View source for WTTA

{{Short description|Television station in St. Petersburg, Florida}}
{{For|the amyloid disease|Wild-type transthyretin amyloid}}
{{Distinguish|WTAT-TV}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WTTA
| city = St. Petersburg, Florida
| logo =  WTTA CW Tampa Bay (2024).svg
| logo_size = 175px
| branding = The CW Tampa Bay
| digital = 9 ([[VHF]]), shared with [[WFLA-TV]]
| virtual = 38
| translators = 
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''38.1:''' [[The CW]],{{r|wttacw}} [[MyNetworkTV]] ([[WSNN-LD]], secondary), and  [[NBC]] (alternate)|'''38.2:''' [[Cozi TV]]}}
| owner = [[Nexstar Media Group]]
| licensee = Nexstar Media Inc.
| location = [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]]–[[Tampa, Florida]]
| country = United States
| founded = January 31, 1985
| airdate = {{start date and age|1991|6|21|p=y}}
| last_airdate = 
| callsign_meaning = "Television Tampa"
| sister_stations = [[WFLA-TV]], [[WSNN-LD]]
| former_callsigns = 
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 38 ([[UHF]], 1991–2009)|'''Digital:''' 57 (UHF, 2002–2009), 38 (UHF, 2009–2010), 32 (UHF, 2010–2018), 7 (VHF, 2018–2020)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1991–1999)|[[NBC]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], and [[CBS]] (secondary, 1991–1994)|[[Fox Kids]] (secondary, 1994–2001)|[[The WB]] (1999–2006)|[[MyNetworkTV]] (primary, 2006–2023)}}
| erp = 41 kW
| haat = {{convert|465.3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 4108
| coordinates = {{coord|27|50|33|N|82|15|44|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{url|https://www.wfla.com/the-cw-tampa-bay/}}
}}

'''WTTA''' (channel 38) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], United States, serving as the [[Tampa Bay area]]'s local outlet for [[The CW]]. It is [[owned and operated]] by The CW's majority owner, [[Nexstar Media Group]], alongside [[Tampa]]-licensed [[NBC]] affiliate [[WFLA-TV]] (channel 8) and [[Sarasota]]-based [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]] [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[WSNN-LD]] (channel 39). WTTA and WFLA-TV share studios on South Parker Street in downtown Tampa; through a [[channel sharing agreement]], the two stations transmit using WFLA-TV's spectrum from a transmitter in [[Riverview, Florida]].

==Background==
The [[UHF]] channel 38 allotment in the Tampa–St. Petersburg market had previously been home to the area's first television station, [[WSUN-TV]], which operated from 1953 to 1970. The station, along with [[WSUN (AM)|WSUN (620 AM)]], was originally licensed to the City of St. Petersburg. The transmitter was collocated in the WSUN transmitter building on the north side of the Gandy causeway at the west end of the [[Gandy Bridge]]. The transmitting antenna was mounted on top of the north tower of WSUN which was modified to hold it without exceeding the original {{convert|502|ft|m|0|adj=on}} AGL height. The north tower was and remains adjacent to the transmitter building used as a daytime 620&nbsp;kHz non-directional radiator while the south tower, on the south side of the Gandy causeway was also used only at night as a directional array. The transmitter building still contains a ladder which descends into a bomb shelter below the bay water as 620 was the original [[CONELRAD]] station for the area. The original towers, each located on pilings in Tampa Bay deteriorated with the salt water and sea bird roosting residues and were replaced with new shorter towers on the original pilings in the early 2000s, eliminating the final traces of channel 38 at the 620&nbsp;kHz transmitting plant.

The station had served as the area's original [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate until WLCY (channel 10, now [[CBS]] affiliate [[WTSP]]) signed on in 1965, effectively resulting in WSUN becoming an [[independent station]] until it went dark in 1970.

==History==
In 1979, four applicants filed with the FCC for channel 38. The winner, decided in 1985, was Bay Television, an entity affiliated with the Baltimore-based [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]; the competing applicants included Oak Television of Tampa Bay, a subsidiary of the company behind the [[ONTV (pay TV)|ONTV]] subscription TV service; Home TV, Inc.; and Suncoast 38, a group owned by [[Clint Murchison Jr.|Clint Murchison]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33851300/four_firms_vie_for_channel_38/|title=Four firms vie for Channel 38|first=Robert|last=Bowden|work=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=July 13, 2019}}</ref> It took years to get the station on the air. In 1987, Sinclair president Bob Simmons was quoted as saying the station would be on the air in late 1988.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33851329/|first=Walt|last=Belcher|title=Channel 38 may return to airwaves|access-date=July 13, 2019|date=September 8, 1987|work=Tampa Tribune}}</ref>

WTTA affiliated in September 1990 with the [[Star Television Network]], which offered a mix of older programming and [[infomercial]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Strother|first1=Susan G.|title=Tv Network Plans September Debut|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/07/12/tv-network-plans-september-debut/|access-date=September 9, 2014|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=July 12, 1990}}</ref> That month, there was also an ad for "TV Heaven 38" in the Tampa/[[Sarasota]] edition of ''[[TV Guide]]'';{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} however, Star would enter financial trouble and the network went dark on January 14, 1991.<ref name=os4>{{cite news|last1=Strother|first1=Susan G.|title=Tv Network Signs Off – Out Of Cash|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/01/17/tv-network-signs-off-out-of-cash/|access-date=January 20, 2015|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=January 17, 1991}}</ref> Before going on air, Bay Television also rebuffed an offer from [[Telemundo]] to buy the construction permit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33851445/|work=Tampa Tribune|title=Spanish TV network eyes adding station in Tampa|page=B1|first=Tim|last=Collier|date=June 4, 1990|access-date=July 13, 2019}}</ref>

On June 21, 1991,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33851472/|date=June 21, 1991|access-date=July 13, 2019|title=New TV station emerges in Bay area|first=Walt|last=Belcher|work=Tampa Tribune}}</ref> WTTA signed on the air as an independent station consisting mainly of syndicated programs passed over by the market's other stations, barter programming, network shows not cleared by WFLA-TV (channel 8), WTSP (channel 10) and [[WTVT]] (channel 13) and infomercials. Due to its low budget, weekend programming tended to consist entirely of infomercials. WTTA also presented a televised simulcast of the [[WRBQ-FM]] (104.7 FM) weekday morning radio show, the ''Q [[Morning Zoo]]'', until that station changed formats to [[country music]] in 1993. On December 12, 1994, [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] programming moved from [[WFTS-TV]] (channel 28) to WTVT as part of a group deal with its then-owners, [[New World Pictures#New World Communications|New World Communications]]. At the same time, the [[E. W. Scripps Company]] (owners of WFTS) cut an affiliation deal with ABC, which resulted in WFTS selling most of its syndicated shows to WTTA. Meanwhile, CBS would move from WTVT to WTSP. Upon the changeover, WTVT chose not to carry the network's children's program block, [[Fox Kids]], which was picked up by WTTA instead. Channel 38 also picked up some syndicated programs that WFTS had no room for on its schedule due to ABC's network-heavy schedule, giving WTTA a stronger programming inventory. Fox Kids later moved to rival [[WMOR-TV]] (channel 32), which also carried the successor [[4KidsTV]] block on Sunday mornings until it was discontinued by Fox on December 28, 2008. At one time WTTA was a local broadcast partner of the [[Tampa Bay Lightning]] hockey club. They last aired a series of nine Lightning games during the [[1999–2000 Tampa Bay Lightning season|1999–2000 season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/1998/10/19981005/No-Topic-Name/No-Headline.aspx|title=- SportsBusiness Daily – SportsBusiness Journal – SportsBusiness Daily Global|access-date=June 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911025345/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/1998/10/19981005/No-Topic-Name/No-Headline.aspx|archive-date=September 11, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/10/Lightning/From_Yale_to_the_NHL.shtml |title=Lightning: From Yale to the NHL |access-date=June 14, 2015 |archive-date=September 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927143406/http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/10/Lightning/From_Yale_to_the_NHL.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 1999, WTTA became Tampa Bay's affiliate of [[The WB]] (replacing charter affiliate WMOR, which reverted to being an independent station), two years after the network entered into a group deal with Sinclair to affiliate the company's independent stations and [[UPN]] affiliates with The WB.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131105205254/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19604007.html WB woos and wins Sinclair], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable]]'', July 21, 1997. </ref> The station began using the on-air brand "WB 38", and ran [[Kids' WB]] during the week until January 2006, when the network discontinued its weekday children's block. As a result, Kids' WB programming on WTTA had been relegated to Saturday mornings as of 2006. In 1999, WTTA's operations were taken over by Sinclair after the company entered into a [[local marketing agreement]] with Bay Television, which over time had grown become one of the nation's largest television station owners. However, Bay Television was effectively a subsidiary of Sinclair; it was owned by Sinclair CEO David Smith, his brothers J. Duncan, Frederick and Robert Smith, and Robert Simmons. Bay Television could also be considered a [[shell corporation]] used for the purpose of circumventing [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) ownership rules. Normally, this would apply to a duopoly that Sinclair operates, but the Tampa Bay [[media market|market]] is one of the few markets where the company does not own or operate more than one television station.
[[File:WTTA former logo (September 2006-September 2013).png|thumb|150px|Logo for WTTA from September 2006 through September 2013 under their "''MyTV Tampa Bay''" branding]]
On January 24, 2006, the [[Warner Bros.]] unit of [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]] and [[CBS Corporation]] (which [[Viacom (1952–2006)#2005 split|spun off]] from [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] at the end of 2005) announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called [[The CW]].<ref>[https://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/cbs_warner/ 'Gilmore Girls' meet 'Smackdown'; CW Network to combine WB, UPN in CBS-Warner venture beginning in September], [[CNNMoney.com]], January 24, 2006.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/business/media/24cnd-network.html?bl UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 24, 2006.</ref> UPN (O&O) station [[WTOG]] (channel 44) was named as one of the network's charter affiliates through an 11-station group deal with owner CBS Corporation (with the inclusion for the pass over from Tribune-owned WB affiliates in [[WPHL-TV|Philadelphia]], [[KZJO|Seattle]] and [[WATL-TV|Atlanta]]). On February 22, 2006, [[News Corporation]] announced the launch of a new "sixth" network called [[MyNetworkTV]], which would be operated by [[Fox Television Stations]] and its syndication division [[Twentieth Television]].<ref>{{cite news|title=News Corp. to launch new mini-network for UPN stations|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-02-22-fox-my-network_x.htm|access-date=January 21, 2013|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=February 22, 2006}}</ref><ref>[https://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/102922-News_Corp_Unveils_My_Network_TV.php News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable]]'', February 22, 2006.</ref> Sinclair then announced WTTA would be the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate; the station rebranded as "MyTV Tampa Bay" the week before that network's September 5, 2006, debut.

On September 3, 2007, channel 38 began airing the controversial ''[[Live Prayer|Live Prayer with Bill Keller]]''. Keller had been bounced from station to station in the Tampa Bay area and landed on WTTA after a sudden departure from WTOG. The show moved to [[Ion Television]] owned-and-operated station [[WXPX-TV]] (channel 66) in November 2007, after WTTA imposed new restrictions regarding live programming.

On July 19, 2012, concurrently with Sinclair's announcement that it would purchase six television stations from [[Newport Television]], Sinclair exercised its option to acquire WTTA outright.<ref name=sinclair-newportacq>{{cite web|title=Sinclair Broadcast to buy 7 TV outlets for $452.5M|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sinclair-broadcast-to-buy-7-tv-outlets-for-4525m-2012-07-19|publisher=MarketWatch|access-date=July 19, 2012}}</ref> The FCC approved the sale on August 27,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240610122516/https://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1508357.pdf]</ref> and it was consummated on December 3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1531866|title=Application Search Details|first=FCC Internet Services|last=Staff|website=licensing.fcc.gov}}</ref>

[[File:WTTA Logo.png|thumb|150px|right|Logo for WTTA from September 2013 through September 2023 and also their final logo as a MyNetworkTV affiliate under their "''Great 38''" branding]]
In September 2013, WTTA rebranded as "Great 38", the branding it had used for much of the 1990s. It was the second Sinclair-owned or -operated MyNetworkTV affiliate to drop references to the programming from the station's on-air branding since [[Cincinnati]]'s [[WSTR-TV]] restored its "Star 64" branding in September 2009, and the first entirely not to use the network's "blue TV" branding and imaging motif. In conjunction with the rebranding, WTTA began producing several local programs. ''Our Issues'' is a community affairs program. ''Health Matters'' is a health and lifestyle program based upon paid content. Both programs are hosted by Jenn Holloway. In April 2014, WTTA and the [[Tampa Bay Rowdies]] [[soccer]] club announced a marketing and broadcast partnership. Under the deal, the station broadcasts twelve Saturday night Rowdies home games, which are preceded by a half-hour pregame show, ''Rowdies Kickoff''. WTTA aired Rowdies home games during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

On August 20, 2014, Sinclair announced that it would sell WTTA, along with [[WHTM]] in [[Harrisburg]] (which Sinclair, on behalf of [[Allbritton]] was planning on to divest) [[KXRM-TV]] and [[KXTU-LD]] in [[Colorado Springs]], to [[Media General]] in a swap for [[WJAR]] in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], [[WLUK-TV]] and [[WCWF]] in [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]], and [[WTGS]] in [[Savannah, Georgia]]. The swap, part of Media General's merger with [[LIN Media]], made WTTA a sister station to Media General flagship station WFLA-TV.<ref name=tvnc-saletomediageneral>{{cite news|title=Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78615/media-general-lin-sell-stations-in-5-markets|access-date=August 20, 2014|work=TVNewsCheck|date=August 20, 2014}}</ref><ref name=b&c-saletomediageneral>{{cite news|last1=Malone|first1=Michael|title=Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets|url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/media-general-lin-divest-stations-five-markets/133323|access-date=August 20, 2014|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=August 20, 2014}}</ref> A condition of the sale maintained the station's affiliation with Sinclair's [[American Sports Network]] package of college sports.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Minium|first1=Harry|title=ODU's opener with Hampton to be televised in 66 markets|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/odus-opener-hampton-be-televised-66-markets|access-date=September 8, 2014 |work=HamptonRoads.com|publisher=The Virginian-Pilot|date=August 27, 2014}}</ref> WHTM's sale of Media General was explored nearly two months earlier, and it was completed, nearly three months before the Media General/LIN deal was completed.<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|date=June 23, 2014|title=Media General Buying WHTM For $83.4M|url=https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/media-general-buying-whtm-for-83-4m/|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=TV News Check|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=September 2, 2014|title=Media General Completes Acquisition of WHTM-TV in Harrisburg, PA|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140902006403/en/Media-General-Completes-Acquisition-of-WHTM-TV-in-Harrisburg-PA|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en}}</ref> The sale was completed on December 19.<ref>[http://sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Swaps%20Closing%20Press%20Release.pdf Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes on Certain Station Acquisitions and Divestitures with Media General] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219222653/http://sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Swaps%20Closing%20Press%20Release.pdf |date=December 19, 2014 }}, Press Release, [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], Retrieved December 19, 2014</ref>

Shortly after Media General closed on WTTA, its separate Web site was shut down and replaced with a redirect to a separate section of WFLA-TV's Web site.

On January 27, 2016, it was announced that the [[Nexstar Broadcasting Group]] would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WFLA and WTTA became part of the newly-minted Nexstar Media Group on January 17, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2016/jan27_2016nexs.html |title=Nexstar Broadcasting Group Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Media General for $4.6 Billion in Accretive Cash and Stock Transaction |access-date=January 28, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130083411/http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2016/jan27_2016nexs.html |archive-date=January 30, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/01/nexstar-completes-media-general-acquisition-1201888406/|title=Nexstar Completes $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General|first=David|last=Lieberman|date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

As a sister to WFLA-TV, WTTA airs NBC programming at times WFLA-TV cannot do so. During [[Hurricane Irma]] in 2017, WTTA carried the ''[[NBC Sunday Night Football|Sunday Night Football]]'' Week 1 contest between the [[2017 New York Giants season|New York Giants]] and [[2017 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]] while WFLA-TV had hurricane coverage.<ref name=irma>{{cite news|last1=Gross|first1=Lila|title=NFL Giants vs. Cowboys football game airing on Great 38|url=http://wfla.com/2017/09/10/nfl-giants-vs-cowboys-football-game-airing-on-great-38/|access-date=September 10, 2017|work=WFLA-TV|date=September 10, 2017}}</ref>

In May 2023, [[CBS News and Stations]] announced that its CW affiliates, including Tampa station WTOG, would cease their affiliation with the network in September 2023 and become independent stations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2023/05/cbs-stations-eight-drop-cw-go-independent-this-fall-1235357388/|work=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]|date=May 5, 2023|access-date=June 14, 2023|title=Eight CBS Stations To Ditch CW And Go Independent This Fall}}</ref> Nexstar Media Group announced on June 14, 2023, that WTTA would take over the CW affiliation for the Tampa market on September 1, with MyNetworkTV shifting to the same time slot on the same day to the recently acquired [[WSNN-LD]] (channel 39), though WTTA continues to retain a second run of the lineup as part of its late night schedule.<ref name="wttacw">{{Cite web|title=Nexstar Stations In Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa To Become CW Affils On Sept. 1|url=https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/nexstar-stations-in-philadelphia-san-francisco-tampa-to-become-cw-affils-on-sept-1/|first=Mark K.|last=Miller|work=TVNewsCheck|date=June 14, 2023|accessdate=June 14, 2023}}</ref><ref name="wtta38cw">{{Cite web|title=3 Nexstar Stations to Add The CW Affiliations On Sept. 1|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/three-nexstar-stations-adding-cw-affiliations-on-september-1|first=Jon|last=Lafayette|work=Broadcasting + Cable|date=June 14, 2023|accessdate=June 14, 2023}}</ref>

==Newscasts==
===Sinclair era===
In August 2003, WTTA established a news department and began airing a late evening newscast at 10 p.m. weeknights in an attempt to compete with WTVT's longer-established prime time newscast. Known as ''WB 38 News at 10'', it was part of Sinclair's controversial centralized ''[[News Central (American TV program)|News Central]]'' operation and featured a mix of local news and sports stories from staff at WTTA's facility, and national and international reports, weather forecasts and sports segments produced out of Sinclair's corporate headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland. It also aired ''The Point'', a controversial one-minute [[conservative]] political commentary feature, that was a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations that aired newscasts (regardless of whether it carried the News Central format or not). Due to poor ratings, WTTA's news department was shut down on March 31, 2006, due to cutbacks in Sinclair's news operations companywide, which included the disbandment of its News Central division, with the newscast being replaced by syndicated programming.

Newscasts returned to the station on October 8, 2007, after Sinclair and future sister station WFLA-TV entered into a news share agreement resulting in a weeknight prime time newscast produced by that station called ''NewsChannel 8 at 10 on My TV Tampa Bay''. Original personnel included news anchors Peter Bernard and Katie Coronado with weather from meteorologists Mace Michaels or Leigh Spann. The broadcast was produced from WFLA's studios on South Parker Street in Downtown Tampa. This arrangement was similar to ones established at Sinclair stations in [[WLFL|Raleigh, North Carolina]], [[WNYO-TV|Buffalo]], [[WSMH|Flint, Michigan]], [[WTAT-TV|Charleston, South Carolina]], and [[KVCW|Las Vegas]]. The WFLA-produced newscast was canceled and ended on April 30, 2009.

===Media General/Nexstar era===
{{see|WFLA-TV#News operation}}
On August 9, 2014, WTTA debuted ''Great 38 News Now'', a series of brief weather and news reports, running thirty seconds in length, three times a day. Initially, the news updates, which debuted eleven days before Media General's acquisition of WTTA, were produced by former sister station [[WPEC]] in [[West Palm Beach]]. The program since expanded as a half-hour public affairs show on Sundays at 7&nbsp;p.m., which was eventually canceled. At the beginning of 2015, production transferred to WFLA-TV, from that station's own studios in Tampa.

On January 4, 2016, WFLA once again began producing a local newscast for WTTA, this time, a nightly hour-long newscast at 8&nbsp;p.m. under the title ''NewsChannel 8 at 8:00 on Great 38'', pushing MyNetworkTV programming back one hour. On August 7, 2017, WFLA began producing another local newscast for WTTA, this time, a two-hour expansion of the former's morning newscast from 7 to 9&nbsp;a.m. under the title ''NewsChannel 8 Today on Great 38'', with the second hour titled ''Make Today Gr8 with Gayle and Leigh'', which is hosted by WFLA morning co-anchor Gayle Guyardo and WFLA morning meteorologist Leigh Spann.

On April 5, 2020, WFLA expanded into Spanish-language news coverage with the addition of a half-hour 9&nbsp;p.m. newscast airing weeknights entitled ''Noticias Tampa Hoy'' on WTTA.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wfla.com/noticias-tampa-hoy/ | title=WFLA News Channel 8 to Launch Noticias Tampa Hoy! | date=March 23, 2021 }}</ref> WFLA also hosts [https://www.wfla.com/tampa-hoy/ a complementary website] which features local news in Spanish.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's digital signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{{#section:WFLA-TV|subs}}
From 2010 to 2012, WTTA and several other Sinclair-owned stations carried [[TheCoolTV]], seen locally on digital subchannel 38.2. On the afternoon of August 31, 2012, TheCoolTV was dropped from the 32 Sinclair stations that carried the network, including WTTA, with no replacement;<ref>{{cite news|title=Channel 64 drops Cool TV music videos|url=http://www2.cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2012/09/04/channel-64-drops-cool-tv-subchannel/|access-date=September 9, 2014|work=Cincinnati.com|publisher=Gannett|date=September 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911001639/http://www2.cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2012/09/04/channel-64-drops-cool-tv-subchannel/|archive-date=September 11, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> it would not be until 2015 when WTTA would add another subchannel, Cozi TV.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/media-general-adds-cozi-tv-in-four-markets/148577|title=Media General Adds COZI TV in Four Markets|website=www.adweek.com|date=May 19, 2015 }}</ref>

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
On February 2, 2009, Sinclair told cable and satellite television providers via e-mail that regardless of the exact [[Digital television transition in the United States|mandatory switchover date to digital-only broadcasting for full-power stations]] (which Congress rescheduled for June 12 days later), the station would shut down its analog signal on the original transition date of February 17.<ref>{{cite web | last = Hearn | first = Ted | title = Sinclair Sticks To Feb. 17 Analog Cutoff | publisher = Digital Video Report | date = February 2, 2009 | url = http://digitalvideoreport.blogspot.com/2009/02/sinclair-sticks-to-feb-17-analog-cutoff.html | access-date = February 24, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Analog to Digital">{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|title=List of Digital Full-Power Stations|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|archive-date=August 29, 2013}}</ref> The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 57, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era UHF channel 38.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-221A5.pdf|title=FCC document: "Appendix B: All full-power television stations by DMA, indicating those terminating analog service before on or February 17, 2009."}}</ref> In October 2009, the FCC approved a request by WTTA to relocate its digital signal to UHF channel 32 (the former analog frequency of WMOR-TV) to avoid adjacent channel problems from [[WFTV]] in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]]. WTTA moved its digital signal to channel 32 on August 23, 2010 (the channel 38 allocation is now used for the digital signal of [[WSPF-CD]]).

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.wfla.com/the-cw-tampa-bay/}}

{{Tampa Bay TV}}
{{CW Florida}}
{{NXST TV}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wtta}}
[[Category:1991 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:Cozi TV affiliates]]
[[Category:The CW affiliates]]
[[Category:Nexstar Media Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1991]]
[[Category:Television stations in the Tampa Bay area|TTA]]