For one day in May 1999, UPN affiliate WTOG (channel 44) housed the operations for WFLA-TV, after a power outage occurred at the station's main studios in Downtown Tampa. That same year, it surged to first place in the Tampa Bay ratings and has stayed there for most of that time, led by one of the most popular anchor teams in the country. Channel 8 reverted to its original WFLA-TV call letters on January 1, 1989.
At the time, Federal Communications Commission cross-ownership regulations forced Media General to sell the radio stations however, the company was granted a permanent waiver permitting it to keep The Tampa Tribune and the television station. Three years later, Richmond Newspapers changed its name to Media General, and WFLA-TV, the first television station owned and operated by the company, would be the flagship of its broadcasting group for the rest of its existence.ĭue to an FCC regulation in effect at the time that stated that TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different owners had to have differing callsigns, the station's callsign was changed to WXFL on January 19, 1983, after WFLA-AM and -FM were sold (WFLA and WFLZ are currently owned by iHeartMedia).
News center 8 full#
In 1966, Richmond Newspapers, publishers of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and part-owner of the Tribune, acquired full control of the paper and the WFLA radio and television stations. Largely because of its newspaper background, it was the early ratings leader in the Tampa market until WTVT (channel 13) passed it for first place in 1962. WFLA-TV has been an NBC affiliate since the station's inception.
It was originally owned by The Tampa Tribune, along with WFLA radio ( 970 AM and 93.3 FM, now WFLZ). It is the longest serving television outlet in the Tampa Bay region still in operation, as it signed on less than two years behind UHF outlet WSUN-TV (channel 38), which ceased operations in 1970. Circus performers looking at the new Kaleidoscope camera used by WFLA-TV to film a documentary about the Cristiani family.Ĭhannel 8 first signed on the air on February 14, 1955, with a live broadcast of the Gasparilla Pirate Festival.
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