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WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
licensed to
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, United States, serving the
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as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the
E.W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
alongside
Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...
-licensed
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
station WXPX-TV (channel 66). WFTS-TV's studios are located on North Himes Avenue on Tampa's northwest side, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida. Channel 28 was launched as the Tampa Bay area's second
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
television station in December 1981 by a company that went on to become Family Group Broadcasting. It was purchased by
Capital Cities Communications Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. It was eventually acquired by The Walt Disney Company and re-branded i ...
in 1984, though Capital Cities quickly sold it to Scripps the following year after it purchased the ABC television network. WFTS-TV became an affiliate of Fox in 1988. A multi-market affiliation switch in 1994 saw WFTS-TV become Tampa Bay's ABC affiliate. The network attempted to disaffiliate from WWSB, its affiliate in Sarasota, but that station was ultimately allowed to remain with the network. To start local newscasts, channel 28 was forced to rent studio space in Clearwater. The newscasts debuted in fourth place in the market but have been more competitive since. In 1996, Scripps completed construction on the present studio facilities near
Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football ...
; the building accommodates the news department and is large enough that several business functions for the entire station group are run from Tampa.


History

A channel 28 construction permit was first issued to Lucille Frostman, involved in the construction of WSMS-TV in
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, in 1966, for a station to be called WTSS-TV; this was never built, and the permit was deleted in 1971. Applications for a new channel 28 station in Tampa were received again in 1977, with the
Christian Television Network Christian Television Network, Inc. (CTN) is an American non-profit broadcast television network of small owned-and-operated stations (O&O) that broadcasts religious programming. It is based in Largo, Florida (with a mailing address of Clearwa ...
the first to bid, followed by a group proposing a Spanish-language station; Family Television Corporation of Tampa, also of a Christian orientation; and Suncoast Telechoice, associated with
subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
equipment manufacturer Blonder Tongue Labs. Christian Television dropped out, amended its application to specify channel 22 at Clearwater, and won a construction permit for WCLF in February 1979. The other two parties dropped out in settlement agreements in early 1981, and Family received a construction permit in March. Family stockholders included T. Terrell Sessums, former speaker of the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
, and former state senate president Louis A. de la Parte Jr.


As an independent station

WFTS first signed on the air on December 14, 1981, operating as a family-oriented
independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...
with
cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
, off-network dramas, classic
movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
and religious programs. Its call letters originally stood for "Family Television Station". In 1984, after having launched the station for just $6 million and turning a profit in the first year, Family sold the station to
Capital Cities Communications Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. It was eventually acquired by The Walt Disney Company and re-branded i ...
for more than $30 million. The deal gave Capital Cities its first station in Florida and its first (and only) independent, as well as bringing the group to its then-maximum of seven stations. Under Capital Cities, the station added more off-network sitcoms and reduced the number of religious programs and drama series on its schedule, improving ratings against established Tampa Bay independent WTOG. In March 1985, Capital Cities stunned the broadcasting industry with its announced purchase of ABC—a network that was ten times bigger than Capital Cities was at the time. In addition to WFTS-TV, Capital Cities owned four ABC and two CBS affiliates (which would change to ABC after the merger). The combination of Cap Cities and ABC exceeded the new ownership limit of 12 stations and the 25% national reach limit, so the companies opted to sell WFTS; WXYZ-TV, the ABC-owned station in
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; and Cap Cities-owned ABC affiliates
WKBW-TV WKBW-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains studios at 7 Broadcast Plaza in downtown Buffalo and a transmitter on Center Stree ...
in Buffalo and
WTNH WTNH (channel 8) is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59), ...
in
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; WFTS and WXYZ-TV were sold to Scripps. Scripps continued the general-entertainment format on WFTS, running cartoons, sitcoms, movies and drama series. WFTS became the Tampa Bay market's Fox affiliate on August 8, 1988, after the network was dropped by WTOG.


As an ABC affiliate

On May 23, 1994, New World Communications signed an affiliation agreement with Fox that resulted in twelve of New World's stations, including Tampa Bay's longtime CBS affiliate
WTVT WTVT (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving as the Fox network outlet for the Tampa Bay area. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, WTVT maintains studios on Ken ...
(channel 13), being tapped to switch to the network. Among the stations making the switch were longtime CBS affiliates WJBK-TV in Detroit and WJW-TV in
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. Not wanting to be relegated to the UHF band, CBS heavily wooed Detroit's longtime ABC affiliate, WXYZ, as well as Cleveland's longtime ABC affiliate,
WEWS-TV WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of three stations that have been built and signed on ...
. Both were owned by Scripps, who told ABC that it would switch WXYZ and WEWS to CBS unless ABC affiliated with three of its stations: WFTS, KNXV-TV in Phoenix (which was also slated to lose its Fox affiliation to New World-owned CBS affiliate
KSAZ-TV KSAZ-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside KUTP (channel 45), which airs MyNetw ...
), and
WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( Maryland Route 45) in Towson north o ...
in
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. Scripps insisted on including WFTS and KNXV in the deal, even though a news department was in construction at KNXV and no movement had yet occurred to build one in Tampa. The ABC affiliation, confirmed on June 15, set off a mad dash. WFTS had already been planning a new studio facility in the vicinity of
Tampa Stadium Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The fac ...
, and with the ABC tie-up confirmed, management scrambled to hire a news director. With the station's new facility not planned to be ready until late 1995, the news department initially operated from former facilities of the
Home Shopping Network HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...
in Clearwater. Another consequence of WFTS replacing
WTSP WTSP (channel 10) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Gandy Boulevard on St. Petersburg's ...
(channel 10) in ABC's affiliate lineup was that it had a more centrally located transmitting facility, which then-ABC president
Bob Iger Robert Alan Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and p ...
cited as a positive in the switch. That meant that the network would no longer have had a need to affiliate with WWSB (channel 40) in Sarasota, which had aired ABC programming since its 1971 sign-on. WWSB had become an ABC affiliate because WTSP's signal did not reach Sarasota. However, this had become less necessary on technical grounds with high
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penetration in the Sarasota area, while WFTS-TV's signal reached Sarasota. Coinciding with the Scripps-ABC pact, ABC notified WWSB that it would be terminating its affiliation; though the network gave no reason for its decision, WWSB cited conversations with ABC officials who described it as essential to the broader deal when the Sarasota station petitioned to deny channel 28's license renewal. WWSB ended up winning its battle with ABC and signed a new affiliation contract in March 1995. On December 12, 1994, WFTS became the market's ABC affiliate, WTSP switched to CBS, and WTVT joined Fox; that same day, WFTS launched local news and broke ground on the new Himes Avenue studio. Most of WFTS's syndicated programs were then acquired by WTVT and
WTTA WTTA (channel 38) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving as the Tampa Bay area's local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside Tampa-l ...
, which also aired
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
in the market. WFTS was briefly the local over-the-air broadcast partner of the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's
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, airing four Lightning games produced by the Sunshine Network during the 2002–03 season. An East Coast traffic hub and the station group–wide graphics operation for Scripps were established at Tampa in 2009, as an open floor was available at the WFTS facility. On September 24, 2020, a consortium made up of Scripps and
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...
announced the purchase of
Ion Media Ion Media, LLC (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) is a subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company that operates the linear broadcast networks Ion Television, Ion Mystery, and Ion Plus. Prior to its acquis ...
, including local
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
station WXPX-TV (channel 66) and the company's technical operations center in Clearwater.


News operation

As an independent station, channel 28's local news staff consisted of just one staffer who produced and hosted news breaks. Unlike the two Fox stations owned by Scripps that also became Big Three affiliates— KSHB-TV in
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, and KNXV-TV—no movement had occurred prior to the affiliation switch on establishing a local news department at WFTS-TV, though station management had been considering the expansion. By the time the affiliation switch was announced, the station was planning a move to the Himes Avenue facility; the station's existing studios at I-4 and Columbus Drive were too small for a news department. To start producing news, WFTS needed to lease facilities, opting to set up shop in the former Clearwater studios of the Home Shopping Network. Bob Jordan of
KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Los Angeles, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship station of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the n ...
in Los Angeles was hired to be the founding news director for ''28 Tampa Bay News'', which began broadcasting on December 12, 1994. Originally starting with 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, a flurry of expansions took place during the first four months of 1995, including morning, 5 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. The task of building the first new full-scale news service in Tampa Bay against decades-long competitors meant low ratings. WFTS typically rated in third or fourth place in most time slots in its first five years of local news. In 2001, Sam Stallworth and Bill Berra arrived from WSYXWTTE in
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, to serve as general manager and news director of WFTS-TV; Jordan was later rehired by his former employer, WFTV in Orlando. The duo refocused the newsroom on
hard news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
and investigative reporting, a prelude to the station rebranding as ABC Action News in October 2002 after a brief time as "28 News". Ratings remained low, but the station made progress under general manager Richard Pegram, who arrived in 2009 and oversaw the launch of channel 28's first weekend morning newscast. In November 2012, WFTS overtook all other local stations in all evening and late news ratings in the demographic of adults 25–54; this marked the first time WFTS won at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. in the key demographic during one ratings period. Pegram was dismissed in 2014, with one source noting he was a difficult boss and heavily involved in the news department. In 2019, WFTS launched "ABC Action News Streaming Now", a digital news product that included daytime rolling news coverage, simulcasts of channel 28's existing newscasts, and a new 3 p.m. newscast to air on TV and online.


Notable former on-air staff

*
Jay Crawford Jason "Jay" Crawford (born July 4, 1965) is an American TV news and sports anchor, who is best known nationally for his time at ESPN. Crawford anchored the live 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' with Chris McKendry until April 2017. Prior to ...
– sports director (1998–2003) * Scott Hanson – sports anchor (1994–2000) * Walt Maciborski – anchor/reporter (2005–2009) * Elaine Quijano – reporter (1998–2000) * Sage Steele – reporter (1998–2001)


Technical information


Subchannels

The station's signal is
multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...
: WFTS is also available in
ATSC 3.0 ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for terrestrial television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including High Effici ...
(NextGen TV) on the signal of WMOR-TV (channel 32). In exchange, WFTS hosts WMOR's main subchannel in the ATSC 1.0 format.


Analog-to-digital conversion

WFTS-TV began broadcasting a digital signal on October 1, 1999. It shut down its analog signal, over
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
channel 28, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 29, using
virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered as digits on a receiver's ...
28.


References


External links


ABCActionNews.com
– Official website
"Behind the Scenes of 28 News"
a 2002 documentary showing the WFTS-TV newsroom {{DEFAULTSORT:Wfts-Tv 1981 establishments in Florida American Broadcasting Company affiliates Bounce TV affiliates E. W. Scripps Company television stations Grit (TV network) affiliates Ion Mystery affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1981 FTS-TV