| Tallahassee, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Branding | ABC 27 HD (general) ABC 27 HD News |
| Slogan | Dedicated to You! |
| Channels | Digital: 27 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 27.1 ABC 27.2 AccuWX |
| Owner | Calkins Media (WTXL-TV License, LLC) |
| First air date | September 16, 1976 |
| Sister station(s) | WAAY-TV, WWSB |
| Former callsigns | WECA-TV (1976-1984) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 27 (1976-2009) Digital: 22 |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 518 m |
| Facility ID | 41065 |
| Website | wtxl.tv |
WTXL-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Tallahassee, Florida. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter northwest of Monticello, Florida along the state line with Georgia. It can also be seen on Charter channel 3 as well as Mediacom and Comcast channel 7. There is a high definition feed seen on Comcast digital channel 431 and Mediacom digital channel 827. Owned by Calkins Media, the station has studios on Commerce Boulevard in Midway, Florida. Syndicated programming on WTXL includes: Judge Judy, Inside Edition, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and The Doctors.
Contents |
On WTXL-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 209 is The Local AccuWeather Channel. It is not offered on Mediacom or Charter systems.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 27.1 | main WTXL programming/ABC HD |
| 27.2 | WTXL-DT2 "ABC 27 Weather Now" (The Local AccuWeather Channel) |
WTXL-TV debuted on September 16, 1976 as WECA-TV owned by local businessman Evans Craig Allen. In the early years, its slogan was "We Can Do It!" which was a play on the call letters. The station was the third to sign-on in the area after WFSU-TV and WCTV. By its fourth year of broadcasting, the station used the slogan "Up & Coming".[1] Its original studios were on Thomasville Road (U.S. 319/FL 61) in Tallahassee and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter northeast of the facilities. In 1984, Allen sold the station to Tallahassee 27 Limited Partnership led by former Senator Joseph Tydings and former Representative Louis Frey, Jr. The call letters were changed to the current WTXL-TV. The station's history page claims the new owners took over in 1985, but according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) files, the call letters were changed in 1984.[2]
In 1998, WTXL began to manage and promote a cable-only affiliate of The WB. Known as "WBXT" and originally on-air as "WB 28", it was part of The WB 100+ service. Except for the same call letters being used in a fictional manner, the channel had no relation to Class A MTV2 affiliate WBXT-CA that broadcasts over-the-air. In 2001, Media Ventures Management (then owner of WTXL) entered into an outsourcing agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group who owns NBC affiliate WTWC-TV. Sinclair began to operate this station that merged virtually all of its operations from the original studios to WTWC's facilities on Deer Lake South on March 17, 2002. The arrangement was the first of its kind in the United States. The Southern Broadcast Corporation (now Calkins Media) acquired WTXL's license on November 30, 2005 while the arrangement continued.
On February 20, 2006, the partnership between the two stations was dissolved when the Southern Broadcast Corporation gave notice to terminate the agreement with Sinclair. As a result, WTXL moved out of the WTWC building.[3][4] On April 1, 2005, UPN affiliates WFXU/WTLF switched to The WB. UPN promptly signed with WCTV which launched a new second digital subchannel to carry the network.[5] As a result, the "WBXT" operation was shut down. After leaving WTWC's facilities, WTXL rented studio space from Florida State University's PBS affiliate WFSU. On June 20, 2006, this station broke ground on new studios in a commercial park in nearby Midway.[6][7] WTXL fully moved into the new facility in August 2007. The station's broadcasts have been digital-only since February 17, 2009. Until January 1, 2011, it served as the default ABC affiliate for Albany, Georgia as that area did not have an affiliate of its own. On that date, WALB added ABC to its second digital subchannel.
On January 15, 2000, WTXL began to produce a weeknight prime time newscast called WB 28 News at 10 for "WBXT". This was the first local broadcast for a cable-only WB affiliate. Airing for thirty minutes, the show was seen exclusively on Comcast systems and billed as the area's only 10 p.m. newscast. As the WB station changed channels on the cable system, the name was changed to reflect this. It was later called WB 11 News at 10 and then WB 6 News at 10. The local WB newscast was canceled in September 2003.[8] During the outsourcing agreement with Sinclair, WTXL's on-air team provided WTWC with news briefs on weekday mornings at 7:27 and 8:26 as well as weeknights at 5:58 and 6:28. There were also severe weather cut-ins when conditions warranted. Otherwise, WTWC aired no other local news programming although it had on two previous occasions in the past.
In August 2007, WTXL debuted a news set from its new studios with the same design as sister station WAAY-TV and became the first television station in the market to broadcast local newscasts in high definition. On June 2, 2006, photographer Phyllis Joy Ho and reporter Brandon York Beyer were arrested in Doerun, Georgia for obstruction at the scene of a military helicopter crash at the tower of WFXL. They were booked at the Colquitt County jail in Moultrie, Georgia and later released on a $750 bond. All charges were later dropped.[9] On September 24, 2007, sports videojournalist and fill-in sports anchor Eric Thompson was issued a traffic citation in Panama City while providing coverage of jury selection process for the Martin Lee Anderson trial.[10][11] Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show. All of WTXL's newscasts are streamed live on its website (which for about two years was operated by WorldNow until the entire Calkins station group switched its CMS provider to Inergize Digital in 2010).
Anchors
ABC 27 HD Storm Team Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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