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|---|---|
| City | Oldsmar, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | TV-48 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | ERT World /YTA TV /NTV /RAI |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
| Founded | late 1990s |
Former call signs | W48AY (to early 2000s) |
Former channel number | Analog: 48 (late 1990s–2015) |
| America One,RT | |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 2130 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 12.1 kW |
| HAAT | 88.6 m (291 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 28°15′33″N82°43′45.4″W / 28.25917°N 82.729278°W /28.25917; -82.729278 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wzra48 |
WZRA-CD (channel 48) is alow-power,Class A television station licensed toOldsmar, Florida, United States, serving ethnic groups in theTampa Bay area. The station carries a variety of mostly news-oriented programming from broadcasters outside the United States, in several languages.
InPinellas County, WZRA-CD is available onWOW!cable TV channel 122 and onSpectrum digital channel 948. WZRA is also on channel 24 onVerizon FiOS throughout the market, as far south asSarasota County. The station also offers a live feed of its programming on the Internet.
When the station signed on in the late-1990s, channel 48 went by the translator-stylecall sign W48AY, and used the moniker 'Bay TV'. When the station became a Class A station in the early 2000s, the call sign changed to WZRA-CA, as allocated by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC).
WZRA originally had its transmitter in Oldsmar, broadcasting at 41.7 kW. They since relocated to facilities near the corner ofUS 19 and Palmetto Road inPort Richey, broadcasting from a 150 kW transmitter covering westPasco and southwesternHernando counties, but with reduced coverage inHillsborough County and central Pinellas County. They have since filed a construction permit toflash cut channel 48 to a digital signal, still broadcasting from Port Richey, but at 15 kW. On July 8, 2015, this construction permit was granted.
As of April 2017[update], WZRA-CD only broadcast programming on channel 48.3.[2]
Most of WZRA's programming is inGreek, aimed at the Greek audience inTarpon Springs, but the channel also offers programming inItalian andEnglish.
WZRA also presents daily newscasts fromGreece (fromERT), which (reflecting the station's Greek ownership) makes up the majority of the station's evening, overnight and Sunday programming. The station carries programs from the national broadcasters inRussia (RT) andItaly (RAI) as well as local news fromNewfoundland'sNTV, aimed at Canadian "snowbirds". WZRA carried newscasts from theCTV Television Network in the early 21st century; they also carriedDini Petty's CTV talk show, via NTV, until CTV canceled the series' repeats in the early 2000s. The station carries general entertainment programs fromYTA TV during the morning hours between Monday and Saturday.
Until mid-February 2006, WZRA was seen onBright House channel 15 in the Tarpon Springs area. WZRA was then replaced with Tarpon Springs' local government channel, which, at its debut, was mainly a promo loop for an upcoming municipal election, plus live City Commission meetings.
Prior to December 2007 (when all local public service channels moved to the digital tier), Bright House allocated channel 15 for localgovernment-access television in Pinellas County, and had given that slot to WZRA on an interim basis, until Tarpon Springs started their own channel. With WZRA being a low-power station, Bright House wasnot obligated to carry the channel. Since being dropped, WZRA received thousands of calls in support of the station, especially from the Greek community. WZRA's station manager, Angelos Angelatos, urged viewers to call Bright House, as well as its vice president, Mike Robertson, direct. Angelatos and his brother, talk show host Sam Angelatos, said that Bright House's discontinuation of WZRA was a form of discrimination, favoring the Hispanic community with fourSpanish channels, while ignoring and mistreating other ethnic groups.[3]
In July 2006, Bright House gave WZRA a permanent home, on digital channel 948 in northern Pinellas County. WZRA was slated to be dropped from Bright House by the end of April 2011.[4] As of March 2014[update], however, the station is still part of the Bright House line-up. Despite the transmitter relocation to Port Richey, in Pasco County, WZRA is still only carried on Spectrum cable in northern Pinellas County.[5]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Florida | ||
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