- WTOG
Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WTOG
city =
station_
station_slogan = Tampa Bay's #1 Entertainment Station
station_branding = CW 44
analog = 44 (UHF)
digital = 59 (UHF)
other_chs = W23CN Sebring
W61AK Inverness
affiliations = The CW
network =
founded =
airdate =November 4 ,1968
location = St. Petersburg -Tampa, Florida
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner =CBS Corporation
licensee = CBS Operations, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Independent (1968-1986 and 1988-1995)
Fox (1986-1988)UPN (1995-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 5000 kW (analog)
600 kW (digital)
HAAT = 454 m (analog)
452 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 74112
coordinates = coord|27|49|47.5|N|82|15|58.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|27|50|51.5|N|82|15|49.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://www.cw44.com/ www.cw44.com]WTOG, channel 44, is a television station in
St. Petersburg, Florida . Owned by theCBS Corporation , WTOG serves as theTampa Bay Area station for the co-ownedCW Television Network . Its transmitter is located inRiverview, Florida .History
Early years
WTOG-TV began operations on
November 4 ,1968 as an indepedent station. It was originally owned by theSt. Paul, Minnesota -basedHubbard Broadcasting Corporation . In the station's early days, its slogan was: "WTOG...as far as the eye can see"", which was made famous by a [http://www.netbroadcasting.tv/wtog.html 1970s station identification package] . WTOG caught on with the viewers immediately; so much so, in fact, that it forced competitor WSUN-TV (channel 38, frequency now occupied byWTTA ) off the air in 1970. For the rest of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, WTOG was the only independent station in the Tampa Bay area.Becoming a superstation
This distinction finally ended in
1981 , whenWFTS-TV , then owned by Family Group Broadcasting, signed on. However, the station remained the clear leader in the market for the next two decades. In the early 1980s, the station's slogan was "We're 44...we show you the good life"".During the 1970s and 1980s, WTOG was seen on many cable systems in central and southwestern Florida. In the 1980s, WTOG also had a network of low-powered repeaters, with repeaters in Sebring, Arcadia (in the Ft. Myers market), Ocala (Orlando market) and Okeechobee (West Palm Beach market). It billed itself as "Florida's Super Station", which "Covered Florida Like The Sun". There was also some consideration to put WTOG on cable in
Tallahassee , but that never came to fruition.WTOG was one of the most profitable independent television stations in the country. In fact, during the late 1970s, a man named
Ted Turner called the station to ask how it was that WTOG could be so profitable. It is believed that WTBS in Atlanta was modeled after WTOG.From Fox to UPN
In 1986, WTOG became a charter affiliate of the new
Fox Broadcasting Company . However, this relationship lasted only 2 years, as WTOG dropped the affiliation in1988 , sending it to WFTS, now owned by theE.W. Scripps Company . Of course though, the station was still effectively independent during its time as a Fox affiliate, as Fox programming only comprised a small part of its schedule.WTOG was largely unaffected by the affiliation swaps of 1994, which saw longtime
CBS affiliateWTVT switch to Fox, WFTS going to ABC and longtime ABC affiliateWTSP go to CBS, but WTOG did become a charterUPN affiliate, aligning itself with the network at its launch in1995 . As with its days as a Fox affiliate, WTOG continued to program a traditional independent format during the day, with UPN programming shown during prime time.Paramount Stations Group , a subsidiary of Viacom purchased the station in the Spring of1996 , swappingNBC affiliates WNYT inAlbany, New York andWHEC inRochester, New York to Hubbard in the process. Paramount wanted to get rid of its non-UPN stations. This made WTOG the first O&O in Tampa Bay. Soon after taking control, Paramount changed WTOG's on-air branding to "UPN44", which it kept for the remainder of UPN's run. Viacom bought CBS in2001 .Newscasts
WTOG's newscasts prior to 1982 was mainly at sign-on and sign-off, with the announcer reading the day's headlines over a slide. In the late-1970s and early-1980s, it featured a newsreader on camera reading the news during its morning discussion, "Florida Daybreak". WTOG started using the "
Eyewitness News " moniker in the late-1970s, though its news was still a rather staid, low-key affair, until they established a regular 10PM newscast in 1982. At first, WTOG continued to use the "Eyewitness News" name, with Barbara Callahan (former co-host of WTOG's "PM Magazine ") and John Nicholson (formerly an anchor atWTVT ) as co-anchors. In the early-1990s, it was renamed "44 News at Ten". By 1996, following Viacom's acquisition of WTOG, it became "UPN44 10 O'Clock News" (with the slogan "Live, Local, Late Breaking"), co-anchored by Callahan and Patrick Emory. WTOG's news department was discontinued in1998 due to financial reasons and competition fromWTVT .Ownership during the 2000s
There were rumors that
The E. W. Scripps Company would buy WTOG from CBS Corporation (recently spun off from Viacom), thus creating aduopoly with WFTS (who ironically had taken the FOX affiliation from WTOG in 1988). As of 2005, this has not occurred.On
January 24 2006 , it was announced that UPN andThe WB would merge into a new network, The CW. The new network signed a 10-year affiliation agreement with 11 of CBS' UPN stations, including WTOG. The new network launched onSeptember 18 , 2006. Under current ownership, WTOG is one of two network O&O's in Tampa Bay, alongside Fox-ownedWTVT .WTOG had handled master control operations for its sister station, KEYE in
Austin, Texas , until WTOG's master control, along with that of Atlanta'sWUPA , were moved to sister CW affiliateWGNT inNorfolk, Virginia ; twenty employees were laid off from WTOG ( [http://mibuzzboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15450] ), even though CBS had previously denied that such would happen ( [http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/05/Artsandentertainment/Exec_says_local_TV_st.shtml] ). KEYE has since been sold toCerberus Capital Management , through itsFour Points Media Group .On cable, WTOG can be seen throughout the Tampa Bay area on Bright House and
Verizon FiOS channel 4, and onComcast channel 9 in the Sarasota and Venice headends. WTOG also has a repeater in Sebring (W23CN channel 23). As for the other repeaters, the Arcadia and Sebring facilities have shut down while the Ocala station (W29AB) has since become a repeater for Orlando'sWKMG-TV .In May 1999, after WTOG's news department closed, WTOG housed
WFLA-TV one day, when WFLA had a power outage at their main studios in Downtown Tampa.WTOG is one of two stations to have studios located in St. Petersburg alongside
WTSP -- both studios are located about a mile from each other, on or near Gandy Boulevard.News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
*"WTOG News" (1968-1978?)
*"Eyewitness News" (1978?-1985)
*"Tampa Bay Tonight" (1985-1988)
*"44 News at Ten" (1988-1992)
*"WTOG 44 News at Ten" (1992-1995)
*"UPN 44 News at Ten" (1995-1998; newscasts were cancelled after 1998)tation Slogans
*"WTOG, As Far as the Eye Can See" (1970s)
*"Florida's Super Station, Your 44" (1980s-1995)
*"We're 44, We Show You the Good Life" (1981-1983)
*"Covering Florida Like the Sun" (1985)
*"Live, Local, Latebreaking" (1995-1998; this was the final slogan for WTOG)10 O'Clock News Anchors
*Patrick Emory, anchor (1994-1998)
*Barbara Callahan, "PM Magazine " co-host (1980-1982); anchor (1982-1986; 1993-1998)
*John Nicholson, anchor (1980s)
*Sandra Cole, anchor (1988-1989) (now atWOWK )
*John ("J.P.") Peterson, sports (1997-1998, later worked atWFLA-TV , now atWQYK-AM )
*Wendy Ross, weather (now atWWSB )
*Justin Kiefer, weather (1997-1998, now atWMBB-TV )
*Kathryn Bursch, reporter (1980s-90s, now atWTSP )
*Julie Brannon, anchor
*Jane Akre, anchor (1996)
*John Summer, anchor (1987-1994)
*Greg Starddard , reporter, back-up anchor, public affairs talk show host, (1985-1987), left forWTVT
*Monica Stokes, weekend anchor (-1998)
*Beasley Reece , sports (1986-1988, 1997-1998, now atKYW-TV ).
*Bob Alvarez, sports (early/mid 1990s)
*Rob Stone , sports (late 1990s)
*Diane Roberts, anchor (1989-1993)
*Carmen Roberts, reporter (1980s)
*Jay Villwock, feature reporter (1980s-1990s, now atWOI-TV )
*Ken Suarez, reporter (1988-1998, now atWTVT )
*Stan Rhoads, "Cinema 44 Cash Call"
*Harry Hairston, reporter (1980s, now at WCAU-TV)
*Dan Tylman, reporter (-1998)
*Marie Rhodes, reporter (-1998)
*Marcie Cipriani, reporter (-1998, now atWTAE-TV )
*Cindi Dohan, reporter (-1998)
*Stacey Phillips, reporter (-1998)
*Jack Harris, various spots (1970s-1983)
*Randy Scott, sports director (1982-1987)
*Ray Perkins, "The Buc Report"
*Mary Rogers, 10pm anchor (-1993)External links
* [http://www.cw44.com/ Station Website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suhJiJjBnEM Channel 44 Station ID's - 1970's]
*TVQ|WTOG
**TVQ|W23CN
**TVQ|W61AK
*BIA|WTOG|TV|TV
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