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WWSB

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WWSB, Channel 40 (Cable and virtual channel 7), is the ABC affiliate for Sarasota, Florida.

WWSB is owned by Calkins Media, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based mass media company that owns several small newspapers in Pennsylvania and one other television station, WTXL-TV in Tallahassee (which Calkins acquired in February 2006).

WWSB's transmitter is located on a 248 m (814 ft) high tower in Parrish - a small community about 15 km north of the station's studios in downtown Sarasota.

A directional antenna broadcasts the station's UHF signal south toward the cities served by WWSB. The largest of those cities are Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, and North Port. The station's news department focuses its coverage on five counties: Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hardee, and DeSoto.

The station can not be viewed on satellite TV, which has been frustrating for many people in the Sarasota-Manatee area, and WWSB has been asking people with satellite systems to petition their providers to show WWSB.

Contents

History

The station first went on the air as WXLT (for W XL (40 in roman numerals) Televisionin 1971, being the first television affiliate in the area based neither in Tampa nor St. Petersburg. WWSB signed on to provide ABC programming in an area insufficiently covered by WLCY-TV (now WTSP), when that station broadcasted at a lower power. In the 1970s, WXLT also cleared some CBS and NBC programming passed on by WTVT or WFLA, respectively. For example: in 1972, when "The Joker's Wild" debuted on CBS, it was pre-empted on WTVT, but picked up by WXLT. The call letters became WWSB in 1986.

On cable, WFTS is not carried south of the Sarasota area, while WWSB is not available on cable north of the Skyway Bridge -- the latter was due to contractual conditions drawn up in the early-1990s by WTSP and, later, WFTS.

Until WTSP upgraded their facilities in the late-1970s, both WLCY/WTSP and WXLT competed for viewers in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. It was not uncommon to see WXLT's billboards in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Largo.

Today, WWSB still provides ABC programming to Manatee and Sarasota Counties, even though they're in the shadow of WFTS, whose transmitter is only about 20 miles north of WWSB's.

Changes

In 2002, the station changed logos, and changed studio locations to a studio in downtown Sarasota. Until March 2004, the station's news department operated under the brand "News 40." The brand was changed to ABC 7, because most viewers watch the station on Brighthouse Networks or Comcast Cable, and both providers carry WWSB on channel 7. The conversion to ABC 7 involved a redress of the station's news sets, a new logo (to an unique version of the well known Circle 7 logo) and color scheme, a new slogan ("Local news. Every day. Every newscast."), from its longtime slogan "ABC for the Suncoast", and a major local promotion and advertising campaign.

Logos

Image:WWSB1980.PNG|WWSB logo in 1980 Image:Wwsboldoldlogo.PNG|Logo until 2001 Image:WWSB02.PNG|2001-March 2004 Image:Wwsblogo2.PNG|March 2004-2006 Image:WWSB7.PNG|2006-Present

Current Personalities

Heidi Godman and Scott Dennis
Enlarge
Heidi Godman and Scott Dennis

Past Personalities

References

[WWSB-TV Official Site].

WWSB-TV News and Engineering Departments.

External links


Broadcast television in the Tampa / St. Petersburg / Sarasota market  [(Nielsen DMA #12)]
WEDU 3 (PBS) - WFLA 8 (NBC) - WTSP 10 (CBS) - WINK 11 (CBS) - WTVT 13 (Fox) - WLWA-LP 14 (TBN)  - WPDS-LP 14 (Edu.) - W15CM 15 (AS) - WUSF 16 (PBS)  WHRT-CA 17 (Ind) - WSVT-LP 18 (DS) - WARP-CA 20 (MTV2) - WCLF 22 (CTN) - WXAX-LP 26 (AZA) - WFTS 28 (ABC) - WTAM-LP 30 (TV Informa) - WMOR 32 (Ind)  W33CC 33 (Ind) - W34AW 34 (3ABN) - WSPF-CA 35 (St. Pete city access) - W36CO 36 (TBN) - WTTA 38 (The WB/MNTV) - WWSB 40 (ABC) - W43CE 43 (Ind)  WTOG 44 (UPN/The CW) - WYKE-LP 47 (FN) - W48CN 48 (TBN) - WZRA-CA 48 (Ethnic/A1/NTV/CTV) - WRMD-LP 49 (TEL) - WFTT 50 (TFU) - W56EB 56 (TBN)  W60CE 60 (TBN) - WVEA 62 (UNI) - WXPX 66 (i)
Local cable television channels
Bay News 9  -  SNN 6  -  Catch 47  -  FSN Florida  -  Sun Sports

Broadcast television in the Fort Myers / Naples market  [(Nielsen DMA #66)]
WUVF-CA 2/WTLE-LP 18 (UNI) - WEVU-CA 4/WBSP-CA 7 (UPN/My Network TV) - WINK 11 (CBS) - W14CI 14 (AZA) - W17CK 17 (TBN) - WBBH 20 (NBC) - W22CL 22 (MTV2) - WXDT-LP 23 (IND) - WZVN 26 (ABC) - WGCU 30 (PBS) - WFTX 36 (Fox) - W38CO 38 (TBN) - WZDT-LP 39 (IND) - WWSB 40 (ABC) - WWDT-CA 43 (TMD) - WTVK 46 (The WB/The CW) - WRXY 49 (CTN) - W56DW 56 (TBN) - WLZE-LP 65 (TFT)
Local cable television channels
SNN 6 - "WNFM" 8 (UPN/My Network TV)

ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Florida
WEAR 3 () - WFTV 9 () - WPLG 10 () - WMBB 13 () - WCJB 20 () - WPBF 25 () -
WJXX 25 () - WZVN 26 () - WTXL 27 () - WFTS 28 () - WWSB 40 ()
See also: , , , , , , , and stations in the state of Florida

 

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