WFTS-TV

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WFTS
Tampa / St. Petersburg, Florida
Branding	ABC Action News Your ABC Action News Station
Slogan	Taking Action For You Always On
Channels	28 (UHF) analog, 29 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	The E.W. Scripps Company
Founded	December 14, 1981
Call letters meaning	W Family Television Station (or Fox Television Station when it was an affiliate of that network)
Former affiliations	Independent (1981-1988) FOX (1988-1994)
Website	www.abcactionnews.com/(Note: Renovated website is online as of March 12, 2007)

WFTS ("ABC Action News") is the ABC affiliate for the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida market, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 28 and its digital signal on UHF channel 29. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.

[edit] History

WFTS-TV first went on the air on December 14, 1981 as an independent station. Being a flagship of the locally-based Family Group Broadcasting, the station programmed a family-oriented general entertainment format with cartoons, off-network dramas, old movies and religious shows. An era of local ownership ended on April 22, 1984, when it was acquired by Capital Cities Communications. It was Capital Cities' first station in Florida, the group's first -- and only -- independent station, and was also the last station acquired by the group prior to its merger with ABC.

Under Capital Cities, the station added more off-network sitcoms and reduced the number of religious shows and dramas on its schedule. In 1986, Capital Cities stunned the world with its purchase of ABC -- the network was ten times bigger than CapCities was at the time. CapCities owned several ABC affiliates, and two CBS affiliates: KFSN-TV in Fresno, California and WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The company's combined assets exceeded FCC ownership limits at the time, so CapCities decided to keep its CBS affiliates and change their affiliations to ABC, along with WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and KTRK-TV in Houston, Texas, and sold WFTS and ABC's O&O in Detroit, Michigan, WXYZ-TV, to the E. W. Scripps Company, while selling several other stations to minority-owned firms.

FOX28 logo used from 1988-1994.

Scripps continued the format on WFTS, running cartoons, sitcoms, movies, and dramas. A 10pm newscast was planned for the station, but did not come to fruition. WFTS picked up the Fox affiliation in 1988 after WTOG dropped it and the station began to identify on air as "FOX28".

On May 22, 1994, New World Communications came to an agreement with Fox, and most of New World's stations, including WTVT, Tampa Bay's longtime CBS affiliate, were to affiliate with Fox. CBS would also lose longtime affiliates in Atlanta, Detroit, Cleveland, and Dallas-Ft. Worth, and as a result, wooed WXYZ and Cleveland's ABC affiliate that was also owned by Scripps, WEWS-TV (which incidentally was a CBS affiliate in the past), for affiliation. Scripps informed ABC that in order not to lose 2 of its longest standing and strongest affiliates, that ABC would have to affiliate with 4 other stations owned by Scripps: WFTS, KNXV-TV in Phoenix, Arizona (which was also due to lose its Fox affiliation to a New World station), WMAR-TV in Baltimore, Maryland and WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio -- the latter had to wait for ABC's affiliation contract with WKRC-TV to expire in June 1996 to switch.

ABC28 logo used from 1994-2002.

As a result, in 1994, WFTS assumed the ABC affiliation from longtime affiliate WTSP, which became the new CBS affiliate, sent the Fox affiliation to WTVT, and sent most of its syndicated programming to WTTA, which would also air Fox Kids. A decade later, WFTS became one of three Florida television stations, and one of the many Scripps-owned ABC affiliates that preempted Saving Private Ryan.

The station is not available on cable in southern Sarasota County due to the presence of WWSB, an ABC station formed after WTSP's coverage of the Sarasota area was insufficient when WTSP was an ABC affiliate.

Tampa-St. Petersburg is the largest market with an ABC affiliate on the UHF dial, and the third largest market with a major network on the UHF dial, while the larger markets with a major network on the UHF dial are Atlanta, Georgia (WGCL-TV, channel 46) and Detroit, Michigan (WWJ-TV, channel 62). Both are CBS affiliates.

[edit] Controversy

On January 7, 2006, outside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff game against the Washington Redskins, WFTS handed out free "Go Bucs" t-shirts, which the National Football League said violated trademark rights. WFTS ignored a cease-and-desist letter by the NFL on the same day. The Buccaneers, after getting the green light from the NFL, refused to allow WFTS to attend a press conference held by coach Jon Gruden, said Bucs spokesman Jeff Kamis. Complicating matters even further, WFLA and The Tampa Tribune have an exclusive coverage partnership with the team. WFTS-TV's studios are outside Raymond James Stadium, the Buccaneers stadium. [1]

In June, 2006, WFTS reporter Don Germaise was temporarily suspended from his reporting duties after agreeing to an interview exchange with a Tampa Bay area white supremacist. [2]

[edit] Newscasts

During its days as an independent station and Fox affiliate, WFTS presented hourly newsbreaks and weatherbreaks, featuring a person reading the day's headlines or the current forecast. During the station's first few months on the air, the newsbreaks were provided by WNSI-AM 1380 (now WWMI) in audio only, over a slide that said News Check. Later on, News Checks began to feature newsreaders on camera at WFTS's studios. By the late-1980s, the newsbreaks became 28 Newsbreak or 28 Weatherbreak. These newsbreaks were discontinued in December 1994 after the station became an ABC affiliate and launched a full-scale news operation.

28 Tampa Bay News logo used from 1994-2002.

WFTS began airing full-scale newscasts in 1994, under the "28 Tampa Bay News" handle. The newscasts initially originated from Telemation studios in Clearwater, since WFTS's studios on Tampa's east side (at the corner of I-4 and Columbus Drive) didn't have enough room for a full-sized newsroom or set. The station's news operation then moved to its new studios on Himes Avenue across from Raymond James Stadium in 1996. The station gradually added newscasts at 5-7am, 12noon-12:30pm, 5-6:30pm, and 11-11:35pm. Given the fact that many former Fox stations have switched to ABC, NBC or CBS at the time, WFTS did not falter with many stations of such that launched newscasts with no success at competing with long-standing (mostly VHF) news stations (some stations cancelled their newscasts as a result), but rather it competes somewhat well with long standing stations WTVT, WFLA and WTSP, though the newscasts continually place last, with the exception of 6-7 am hour of the morning newscast [March 2007], which placed ahead of WTSP's morning news. WFTS's 11pm newscast [March 2007] was in a statistical tie for last place with WTVT's year-old 11pm newscast . [3].

Old 28 News opening used briefly in 2002. Notice that the black and red on the "28" logo are switched.

The newscast title was changed to "28 News" briefly in 2002, before being changed again to "ABC Action News" later that year due to viewer confusion with the ABC28 branding. The "Action News" all day branding is also shared with sister station KSHB-TV in Kansas City, which is an NBC affiliate.

In fall 2005, the station extended its midday newscast to a full hour, from 12noon-1pm, following the cancellation of ABC's soap Port Charles.

[edit] News Segments

Taking Action For You

Taking Action reporter Jackie Callaway assists people in the Tampa Bay area with consumer complaints and issues.

Investigators

The ABC Action News Investigators, led by Matthew Schwartz, uncovers corruption and exposes wrongdoing in the Tampa Bay area.

Schwartz moved to Tampa in January, 2005. He previously won four Emmy Awards while reporting for 20 years in New York City.

Call For Action Attorney

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, legal expert Kellie Lightbourn answers questions concerning consumer rights under the law.

Dirty Dining

Wendy Ryan exposes local Bay area restaurants that are filled with violations.

This segment was originally featured on Thursday nights from 2004-2005. The segment returned a while in 2006 for a few more times and sometimes is played on Sunday nights on the eleven o'clock newscast.

[edit] Newscast Lineup

[edit] Weekdays

Logo introduced in late 2006. It is used for the logo bug during newscasts and in promos. This logo is slowly replacing the current ABC Action News logo. In March 2007, the logo was added to WFTS's website.

• ABC Action News at 5 AM - 5 AM-6 AM

Anchors: Dan Shaffer, Deiah Riley

Weather: Wayne Shattuck

Traffic: Joe Demay (maps), Captain Al (Action Air 1)

Sports: Al Keck or Tom Korun

• ABC Action News at 6 AM - 6 AM-7 AM

Anchors: Dan Shaffer, Deiah Riley

Weather: Wayne Shattuck

Traffic: Joe Demay (maps), Captain Al (Action Air 1)

Sports: Al Keck or Tom Korun

• ABC Action News at NOON - 12 NOON-1 PM

Anchors: Dan Shaffer, Deiah Riley

Weather: Wayne Shattuck

• ABC Action News at Five - 5 PM-6 PM

Anchors: Walt Maciborski, Linda Hurtado

Weather: Denis Phillips

• ABC Action News at Six - 6 PM-6:30 PM

Anchors: Brendan McLaughlin, Wendy Ryan

Weather: Denis Phillips

Sports: Al Keck

• ABC Action News at Eleven - 11 PM-11:35 PM

Anchors: Brendan McLaughlin, Wendy Ryan

Weather: Denis Phillips

Sports: Al Keck

[edit] Saturdays

• ABC Action News at Six - 6 PM-6:30 PM

Anchors: John Thomas, Sarina Fazan

Weather: Linda Gialanella

Sports: Tom Korun

• ABC Action News at Eleven - 11 PM-11:35 PM

Anchors: John Thomas, Sarina Fazan

Weather: Linda Gialanella

Sports: Tom Korun

[edit] Sundays

• Flashpoint (public affairs) - 11 AM-11:30 AM

Host: Brendan McLaughlin

• ABC Action News at Six - 6 PM-6:30 PM

Anchors: John Thomas, Sarina Fazan

Weather: Linda Gialanella

Sports: Tom Korun

• ABC Action News at Eleven - 11 PM-11:35 PM

Anchors: John Thomas, Sarina Fazan

Weather: Linda Gialanella

• Sports Zone - 11:35 PM-12:05 AM

Hosts: Al Keck, Tom Korun

[edit] News Personalities

[edit] Current Personalities

WFTS reporter Don Germaise reporting from Punta Gorda in 2004.

WFTS Chief Meteorologist Denis Phillips reporting during Hurricane Rita coverage.

News Anchors

• Dan Shaffer, weekday morning and NOON anchor (5-7 AM and NOON-1 PM) (since 1996)
• Deiah Riley, weekday morning and NOON anchor (5-7 AM and NOON-1 PM) (since 2003)
• Walt Maciborski, weekday afternoon anchor/reporter (5-6 PM) (since 2005)
• Linda Hurtado, weekday afternoon anchor/health reporter (5-6 PM) (since 1994)
• Brendan McLaughlin, weekday evening anchor/host of Flashpoint (6-6:30 PM and 11-11:35PM) (since 1994)
• Wendy Ryan, weekday evening anchor/Dirty Dining reporter (6-6:30 PM and 11-11:35PM)
• John Thomas, weekend evening anchor/weekday reporter (6-6:30 PM and 11-11:35 PM)
• Sarina Fazan, weekend evening anchor/weekday reporter (6-6:30 PM and 11-11:35 PM)

Meteorologists

• Wayne Shattuck, (AMS) weekday morning and NOON meteorologist (5-7 AM and NOON-1 PM) (since 1994)
• Denis Phillips, (AMS) weekday evening chief meteorologist (5-6:30 PM and 11-11:35 PM) (since 1994)
• Linda Gialanella, (AMS) weekend evening meteorologist (6-6:30 PM and 11-11:35 PM)
• Stephanie Roberts, (NWA Certified) freelance fill-in meteorologist (since 2006)
• J. Richey, weather staff/fill-in weather forecaster (since 2006)

Sports Anchors

• Al Keck, weekday sports anchor/sports director (since 2001)
• Tom Korun, weekend sports anchor

News Reporters

• Jackie Callaway, chief Taking Action For You reporter (since 2002)
• Matthew Schwartz, investigative reporter (since 2005)
• Kellie Lightbourn, Call For Action Attorney reporter
• Alan "Captain Al" Taylor, Action Air 1 pilot/reporter
• Don Germaise, general assignment reporter (since 1994)
• Bill Logan, general assignment reporter/fill-in weather forecaster (since 2004)
• Chris Martinez, general assignment reporter (since 2003)
• Lisa Remillard, general assignment reporter (since 2005)
• Rob Spicker, general assignment reporter (since 1997)
• Josh Talkington, general assignment reporter
• Dawn Pellas, general assignment reporter/Taking Action For You fill-in (since 2006)
• Susan Casper, general assignment reporter (since 2006)
• Jack Harris, Action News at 5 Commentary (since 2005)
• Barron Johnson, freelance reporter (returned in 2006)
• James Zambroski, general assignment reporter (since 2007, recently arrived from WAVE-TV)
• John Matarese, Don't Waste Your Money syndicated consumer reports originating from WCPO-TV

[edit] Past Personalities

• Drew Soicher, sports director (1994-1998) Now at KUSA in Denver.
• Jay Crawford, sports director (1998-2001) Now at ESPN and WCBS-TV in New York City.
• Paul Konrad, meteorologist (1994-1996) Now at WGN in Chicago.
• Bob Kendrick, evening anchor (1994?-2003) Now at KUSA in Denver.
• Angie Moreschi, anchor (1995-2001) Now freelance journalist and media consultant in Lutz, Florida.
• Patrick Emory, morning anchor (2001-2003)
• Robin Guess, investigative reporter (?-2005)
• Martie Tucker (Salt), evening anchor (1994-2003) Now at WFTV in Orlando.
• Lissette Campos, morning anchor (?-2002?)
• Kelly Swoope, weekend anchor (1994-2002) Now at WMAR in Baltimore.
• Trina Robinson, anchor/reporter (1994-?) Now at WTVJ in Miami.
• Barron Johnson, reporter (?-?) (Has returned as a reporter as of December, 2006.)
• Laura McElroy, reporter (1994-?) Now working for the Tampa Police, serving as Press Represenative.
• Nannette Miranda, reporter (?-2003) Now at KGO in San Francisco.
• Tracy Sievertson, reporter (2001-?)
• Mike Mason, investigative reporter (?-?)
• Peter Bernard, substitute weather forecaster (?-2002) Now at rival WFLA in Tampa as a reporter.
• Doug Smith, weekend anchor (?-2003) Now at rival WTVT in Tampa as an investigative reporter and substitute anchor.
• Sage Steele, sports anchor and reporter (?-2001) Later moved to Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, now at ESPN
• Scott Hanson, weekend sports anchor (1997-?)
• Dave Mikes, morning anchor (?-?) Now the webmaster of http://www.bamnawrt.org and http://www.abcactionnews.com.
• Heidi Kemp, freelance reporter (2005-2006)
• Stacey Phillips, reporter (?-?)
• Susan Scarborough, reporter (1994-?)
• Dawn Witt, reporter (1994-?)
• Dean Staley, reporter (1994-?) Now at Northwest Cable News in Seattle.
• Mark Joyella, reporter (1994-?) Now at WNYW in New York City.
• Kyle Kraska, sports (1994-1997) Now at KFMB in San Diego.
• Brennan Lothery, sports reporter (1994-?)
• Joy Petit, Bayview host (retired, ?-2007)
• Mark Olesh, sports anchor (?-?) Now in real estate.

[edit] Hurricane Coverage

Over the past few years, WFTS has won many awards for their hurricane coverage. WFTS was the first in the Tampa Bay area to get a Titan weather system. During hurricane coverage, WFTS can be heard on WWBA 1040 AM, WHBO 1470 AM, and WTMP 1150 AM.

[edit] News Music

[edit] Local Programming

[edit] Syndicated Programming

• Martha (weekdays 10 AM-11 AM)
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show (weekdays 4 PM-5 PM)
• Inside Edition (weekdays 9AM-9:30AM & 7 PM-7:30 PM)
• The Insider (weekdays 9:30AM-10AM & 7:30 PM-8 PM, Saturdays 7:30 PM-8 PM)
• NASCAR Angels (Sundays at 12:05AM-12:35AM)
• Wheel of Fortune (coming Fall 2007, moving from WTSP)
• Jeopardy! (coming Fall 2007, moving from WTSP)

[edit] Branding

[edit] Ownership

• 1981: founded by Ian Wheeler
• 1984: sold to Capital Cities/ABC
• 1986: sold to The E.W. Scripps Company

[edit] Viewing Area

WFTS viewing area image from abcactionnews.com/.

WFTS can be seen mainly in Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Hardee, and Polk Counties. WFTS can also be viewed in portions of Citrus, Sumter, Sarasota, De Soto, Highlands and Lake Counties.

Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Hardee, Polk, Sumter, Sarasota, De Soto and Highlands Counties are displayed on the bottom left corner of the screen along with a ticker during programming and newscasts if severe warnings and watches are issued by the National Weather Service.

[edit] Slogans

• "Catch Familyvision on Channel 28" (1981-1984)
• "Tampa Bay's Independent" (1984-1988)
• "Your Fox Television Station" (early-1990s). Coincidentally, this term was trademarked by the actual Fox Television Stations Group which never owned WFTS in the first place (though they now own WTVT).
• "Working Hard To Be Your Favorite" (1994-1995)
• "Real People, Real News" (1996-1999)
• "You Need to Know" (2002)
• "Taking Action for You" (2002-present)

[edit] Trivia

• The first incarnation of channel 28 was to have been WTSS-TV, an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network in the 1950s. [4] It is very likely that that station never made it to air.
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been to the Tampa Bay area twice. During the first visit, host Ty Pennington came to WFTS's studios during a commercial break and took sports director Al Keck in Stormchaser to do a play-by-play version of the family's house when it was being destroyed to make way for the new one.
• A clip from a WFTS newscast was shown on Jimmy Kimmel Live in early November 2006. In the clip, was reporter Susan Casper.
• The Tampa Bay TV market is the largest US market with its ABC affiliate on UHF.
• WFTS produces 29 hours of newscasts weekly.
• WFTS has produced two local versions of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which asked viewers to nominate someone.

[edit] External links

• Official site of WFTS-TV "ABC Action News (28)"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WFTS-TV
• mcsittel.com: 1990s DX screengrabs from Tallahassee -- includes WFTS "Fox 28" screengrabs from 1992 and 1993
• "Tampa Bay Live" website used in 2000. Still works a bit.
• 10th Anniversary video from 2004. Includes videos from newscasts in 1994.
• 28 News Documentary.