WFTV

Encyclopedia : W : WF : WFT : WFTV

---

---

 

WFTV, "WFTV 9" is a television station based in Orlando, Florida, affiliated with the ABC network. It transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 9, and its digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter located in Bithlo, Florida.

The station signed on the air on February 1, 1958 as WLOF-TV (for "We Love Orlando, Florida"). It had been an ABC affiliate since its launch. For years, the station was owned by SFN TV. It changed its call letters to WFTV in 1963.

The station was acquired by Cox Enterprises in 1984, and is currently co-owned with WRDQ (Action 27). Alongside its own "Eyewitness News" broadcasts, WFTV also produces a nightly 10pm newscast ("Action News" at 10) for WRDQ.

The primary news anchors at WFTV are Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt. They anchored the main afternoon newscasts from 1984 through 1994, when Ms. Salt transferred to a TV station in Tampa. She returned to anchor WFTV's news again with Opsahl in 2003. Opsahl is one of the longest-serving (at one station) local news anchors in Florida.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, "Channel 9 Eyewitness News" made the claim of being "Central Florida's News Leader" as its slogan, but dropped the claim in the 2000s after transitioning to "Coverage You Can Count On". Its main 5pm newscast was termed "Live at Five" until the early 2000s.

WFTV was also the original station for former CNN anchor and current NBC News correspondent Natalie Allen.

WFTV carries a high-profile programming lineup with shows such as Oprah Winfrey, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

WFTV can also be found on Bright House Networks in Polk and Citrus counties on channel 20, although both counties are both part of the Tampa Bay market.

Ocala

WFTV is not seen on the co-owned Cox Cable system in Ocala, since Gainesville's WCJB-TV has exclusivity on that system for ABC programming. Cox, however, does carry WFTV's duopoly indy, WRDQ-TV. WFTV and WCJB are both seen on Bright House in Belleview and unincorporated Marion County. Ocala and Marion County are both part of the Orlando market.

Newscasts

Weekdays

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak - 5AM-7AM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at Noon - NOON-1PM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 5:00 - 5PM-5:30PM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 5:30 - 5:30PM-6PM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 6:00 - 6PM-6:30PM
• Action 27 News at Ten - 10PM-10:30PM, on WRDQ "Action 27"
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 11:00 - 11PM-11:35PM

Weekends

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak Saturday - 5:30AM-10AM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak Sunday - 5:30AM-9AM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at Noon - NOON-12:30PM
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 6:00 - 6PM-6:30PM
• Action 27 News at Ten - 10-10:30PM, on WRDQ "Action 27"
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 11:00 - 11PM-11:35PM
• Sports Night On 9 - 11:35PM-12:05AM Sunday nights

Note: On June 29th, WFTV/WRDQ became the first Florida television station to offer newscasts in 720p HD (High Definition). It is the first Cox owned and operated station and the 10th U.S. station to offer it. With the switch to HD came a new HD set from FX Group and HD graphics from Giant Octopus.

Preemptions

WFTV was one of the few ABC affiliates that pre-empted Jimmy Kimmel Live. WFTV's sister stations in Atlanta (WSB-TV) and Charlotte (WSOC-TV), as well as Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliate WEAR-TV in Pensacola, also did not air the program. On November 21, 2005, however, the station did start airing the late night talk show, and now airs almost the entire ABC schedule with little preemption.

These preemptions are currently limited to some of ABC's weekend morning programming. Three out of four hours of the ABC Kids lineup are shown, while weekend editions of Good Morning America are not shown in lieu of expanded morning news on the weekends. WFTV's sister stations in Atlanta (WSB-TV) and Charlotte (WSOC-TV) also do not air the program.

During the 1990s, WFTV did not air ABC's 11:00 AM program while it was The Home Show and Mike & Maty. The station began to carry such programming overnights starting in 1996, not starting to air it in its proper timeslot until The View debuted in 1997.

In 1992, WFTV dropped two of the five hours of ABC's Saturday morning cartoons in order to add a two hour newscast. The next year, when the newscast expanded to three hours, the station ceased airing the block completely.

In 1996 an hour of ABC cartoons was restored on Sunday mornings. A year later, WFTV began to carry two hours of the lineup that were under the One Saturday Morning banner. In 1999, WFTV began its current practice to run three hours of the lineup.

External links

• [WFTV Official Website]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WFTV]

Broadcast television in the Orlando / Daytona Beach / Melbourne market  [(Nielsen DMA #20)]
WESH 2 (NBC) - WKMG 6 (CBS) - WFTV 9 (ABC) - WTMO 15 (TEL) - WCEU 15 (PBS) - WKCF 18 (The WB/The CW) - W21AU 21 (AZA) - WMFE 24 (PBS) - WVEN 26 (UNI) - WRDQ 27 (Ind) - WRCF 29 (A1) - WOFL 35 (Fox) - WZXZ 36 (MTV2) - WOTF 43 (TFU) - WLCB 45 (Ind) - WOGX 51 (Fox) - WTGL 52 (Ind) - WOPX 56 (i) - WRBW 65 (UPN/MNTV) - WBCC 68 (PBS)
Local digital television channels
WACX 40 (TBN)
[[Template:Gainesville TV|Gainesville]] channels serving Ocala, part of the Orlando market
WUFT 5 (PBS) - WCJB 20 (ABC)
Local cable television channels
Central Florida News 13

 

---

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

---

Search Titles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

?