WTXL-TV

WTXL-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Tallahassee, Florida. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter northwest of Monticello, Floridaalong the state line with Georgia. It can also be seen on Charter channel 3 as well as Mediacomand Comcast channel 7. There is a high definition feed seen on Comcast digital channel 431 and Mediacom digital channel 827. Owned by Calkins Media, the station has studios on Commerce Boulevard in Midway, Florida. Syndicated programming on WTXL includes: Judge Judy, Inside Edition, Anderson Cooper, and The Chew.

Digital programming
On WTXL-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 209 is The Local AccuWeather Channel. It is not offered on Mediacom or Charter systems.

History
WTXL-TV debuted on September 16, 1976 as WECA-TV owned by local businessman EvansCraig Allen. In the early years, its slogan was "We Can Do It!" which was a play on the call letters. The station was the third to sign-on in the area after WFSU-TV and WCTV. By its fourth year of broadcasting, the station used the slogan "Up & Coming".[1] Its original studios were on Thomasville Road (U.S. 319/FL 61) in Tallahassee and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter northeast of the facilities. In 1984, Allen sold the station to Tallahassee 27 Limited Partnership led by former Senator Joseph Tydings and former Representative [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Frey,_Jr. Louis Frey, Jr.] The call letters were changed to the current WTXL-TV. The station's history page claims the new owners took over in 1985, but according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) files, the call letters were changed in 1984.[2]

In 1998, WTXL began to manage and promote a cable-only affiliate of The WB. Known as "WBXT" and originally on-air as "WB 28", it was part of The WB 100+ service. Except for the same call letters being used in a fictional manner, the channel had no relation to Class A MTV2affiliate WBXT-CA that broadcasts over-the-air. In 2001, Media Ventures Management (then owner of WTXL) entered into an outsourcing agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group who owns NBC affiliate WTWC-TV. Sinclair began to operate this station that merged virtually all of its operations from the original studios to WTWC's facilities on Deer Lake South on March 17, 2002. The arrangement was the first of its kind in the United States. The Southern Broadcast Corporation (now Calkins Media) acquired WTXL's license on November 30, 2005 while the arrangement continued.

On February 20, 2006, the partnership between the two stations was dissolved when the Southern Broadcast Corporation gave notice to terminate the agreement with Sinclair. As a result, WTXL moved out of the WTWC building.[3] [4] On April 1, 2005, UPN affiliates WFXU/WTLFswitched to The WB. UPN promptly signed with WCTV which launched a new second digital subchannel to carry the network.[5] As a result, the "WBXT" operation was shut down. After leaving WTWC's facilities, WTXL rented studio space from Florida State University's PBS affiliate WFSU. On June 20, 2006, this station broke ground on new studios in a commercial park in nearby Midway.[6] [7] WTXL fully moved into the new facility in August 2007. The station's broadcasts have been digital-only since February 17, 2009. Until January 1, 2011, it served as the default ABC affiliate for Albany, Georgia as that area did not have an affiliate of its own. On that date, WALB added ABC to its second digital subchannel.

News operation
On January 15, 2000, WTXL began to produce a weeknight prime time newscast called WB 28 News at 10 for "WBXT". This was the first local broadcast for a cable-only WB affiliate. Airing for thirty minutes, the show was seen exclusively on Comcast systems and billed as the area's only 10 p.m. newscast. As the WB station changed channels on the cable system, the name was changed to reflect this. It was later called WB 11 News at 10 and then WB 6 News at 10. The local WB newscast was canceled in September 2003.[8] During the outsourcing agreement with Sinclair, WTXL's on-air team provided WTWC with news briefs on weekday mornings at 7:27 and 8:26 as well as weeknights at 5:58 and 6:28. There were also severe weather cut-ins when conditions warranted. Otherwise, WTWC aired no other local news programming although it had on two previous occasions in the past.

In August 2007, WTXL debuted a news set from its new studios with the same design as sister station WAAY-TV and became the first television station in the market to broadcast local newscasts in high definition. On June 2, 2006, photographer Phyllis Joy Ho and reporter Brandon York Beyer were arrested in Doerun, Georgia for obstruction at the scene of a military helicopter crash at the tower of WFXL. They were booked at the Colquitt County jail in Moultrie, Georgia and later released on a $750 bond. All charges were later dropped.[9] On September 24, 2007, sports videojournalist and fill-in sports anchor Eric Thompson was issued a traffic citation in Panama City while providing coverage of jury selection process for the Martin Lee Anderson trial.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[11] Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show. All of WTXL's newscasts are streamed live on its website (which for about two years was operated by WorldNow until the entire Calkins station group switched its CMS provider to Inergize Digital in 2010).

Newscast titles

 * Action News (1977–1981 & 1990s)
 * Florida Action News (1981–1984)
 * Newsight 27 (1984–1988)
 * NewsCenter 27 (1988–1990s)
 * Tallahassee's/ABC NewsChannel 27 (1990s–2006)
 * ABC 27 News (2006–present, HD added in 2007)

Station slogans

 * "27, Up & Coming" (1970s-1980s)
 * "You're Still Having Fun, 27's The One"
 * "We're the One You Can Turn To, 27" (1978-1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "We Can Do It!" (1980s)
 * "This is Our Place" (mid 1980s)
 * "You and Me and 27" (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Now is the Time, 27 is the Place" (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "That Special Feeling on 27" (1983-1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "We're With You on 27" (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "You'll Love It on 27" (1985-1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Together on 27" (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Something's Happening on 27" (19??-19??; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Big Bend's Watching 27" (199?-199?; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "If It's Big Bend, It Must Be 27" (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Nobody Does It Like Tallahassee's NewsChannel 27" (1996-1997; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "TV is Good, On Tallahassee's NewsChannel 27" (1997-1998; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * "Where News is First" (1998-2004)
 * "On Your Side" (2004-2006)
 * "Committed to You!" (briefly in 2010)
 * "Dedicated to You!" (2010–present)

News team
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Anchors


 * Abbey Phillips - weekday mornings and noon
 * Greg Angel - weekends and reporter
 * Mika Highsmith - weeknights at 5, 6 & 11pm

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">ABC 27 HD Storm Team Meteorologists


 * Casanova Nurse (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen weeknights
 * Sean Parker - weekday mornings and noon (also The Good News Show contributor)
 * Greg Bennett - weekends

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Sports


 * Brad Dalton - Director seen weeknights at 6 and 11
 * Dave Griffiths - weekends

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Reporters


 * Jane Marks - "Teen Talk" segment producer
 * Greg Angel
 * Brittany Jones
 * Jade Bulacza
 * Ty WIlson

Former on-air staff
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Main anchors John Joyce (1978-79) Mary Anne Loughlin (1978-81)


 * Lee Mainella (1978) (deceased)
 * Ken Lass (1978-83) (currently at WIAT in Birmingham, Alabama)
 * Jerry Brown (years unknown) (currently at WMBB)
 * Tom Campbell (years unknown) (currently at WRDW-TV)
 * Beverly Lewis (1984?-?)
 * Joe Larkins (1984-86)
 * Donna (Hicken) Deegan (1984-1985) (Mornings) (currently at WTLV/WJXX)
 * Allen Moore (late 1980s?)
 * Steve Ring (1993-?; 2000-2003) (6 and 11 p.m.)
 * Betsy Singer (mid 1990s) (currently at KAAL) [7]
 * Patricia Scott (1995-1997) (5, 6, 11 p.m.) (currently hosting a show called "It's All Good" on KPTS as Sierra Scott)
 * Kelly Harvey (1996-1999) (6, 11 p.m. Anchor) (currently in law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law)
 * Ethan Forhetz (1997-1999) (currently at KYTV)
 * Tammy Robiconti (1997-2003) (5, 6, 11 p.m.) (currently Director of Marketing & Public Relations for St. Petersburg General Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL)
 * Myra Monroe (1997-2001) (5 and 5:30 p.m.)
 * Tammie Fields (1998-2001) (Weekends) (currently at WTSP)
 * Sydney Fisher (?-2000) (Mornings)
 * Rod Carter (1990s) (Weekends) (currently at WFLA-TV)
 * Bob Trotter (1998-2000) (Weekends)
 * Rick Boone (1999-2002) (Mornings & 5 p.m.) (currently at KTXL-TV Sacramento, CA)
 * Shonda Knight (1999-2006: Reporter 2000-2003; Anchor 2003-2006) (Mornings) (currently at WCTV)
 * Cathleen O'Toole (2000-2003) (Mornings) (currently at WPBF)
 * Stacey Brenan (2002-2004) (Weekends)
 * Amy Basista (2002-2005) (5, 6, and 11 p.m.)
 * James Jackson (2002-2005) (Weekends, then mornings) (currently at WEAR-TV)
 * Robert Burns (2003-2006) (5:30, 6 and 11 p.m.) (currently the editor for the New Smyrna Beach Observer newspaper)
 * Lauren (Phinney) Dorsett (2005-2010) (Currently at WWSB)
 * Brandon Beyer (2005-2008) (Mornings) (5 PM News Anchor 2007-During sweeps only) (currently at KOCO)
 * Lauren Elise (2006-2009) (currently at WHNS)
 * Valerie Lacy (2007-2008) (Mornings, then weekends)
 * Rex Hodge (2007-2008) (Mornings 2008, 6 & 11 PM Anchor 2007-2008)
 * Marco Villarreal (2008-2010) (Weekend 6 & 11 PM Anchor) (currently at KTNV)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-villarrealimanuel_5-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[6]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Meteorologists/Weather anchors


 * Dan Hogan (1979-1980)
 * Mark Reynolds (early 1980s) (currently at WJHL)
 * Charles Paxton (1983-1984) (weekends) (now with National Weather Service Tampa Bay)
 * Connor Vernon (1984-1988) (formerly at KTBC-TV in Austin, TX. Currently at WTVY-TV)
 * David Neal (1988-early 1990s) (currently at WIAT)
 * John Scalzi (early 1990s-1995) (weekends) (Currently at WWSB)
 * Glenn Willey (1990s?) (currently at WTVD)
 * Justin Kiefer (1994?-1997) (currently at WMBB)
 * Dave Anthony (Cocchiarella) (?-1997?) (currently at Central Florida News 13)
 * Tom Siler (1994-2004) (Chief)
 * Gerald Brinkley (1989-2000) (Fill-in) (Currently a professional archaeologist)
 * Mike Nichols (1997-2000) (Mornings) (currently at KBTV-TV)
 * Chris Zelman (1999-2001) (Weekends) (currently at WALB)
 * Mike Rucker (2001-2002) ("Director of Weather Operations") (currently works for the Wingate Inn hotel in Tallahassee)
 * Stephanie Abrams (2002-2003) (Mornings) (currently at The Weather Channel)
 * Jordan DeTillio (2002-2004) (Weekends)
 * Joe Sigman (2002-2006) (Fill-in)
 * Joe Smith (2002-2003) (Weekends)
 * Dave Priem (2003-2009; Fill-in 2003-2004, Weekends 2005-2006, Mornings 2006-2009)
 * Nancy Dignon (2004-2008) (Chief)
 * Craig Gold (2005) (Weekends) (currently at WPEC)
 * Don Harrigan (2006-2008) (Weekends) (currently at FSU for M.S.)
 * Matt Tanner (2008) (freelance/weekends) (currently at WAKA-TV)
 * Ed Bloodsworth (2008-2009) (freelance/mornings) (currently at KTKA-TV)
 * Jason Adams (weekends) (2008-2010) (currently at KFSM-TV)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Sports anchors


 * Gene Deckerhoff (1976-1978) (original sports director) (Current play-by-play announcer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Florida State University Seminoles)
 * Tom Mees (1978-1979) (ESPN anchor, drowned August 14, 1996)
 * Jim Crosby (1980-81) later PBP FSU baseball
 * Rich Lenz (sports director) (1980s) (Currently at KOTV)
 * John (J.P.) Peterson (sports director) (1987-1995) [8] (later worked at WTOG-TV and WFLA-TV; currently at WQYK-AM)
 * Dave Neal (early 1990s) (Currently with Fox Sports South and Jefferson Pilot Sports)
 * Wayne Evans (?-1997)
 * Tom Block (1995-1998) (Sports Director) (Currently with Florida State University and Seminole Radio Network and Sun Sports)
 * Mike Nabors (1997-1998)
 * Sean Woodland (sports director) (1998-2000) (Currently at WJXT)
 * Seth Grossman (1998-2000)
 * Matt Stitsinger (1999-2003) (Sports Anchor) (Currently works in the University of Louisville Athletic Department)
 * Preston Scott (2000-2006) (Sports Director) (Currently at 100.7 FM WFLA-FM in Tallahassee)
 * Jimm Patterson (?-2006?) (Weekend Sports Anchor)
 * Sean Smith (2006-2008) (Currently at WBAL-TV in Baltimore, MD)
 * Eric Thompson (2006-2009) (fill-in)
 * David Taylor (2008-2009)
 * Ashli Gehrmann (2009-2010)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Reporters and fill-in anchors


 * Jeff Hager (mid 1990s)
 * Erika (Rikki) Ragland (1996-1998) (currently a model and actor with Ford Models; owner of the preppy debutante co. [9])
 * Rudy Cooks (mid 1990s)
 * Keith Ingram (1997-1999) (currently owner "Number One Son Media", Fort Myers, Fl.)
 * Greg Davis (?-1997?)
 * Brittany Lund (1997?-2000?)
 * Thema Ponton (1998-1999) (currently at WMTW)
 * Kim Fettig (1999-?) (currently at WGCL-TV)
 * Ryan Young (2000-2001?) (currently at WSB-TV)
 * Sandra Edmond (1999-2001) (currently owner of Ardnas, Inc. [10] [11] and Board Member at CFRI [12])
 * Kimberly Curth (2000-2002) (currently at WKRG)
 * Amanda Anderson (2002-2008)(Senior Reporter/Weekend Anchor)
 * Lisa Remillard (2003-2005) (currently at KTNV)
 * Carolyn Kluck (2004) (Fill-in Weekend Reporter) (currently at WTVJ)
 * Carley Wegner (2004-2005) (Friday morning entertainment reporter) (currently at WFTX)
 * Stacy White (2004-2005)
 * Brandon Tucker (2004-2005) (currently a writer/editor for Golf Publisher Syndications)
 * Todd Morrill (2005-2008), Weekend Anchor (2007?-2008) (currently at the Florida Channel)
 * Arnitrice Harrison (2005) (Fill-in reporter) (currently at Smooth Jazz WJZT 97.9FM)
 * Rebecca Baer (2005-2009) (Reporter)
 * Stewart Moore (2006-November 2007) (currently at WIS)
 * Alex DiPrato (2006-2008) (currently at WPRI-TV)