When Pinellas reduced its support by nearly half in 1972, WEDU responded by laying off 12 of its 43 employees—including its entire local production unit—and cutting back its broadcast day.

[52] In response, the station held an emergency pledge drive and began seeking underwriting support for its programs, which helped alleviate the crunch.

[34] Discussion for a new facility had stretched as far back as 1969, when a site near WestShore Plaza was under consideration,[56][57] but the 1976 session of the Florida Legislature made it a reality by allocating $2.25 million for WEDU to build new studios on property provided by the city of Tampa along North Boulevard near Interstate 75.

[36] The construction of the new studios would be overseen by a new general manager; Lastinger, one of WEDU's founders, retired from the position in 1977 (continuing as president until 1982[58]) and was replaced by Mark Damen, an official in the Florida Department of Education.

[63] The Spanish-language public affairs show Los Nuestro, on the air for eight years, was canceled in 1982 because station leaders believed the newly arrived Spanish International Network had taken what little audience it had.

WTOG, Tampa Bay's highest-rated independent station, would shed the stigma among advertisers associated with being a UHF outlet and gain parity with the region's three network affiliates.

WTSP (channel 10), while a VHF station, faced technical constraints that prevented its transmitter from being co-sited with others in the Tampa Bay market.

[67] Beyond Tampa Bay, offers worth millions of dollars came into public TV stations in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Athens and Savannah, Georgia.

An FCC decision known as Ashbacker raised the specter that any such swap deal would lead to a requirement to allow competing, mutually exclusive, applications and therefore a comparative hearing.

[82] In the first years of the new millennium, WEDU saw membership non-renewals grow, eating into its budget just as the digital transition costs began to become a factor.

[86] An increased use of freelance producers and a side business of renting studio space so guests on national TV programs could appear live using WEDU's satellite uplink contributed to this improvement.

[87] Gulf Coast Journal, a weekly magazine program hosted by former NBC News reporter Jack Perkins, aired on the station from 2004 to 2012.

Bright House Networks, the primary cable provider in the Tampa Bay area, exacerbated the strife by exercising a contract in its clause with PBS stations and relegating WUSF-TV, but not WEDU, to a tier where not all subscribers could see it.

[95] In 2015, the University of South Florida's board of trustees began exploring options for WUSF-TV, which had lost money for three consecutive fiscal years, in light of the FCC spectrum incentive auction.

[103] With the shutdown on October 15, WEDU picked up the PBS Kids and Create subchannels previously carried by WUSF-TV as well as programs formerly on channel 16's lineup.

[105] She was replaced full-time by Paul Grove, who had been the vice president of national programming and production at WEDU before departing in 2006 to run WTCI in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[106] WEDU local programs include the public affairs show Florida This Week; Suncoast Business Forum; and the Greater series of digital shorts focused on specific cities.