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| Channels | |
| Branding | WFTV Channel 9; Channel 9 Eyewitness News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WRDQ | |
| History | |
First air date | February 1, 1958 |
Former call signs | WLOF-TV (1958–1963) |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | "Wonderful Florida Television"[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 72076 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 489 m (1,604 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 28°34′8.2″N 81°3′15.6″W / 28.568944°N 81.054333°W |
| Translator(s) | 19 (UHF) Deltona |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WFTV (channel 9) is a television station affiliated with ABC in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside WRDQ (channel 27), an independent station. The two stations share studios on East South Street (SR 15) in downtown Orlando; WFTV's primary transmitter is located near Bithlo, Florida.
Channel 9 began broadcasting as WLOF-TV on February 1, 1958, after a four-year application process; it brought full three-network broadcasting to Central Florida. The call sign changed to WFTV in 1963. It was originally granted to the Mid-Florida Television Corporation, owned by the Brechner family and other investors. However, the same year the station went on the air, it was discovered as part of investigations into corruption at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that an Orlando attorney had made unethical ex parte contact on behalf of Mid-Florida to FCC commissioner Richard A. Mack. The resulting investigation triggered more than two decades of proceedings that swung between the FCC, a federal court of appeals, and the Supreme Court. A wide range of issues came under discussion, including what Mid-Florida knew about the ex parte contact; what preference should be given to minority ownership of broadcast stations; and the character of a lawyer who was partially paralyzed in a murder-suicide and indicted on gambling charges in the same week.
Under a court order, Mid-Florida ceded operational control of WFTV in 1969 to Channel Nine of Orlando, Inc., a consortium of the five companies vying for the full-time broadcast license. After enduring a fatal collapse of its tower in 1973 and returning to full power in 1975, WFTV rode the rising fortunes of the ABC network in the late 1970s to become the top-rated station in Central Florida. The five companies agreed to a settlement, approved in 1981, that gave all of them varying shares of the station and ended what was then the longest proceeding in FCC history, filling 55 volumes. Many of their 67 shareholders became millionaires when SFN Companies purchased WFTV in 1984 as part of its expansion into the broadcasting industry.
SFN made a $60 million profit within a year by selling the station to Cox in 1985. Cox moved the station to newer, larger studios at its present site in 1990. Although it has faced renewed ratings competition since 2000, WFTV continues to lead ratings in the Orlando–Daytona Beach market.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Orla630202was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFTV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.