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|---|---|
| City | Tampa, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | ABC Action News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WXPX-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | December 14, 1981 |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | "Family Television Station"[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 64588 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 469 m (1,539 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°50′33″N 82°15′44″W / 27.84250°N 82.26222°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Television 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 television station in December 1981 by a company that went on to become Family Group Broadcasting. It was purchased by Capital Cities Communications 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; the building accommodates the news department and is large enough that several business functions for the entire station group are run from Tampa.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
callmeanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFTS-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.