WTVT
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Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida United States |
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| City | Tampa, Florida |
| Branding | Fox 13 (general) Fox 13 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Tampa Bay's #1 News Station (primary) The One to Watch (secondary) |
| Channels |
Digital: 12 (VHF) Virtual: 13 () |
| Subchannels | |
| Affiliations |
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| Owner |
Fox Television Stations (New World Communications of Tampa, Inc.) |
| First air date | April 1, 1955 |
| Call letters' meaning | Dual meaning: *Walter Tison and Virginia Tison (original owner and his wife) or *TV Tampa |
| Sister station(s) |
WOFL WRBW WOGX Fox Sports Florida Fox Sports Sun |
| Former channel number(s) |
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| Former affiliations | CBS (1955–1994) |
| Transmitter power | 72.3 kW |
| Height | 436 m |
| Facility ID | 68569 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°49′8″N 82°14′26″W / 27.81889°N 82.24056°WCoordinates: 27°49′8″N 82°14′26″W / 27.81889°N 82.24056°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www |
WTVT, virtual channel 13 (VHF digital channel 12), is a Fox owned-and-operated television station located in Tampa, Florida, United States and also serving the nearby city of St. Petersburg. The station is owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. WTVT maintains studio facilities located on West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, and its transmitter is located in Riverview.
The station first signed on the air on April 1, 1955, becoming the third television station in Tampa Bay (after WSUN-TV – channel 38, frequency now occupied by WTTA, and WFLA-TV, channel 8), it is also currently the second-oldest surviving station in the market (behind WFLA). Operating as a CBS affiliate, WTVT was originally owned by Tampa Bay radio veteran Walter Tison and his Tampa Television Company. The Federal Communications Commission originally awarded the construction permit to build a station on channel 13 to the now-defunct Tampa Times newspaper, which owned WDAE radio (then at 1250 AM, now at 620 AM). However, the FCC reversed its decision and awarded the license to the Tison group, which intended to open a studio facility in nearby St. Petersburg. The Times appealed the FCC's decision, but lost. Although it appears that the station's call letters stand for TeleVision Tampa, they actually stand for the initials of Walter Tison and his wife, Virginia. Like many other stations located on "unlucky" channel 13, WTVT used a black cat as its mascot for several years.
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Wikipedia