WFTS-TV

WFTS-TV
	The WFTS studios on Himes Avenue in Tampa were completed in 1996 and brought the news department and business offices under one roof.
	Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida; United States;
City	Tampa, Florida
Channels	Digital: 17 (UHF); Virtual: 28;
Branding	Tampa Bay 28
Programming
Affiliations	28.1: ABC; for others, see § Technical information and subchannels;
Ownership
Owner	E. W. Scripps Company; (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC);
Sister stations	WXPX-TV
History
First air date	December 14, 1981
Former channel numbers	Analog: 28 (UHF, 1981–2009); Digital: 29 (UHF, 1999–2020);
Former affiliations	Independent (1981–1988); Fox (1988–1994);
Call sign meaning	"Family Television Station"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	64588
ERP	1,000 kW
HAAT	469 m (1,539 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	27°50′33″N 82°15′44″W / 27.84250°N 82.26222°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Website	www.tampabay28.com

WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded Tampa Bay 28, is a television station in Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed independent station and owned and operated Ion outlet WXPX-TV (channel 66). The two stations share studios on North Himes Avenue on Tampa's northwest side; WFTS-TV's transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.

Channel 28 was launched as the Tampa Bay area's second independent television station in December 1981 by a company that went on to become Family Group Broadcasting. It was purchased by Capital Cities Communications in 1984, though Capital Cities quickly sold it to Scripps the following year after it purchased the ABC television network. WFTS-TV became an affiliate of Fox in 1988.

A multi-market affiliation switch in 1994 saw WFTS-TV become Tampa Bay's ABC affiliate. The network attempted to disaffiliate from WWSB, its affiliate in Sarasota, but that station was ultimately allowed to remain with the network. To start local newscasts, channel 28 was forced to rent studio space in Clearwater. The newscasts debuted in fourth place in the market but have been more competitive since. In 1996, Scripps completed construction on the present studio facilities near Raymond James Stadium; the building accommodates the news department and is large enough that several business functions for the entire station group are run from Tampa.