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WTTA

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Coordinates:27°50′33″N82°15′44″W/ 27.84250°N 82.26222°W/27.84250; -82.26222
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For the amyloid disease, seeWild-type transthyretin amyloid.
Not to be confused withWTAT-TV.

WTTA
CitySt. Petersburg, Florida
Channels
BrandingThe CW Tampa Bay
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WFLA-TV,WSNN-LD
History
FoundedJanuary 31, 1985
First air date
June 21, 1991(33 years ago)(1991-06-21)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:38 (UHF,1991–2009)
  • Digital:57 (UHF, 2002–2009), 38 (UHF, 2009–2010), 32 (UHF, 2010–2018), 7 (VHF, 2018–2020)
Call signmeaning
"Television Tampa"
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID4108
ERP41 kW
HAAT465.3 m (1,527 ft)
Transmitter coordinates27°50′33″N82°15′44″W/ 27.84250°N 82.26222°W/27.84250; -82.26222
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wfla/the-cw-tampa-bay/

WTTA(channel 38) is atelevision stationlicensed toSt. Petersburg, Florida,United States, serving as theTampa Bay area's local outlet forThe CW.It isowned and operatedby The CW's majority owner,Nexstar Media Group,alongsideTampa-licensedNBCaffiliateWFLA-TV(channel 8) andSarasota-basedlow-powerMyNetworkTVaffiliateWSNN-LD(channel 39). WTTA and WFLA-TV share studios on South Parker Street in downtown Tampa; through achannel sharing agreement,the two stations transmit using WFLA-TV's spectrum from a transmitter inRiverview, Florida.

Background[edit]

TheUHFchannel 38 allotment in the Tampa–St. Petersburg market had previously been home to the area's first television station,WSUN-TV,which operated from 1953 to 1970. The station, along with WSUN-AM was originally licensed to the City of St. Petersburg. The transmitter was collocated in the WSUN-AM 620 kHz transmitter building on the north side of the Gandy causeway at the west end of theGandy Bridge.The transmitting antenna was mounted on top of the north tower of WSUN-AM which was modified to hold it without exceeding the original 502-foot (153 m) AGL height. The north tower was and remains adjacent to the transmitter building used as a daytime 620 kHz non-directional radiator while the south tower, on the south side of the Gandy causeway was also used only at night as a directional array. The transmitter building still contains a ladder which descends into a bomb shelter below the bay water as 620 was the originalCONELRADstation for the area. The original towers, each located on pilings in Tampa Bay deteriorated with the salt water and sea bird roosting residues and were replaced with new shorter towers on the original pilings in the early 2000s, eliminating the final traces of channel 38 at the 620 kHz transmitting plant.

The station had served as the area's originalABCaffiliate until WLCY (channel 10, nowCBSaffiliateWTSP) signed on in 1965, effectively resulting in WSUN becoming anindependent stationuntil it went dark in 1970.

History[edit]

In 1979, four applicants filed with the FCC for channel 38. The winner, decided in 1985, was Bay Television, an entity affiliated with the Baltimore-basedSinclair Broadcast Group;the competing applicants included Oak Television of Tampa Bay, a subsidiary of the company behind theONTVsubscription TV service; Home TV, Inc.; and Suncoast 38, a group owned byClint Murchison.[3]It took years to get the station on the air. In 1987, Sinclair president Bob Simmons was quoted as saying the station would be on the air in late 1988.[4]

WTTA affiliated in September 1990 with theStar Television Network,which offered a mix of older programming andinfomercials.[5]That month, there was also an ad for "TV Heaven 38" in the Tampa/Sarasotaedition ofTV Guide;[citation needed]however, Star would enter financial trouble and the network went dark on January 14, 1991.[6]Before going on air, Bay Television also rebuffed an offer fromTelemundoto buy the construction permit.[7]

On June 21, 1991,[8]WTTA signed on the air as an independent station consisting mainly of syndicated programs passed over by the market's other stations, barter programming, network shows not cleared by WFLA-TV (channel 8), WTSP (channel 10) andWTVT(channel 13) and infomercials. Due to its low budget, weekend programming tended to consist entirely of infomercials. WTTA also presented a televised simulcast of theWRBQ-FM(104.7 FM) weekday morning radio show, theQMorning Zoo,until that station changed formats tocountry musicin 1993. On December 12, 1994,Foxprogramming moved fromWFTS-TV(channel 28) to WTVT as part of a group deal with its then-owners,New World Communications.At the same time, theE. W. Scripps Company(owners of WFTS) cut an affiliation deal with ABC, which resulted in WFTS selling most of its syndicated shows to WTTA. Meanwhile, CBS would move from WTVT to WTSP. Upon the changeover, WTVT chose not to carry the network's children's program block,Fox Kids,which was picked up by WTTA instead. Channel 38 also picked up some syndicated programs that WFTS had no room for on its schedule due to ABC's network-heavy schedule, giving WTTA a stronger programming inventory. Fox Kids later moved to rivalWMOR-TV(channel 32), which also carried the successor4KidsTVblock on Sunday mornings until it was discontinued by Fox on December 28, 2008. At one time WTTA was a local broadcast partner of theTampa Bay Lightninghockey club. They last aired a series of nine Lightning games during the1999–2000 season.[9][10]

In September 1999, WTTA became Tampa Bay's affiliate ofThe WB(replacing charter affiliate WMOR, which reverted to being an independent station), two years after the network entered into a group deal with Sinclair to affiliate the company's independent stations andUPNaffiliates with The WB.[11]The station began using the on-air brand "WB 38", and ran cartoons fromKids' WBduring the week until January 2006, when the network discontinued its weekday kids block. As a result, Kids' WB programming on WTTA had been relegated to Saturday mornings as of 2006. In 1999, WTTA's operations were taken over by Sinclair after the company entered into alocal marketing agreementwith Bay Television, which over time had grown become one of the nation's largest television station owners. However, Bay Television was effectively a subsidiary of Sinclair; it was owned by Sinclair CEO David Smith, his brothers J. Duncan, Frederick and Robert Smith, and Robert Simmons. Bay Television could also be considered ashell corporationused for the purpose of circumventingFederal Communications Commission(FCC) ownership rules. Normally, this would apply to a duopoly that Sinclair operates, but the Tampa Baymarketis one of the few markets where the company does not own or operate more than one television station.

The Former Logo for WTTA from September 2006 through September 2013 under their "MyTV Tampa Bay"branding

On January 24, 2006, theWarner Bros.unit ofTime WarnerandCBS Corporation(whichspun offfromViacomat the end of 2005) announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network calledThe CW.[12][13]UPN (O&O) stationWTOG(channel 44) was named as one of the network's charter affiliates through an 11-station group deal with owner CBS Corporation (with the inclusion for the pass over from Tribune-owned WB affiliates inPhiladelphia,SeattleandAtlanta). On February 22, 2006,News Corporationannounced the launch of a new "sixth" network calledMyNetworkTV,which would be operated byFox Television Stationsand its syndication divisionTwentieth Television.[14][15]Sinclair then announced WTTA would be the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate; the station rebranded as "MyTV Tampa Bay" the week before that network's September 5, 2006, debut.

On September 3, 2007, channel 38 began airing the controversialLive Prayer with Bill Keller.Keller had been bounced from station to station in the Tampa Bay area and landed on WTTA after a sudden departure from WTOG. The show moved toIon Televisionowned-and-operated stationWXPX-TV(channel 66) in November 2007, after WTTA imposed new restrictions regarding live programming.

On July 19, 2012, concurrently with Sinclair's announcement that it would purchase six television stations fromNewport Television,Sinclair exercised its option to acquire WTTA outright.[16]The FCC approved the sale on August 27,[17]and it was consummated on December 3.[18]

The Former Logo for WTTA from September 2013 through September 2023 and also their final logo as a MyNetworkTV affiliate under their "Great 38"branding

In September 2013, WTTA rebranded as "Great 38", the branding it had used for much of the 1990s. It was the second Sinclair-owned or -operated MyNetworkTV affiliate to drop references to the programming from the station's on-air branding sinceCincinnati'sWSTR-TVrestored its "Star 64" branding in September 2009, and the first entirely not to use the network's "blue TV" branding and imaging motif. In conjunction with the rebranding, WTTA began producing several local programs.Our Issuesis a community affairs program.Health Mattersis a health and lifestyle program based upon paid content. Both programs are hosted by Jenn Holloway. In April 2014, WTTA and theTampa Bay Rowdiessoccerclub announced a marketing and broadcast partnership. Under the deal, the station broadcasts twelve Saturday night Rowdies home games, which are preceded by a half-hour pregame show,Rowdies Kickoff.WTTA aired Rowdies home games during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would sell WTTA, along withWHTMinHarrisburg(which Sinclair, on behalf ofAllbrittonis planning on to divest)KXRM-TVandKXTU-LDinColorado Springs,toMedia Generalin a swap forWJARinProvidence, Rhode Island,WLUK-TVandWCWFinGreen Bay,andWTGSinSavannah, Georgia.The swap, part of Media General's merger withLIN Media,will make WTTA a sister station to Media General flagship station WFLA-TV.[19][20]A condition of the sale maintained the station's affiliation with Sinclair'sAmerican Sports Networkpackage of college sports.[21]WHTM's sale of Media General was explored nearly two months earlier, and it was completed, nearly three months before the Media General/LIN deal was completed.[22][23]The sale was completed on December 19.[24]

Shortly after Media General closed on WTTA, its separate Web site was shut down and replaced with a redirect to a separate section of WFLA-TV's Web site.

On January 27, 2016, it was announced that theNexstar Broadcasting Groupwould buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WFLA and WTTA became part of the newly-minted Nexstar Media Group on January 17, 2017.[25][26]

As a sister to WFLA-TV, WTTA will air NBC programming at times WFLA-TV cannot do so. Such was the case duringHurricane Irmain 2017, when WTTA carried theSunday Night FootballWeek 1 contest between theNew York GiantsandDallas Cowboyswhile WFLA-TV had hurricane coverage.[27]

In May 2023,CBS News and Stationsannounced that its CW affiliates, including Tampa station WTOG, would cease their affiliation with the network in September 2023 and become independent stations.[28]Nexstar Media Group announced on June 14, 2023, that WTTA would take over the CW affiliation for the Tampa market on September 1, with MyNetworkTV shifting to the same time slot on the same day to the recently-acquiredWSNN-LD(channel 39), though WTTA continues to retain a second run of the lineup as part of its late night schedule.[1][29]

Newscasts[edit]

Sinclair era[edit]

In August 2003, WTTA established a news department and began airing a late evening newscast at 10 p.m. weeknights in an attempt to compete with WTVT's longer-established prime time newscast. Known asWB 38 News at 10,it was part of Sinclair's controversial centralizedNews Centraloperation and featured a mix of local news and sports stories from staff at WTTA's facility, and national and international reports, weather forecasts and sports segments produced out of Sinclair's corporate headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland. It also airedThe Point,a controversial one-minuteconservativepolitical commentary feature, that was a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations that aired newscasts (regardless of whether it carried the News Central format or not). Due to poor ratings, WTTA's news department was shut down on March 31, 2006, due to cutbacks in Sinclair's news operations companywide, which included the disbandment of its News Central division, with the newscast being replaced by syndicated programming.

Newscasts returned to the station on October 8, 2007, after Sinclair and future sister station WFLA-TV entered into a news share agreement resulting in a weeknight prime time newscast produced by that station calledNewsChannel 8 at 10 on My TV Tampa Bay.Original personnel included news anchors Peter Bernard and Katie Coronado with weather from meteorologists Mace Michaels or Leigh Spann. The broadcast was produced from WFLA's studios on South Parker Street in Downtown Tampa. This arrangement was similar to ones established at Sinclair stations inRaleigh, North Carolina,Buffalo,Flint, Michigan,Charleston, South Carolina,andLas Vegas.The WFLA-produced newscast was canceled and ended on April 30, 2009.

Media General/Nexstar era[edit]

Further information:WFLA-TV § News operation

On August 9, 2014, WTTA debutedGreat 38 News Now,a series of brief weather and news reports, running thirty seconds in length, three times a day. Initially, the news updates, which debuted eleven days before Media General's acquisition of WTTA, were produced by former sister stationWPECinWest Palm Beach.The program since expanded as a half-hour public affairs show on Sundays at 7 p.m., which was eventually canceled. At the beginning of 2015, production transferred to WFLA-TV, from that station's own studios in Tampa.

On January 4, 2016, WFLA once again began producing a local newscast for WTTA, this time, a nightly hour-long newscast at 8 p.m. under the titleNewsChannel 8 at 8:00 on Great 38,pushing MyNetworkTV programming back one hour. On August 7, 2017, WFLA began producing another local newscast for WTTA, this time, a two-hour expansion of the former's morning newscast from 7 to 9 a.m. under the titleNewsChannel 8 Today on Great 38,with the second hour titledMake Today Gr8 with Gayle and Leigh,which is hosted by WFLA morning co-anchor Gayle Guyardo and WFLA morning meteorologist Leigh Spann.

On April 5, 2020, WFLA expanded into Spanish-language news coverage with the addition of a half-hour 9 p.m. newscast airing weeknights entitledNoticias Tampa Hoyon WTTA.[30]WFLA also hostsa complementary websitewhich features local news in Spanish.

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WTTA on the WFLA-TV multiplex[31]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
38.1 720p 16:9 WTTA
38.2 480i COZI Cozi TV

From 2010 to 2012, WTTA and several other Sinclair-owned stations carriedTheCoolTV,seen locally on digital subchannel 38.2. On the afternoon of August 31, 2012, TheCoolTV was dropped from the 32 Sinclair stations that carried the network, including WTTA, with no replacement;[32]it would not be until 2015 when WTTA would add another subchannel, Cozi TV.[33]

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

On February 2, 2009, Sinclair told cable and satellite television providers via e-mail that regardless of the exactmandatory switchover date to digital-only broadcasting for full-power stations(which Congress rescheduled for June 12 days later), the station would shut down its analog signal on the original transition date of February 17.[34][35]The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 57, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era UHF channel 38.[36]In October 2009, the FCC approved a request by WTTA to relocate its digital signal to UHF channel 32 (the former analog frequency of WMOR-TV) to avoid adjacent channel problems fromWFTVinOrlando.WTTA moved its digital signal to channel 32 on August 23, 2010 (the channel 38 allocation is now used for the digital signal ofWSPF-CD).

References[edit]

  1. ^abMiller, Mark K. (June 14, 2023)."Nexstar Stations In Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa To Become CW Affils On Sept. 1".TVNewsCheck.RetrievedJune 14,2023.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for WTTA".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^Bowden, Robert."Four firms vie for Channel 38".Tampa Bay Times.RetrievedJuly 13,2019.
  4. ^Belcher, Walt (September 8, 1987)."Channel 38 may return to airwaves".Tampa Tribune.RetrievedJuly 13,2019.
  5. ^Strother, Susan G. (July 12, 1990)."Tv Network Plans September Debut".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedSeptember 9,2014.
  6. ^Strother, Susan G. (January 17, 1991)."Tv Network Signs Off – Out Of Cash".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedJanuary 20,2015.
  7. ^Collier, Tim (June 4, 1990)."Spanish TV network eyes adding station in Tampa".Tampa Tribune.p. B1.RetrievedJuly 13,2019.
  8. ^Belcher, Walt (June 21, 1991)."New TV station emerges in Bay area".Tampa Tribune.RetrievedJuly 13,2019.
  9. ^"- SportsBusiness Daily – SportsBusiness Journal – SportsBusiness Daily Global".Archived fromthe originalon September 11, 2017.RetrievedJune 14,2015.
  10. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon September 27, 2015.RetrievedJune 14,2015.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^WB woos and wins Sinclair,Broadcasting & Cable,July 21, 1997.
  12. ^'Gilmore Girls' meet 'Smackdown'; CW Network to combine WB, UPN in CBS-Warner venture beginning in September,CNNMoney,January 24, 2006.
  13. ^UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network,The New York Times,January 24, 2006.
  14. ^"News Corp. to launch new mini-network for UPN stations".USA Today.February 22, 2006.RetrievedJanuary 21,2013.
  15. ^News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV,Broadcasting & Cable,February 22, 2006.
  16. ^"Sinclair Broadcast to buy 7 TV outlets for $452.5M".MarketWatch.RetrievedJuly 19,2012.
  17. ^http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1508357.pdf[permanent dead link]
  18. ^Staff, FCC Internet Services."Application Search Details".licensing.fcc.gov.
  19. ^"Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets".TVNewsCheck.August 20, 2014.RetrievedAugust 20,2014.
  20. ^Malone, Michael (August 20, 2014)."Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets".Broadcasting & Cable.RetrievedAugust 20,2014.
  21. ^Minium, Harry (August 27, 2014)."ODU's opener with Hampton to be televised in 66 markets".HamptonRoads.The Virginian-Pilot.RetrievedSeptember 8,2014.
  22. ^Staff (June 23, 2014)."Media General Buying WHTM For $83.4M".TV News Check.RetrievedNovember 22,2021.
  23. ^"Media General Completes Acquisition of WHTM-TV in Harrisburg, PA".businesswire.September 2, 2014.RetrievedNovember 22,2021.
  24. ^Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes on Certain Station Acquisitions and Divestitures with Media GeneralArchivedDecember 19, 2014, at theWayback Machine,Press Release,Sinclair Broadcast Group,Retrieved December 19, 2014
  25. ^"Nexstar Broadcasting Group Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Media General for $4.6 Billion in Accretive Cash and Stock Transaction".Archived fromthe originalon January 30, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 28,2016.
  26. ^Lieberman, David (January 17, 2017)."Nexstar Completes $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General".
  27. ^Gross, Lila (September 10, 2017)."NFL Giants vs. Cowboys football game airing on Great 38".WFLA-TV.RetrievedSeptember 10,2017.
  28. ^"Eight CBS Stations To Ditch CW And Go Independent This Fall".Deadline.May 5, 2023.RetrievedJune 14,2023.
  29. ^Lafayette, Jon (June 14, 2023)."3 Nexstar Stations to Add The CW Affiliations On Sept. 1".Broadcasting + Cable.RetrievedJune 14,2023.
  30. ^"WFLA News Channel 8 to Launch Noticias Tampa Hoy!".March 23, 2021.
  31. ^"Digital TV Market Listing for WTTA".RabbitEars.info.RetrievedSeptember 9,2014.
  32. ^"Channel 64 drops Cool TV music videos".Cincinnati.Gannett. September 4, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon September 11, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 9,2014.
  33. ^"Media General Adds COZI TV in Four Markets".adweek.May 19, 2015.
  34. ^Hearn, Ted (February 2, 2009)."Sinclair Sticks To Feb. 17 Analog Cutoff".Digital Video Report.RetrievedFebruary 24,2009.
  35. ^"List of Digital Full-Power Stations"(PDF).Archived from the original on August 29, 2013.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  36. ^"FCC document:" Appendix B: All full-power television stations by DMA, indicating those terminating analog service before on or February 17, 2009. ""(PDF).

External links[edit]

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