| Oldsmar, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Branding | TV-48 |
| Slogan | "International Television Channel" |
| Channels | Analog: 48 (UHF) Digital: no |
| Affiliations | America One / CTV / NTV / DW / ethnic |
| Owner | Angelatos Broadcasting (Amka Broadcast Network) |
| Founded | late-1990s |
| Former callsigns | W48AY (to early-2000s) |
| Transmitter power | 41.7 kW |
| Facility ID | 2130 |
WZRA-CA is the Tampa Bay area's first ethnic channel, reaching to ethnic groups in Pinellas, southwestern Pasco and northwestern Hillsborough counties.
In Pinellas County, WZRA is available on Knology cable TV channel 122 and on Bright House digital channel 948. WZRA is also on channel 24 on Verizon FiOS throughout the market, as far south as Sarasota County.
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Most of WZRA's programming is Greek, aimed for the Greek audience in Tarpon Springs, but the channel also offers programming in other languages, such as Italian, German, and English.
WZRA also presents daily newscasts from Canada's CTV network (generally Canada AM and CTV National News), and from Newfoundland's NTV—all aimed at Canadian "snowbirds". They also carried Dini Petty's CTV talk show, via NTV, until CTV cancelled the series' repeats in the early-2000s. In fact, NTV's website promotes the fact that NTV advertisers can reach Tampa viewers through channel 48—never mind that the signal doesn't come in well in Tampa itself, and has no cable coverage in Tampa itself. (WZRA's schedule (see below for link) may be outdated, as it mentioned that it's seen on Americast (now Knology) and Time Warner (now Bright House in Tampa Bay).)
In addition, WZRA offers some general entertainment and infomercials—some of it from the America One network.
When the station signed on the late-1990s, channel 48 went by the translator-style call sign "W48AY", and used the moniker "Bay TV". When the station became a class A television service in the early 2000s, the call sign changed to "WZRA-CA", though at present, it is unknown for what the call sign meant, or if they were randomly chosen by the FCC.
WZRA currently has its transmitter in Oldsmar, broadcasting at 41.7 kW. They do have a construction permit to broadcast at 150 kW from Port Richey, which will increase coverage in west Pasco and southwestern Hernando counties, but will lose coverage in Hillsborough and central Pinellas.
Until Mid-February 2006, WZRA was seen on Bright House channel 15 in the Tarpon Springs area. But on that date, WZRA was unceremoniously replaced with Tarpon Springs' local government channel, which, at its debut, was mainly a promo loop for an upcoming municipal election, plus live City Commission meetings.
Prior to December 2007 (when all local public service channels moved to the digital tier), Bright House allocated channel 15 for local Government-access television in Pinellas County, and had given that slot to WZRA on an interim basis, until Tarpon Springs started their own channel. And with WZRA being a low-powered station, Bright House is not obligated to carry the channel.
Since being dropped, WZRA received thousands of calls in support of the station, especially from the Greek community. Support was so huge, WZRA's station manager Angelos Angelatos urged their viewers to call Bright House, as well as call its Vice-President, Mike Robertson, direct.
Angelatos and his brother, talk show host Sam Angelatos, said that Bright House's discontinuation of WZRA was a form of discrimination, favoring the Hispanic community with four Spanish channels, while ignoring and mistreating other ethnic groups. [1]
In July 2006, Bright House gave WZRA a permanent home -- on digital channel 948 in Pinellas County. However, a specific digital subscription, not just those that are part of the standard digital package, is required. However, WZRA will be dropped from Bright House by the end of April 2011..[2]
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