WTVT

==News operation==
WTVT presently broadcasts {{frac|72|1|2}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 12 hours each weekday, {{frac|6|1|2}} hours on Saturdays and six hours on Sundays). In regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output of any television station in both the Tampa Bay market and the entire state of Florida.

Under Gaylord Broadcasting ownership, the company poured significant resources into channel 13's news operation. In 1958, WTVT became the second station in the country to introduce daily [[editorial]]s, and was also the first station in the country<ref name="youtube">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIllp_MK-u4 WTVT Eyewitness News History Promos 1992]</ref> to run an hour-long news block, consisting of 45 minutes of local news (under the title ''Pulse'') combined with the then-15-minute network newscast. By 1962, WTVT had overtaken WFLA-TV as the highest-rated station in the Tampa Bay market, retaining that position for over 25 years. This was largely because of the longevity of many of the station's personalities. For instance, Roy Leep was the station's weatherman from 1957 until his retirement in November 26, 1997, and Hugh Smith was the station's main anchor from 1963 to 1991, spending most of that time doubling as its [[news director]].

Channel 13 dropped the ''Pulse'' moniker from its newscasts in 1989 in favor of ''[[Eyewitness News]]''. The ''Eyewitness News'' moniker was retained during the early years of the Fox era<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH8EWJV7HUU WTVT Fox Tampa 5PM Open]</ref> before being dropped in 1997.

After WTVT became a Fox affiliate in December 1994, the station adopted a news-intensive schedule, increasing its news programming output from about 30 hours a week to nearly 45 hours. Like most former Big Three affiliates that joined Fox during the 1990s, it maintained a news schedule similar to the one it had as a CBS affiliate. The station retained all of its existing newscasts. However, it expanded its weekday morning newscast from one to {{frac|3|1|2}} hours (with two hours added from 7 to 9 a.m. to make up for the loss of ''CBS This Morning''), bridged the weeknight 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts into a two-hour early evening news block (by expanding its half-hour 6 p.m. newscast to one hour) and moved the 11 p.m. newscast to 10 p.m. and expanded it to a full hour (originally titled ''Channel 13 Eyewitness News Prime Time at Ten'', later renamed as ''Fox 13 10:00 News'' upon Fox purchasing the station). on December 12, 2005, WTVT debuted a new 11 p.m. newscast called ''News Edge at 11:00'', returning a newscast to that timeslot since the station was still affiliated with CBS. At one point, WTVT had the largest local newscast output of any television station in the country.

In April 2009, Fox entered into a [[Local News Service]] agreement with the E. W. Scripps Company in which Fox's owned-and-operated stations in Tampa, [[WJBK|Detroit]] and [[KSAZ-TV|Phoenix]] would share news video and helicopter footage with Scripps-owned stations in those markets for use in their own reports.<ref>E.W. Scripps Company Press Release. April 1, 2009 [http://www.scripps.com/press/details?id=1115 The E.W. Scripps Company and Fox Television Stations to share newsgathering resources]</ref> Locally, WTVT began pooling video with WFTS as part of the agreement; however the stations otherwise maintain separate news departments.<ref>[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/30900/fox-scripps-to-pool-news-in-3-markets Fox, Scripps to Pool News in 3 Markets], ''TVNewsCheck'', April 1, 2009.</ref> [[Gannett]]-owned WTSP was added to the LNS agreement that June.<ref>[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/32697/next-to-news-share-tampa-la Next To News Share: Tampa, L.A.], ''TVNewsCheck'', June 2, 2009.</ref> Prior to the agreement, WTVT had been the only station in the Tampa market to use two news helicopters: a [[Bell 206]] called "SkyFox" and a [[Robinson R44]] called "SkyFox 2", which was used whenever "SkyFox" was grounded due to mechanical reasons. When warranted, both helicopters were used to cover significant news stories. WTVT, WFTS and WTSP now utilize only one helicopter (WFTS' "Action Air One") to cover news events (rival station WFLA covers news events by utilizing its own helicopter, "Eagle 8").

In the summer of 2009, Fox Television Stations opened a graphics hub at the WTVT studios to distribute graphics for Fox's owned-and-operated stations.<ref>Michael P. Hill for Newscast Studio, March 2009 [http://www.newscaststudio.com/2009/03/23/fox-oos-to-centralize-graphics/ Fox O&Os to centralize graphics]</ref><ref>Eric Deggans for Tampa Bay Times, August 11, 2010 [http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/tampa-fox-affiliate-wtvt-ch-13-gets-new-general-manager-current-gm-heads-atlanta Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT-Ch. 13 gets new general manager, as current GM heads to Atlanta]<sup>{{Dead link|date=March 2023}}</sup></ref>

Starting with the 5&nbsp;p.m. newscast on June 30, 2009, WTVT became the fourth and final station in the Tampa Bay market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in [[High-definition television|high definition]].

===Monsanto controversy===
{{undue weight section|date=October 2018}}
In 1997, [[Steve Wilson (reporter)|Steve Wilson]] and [[Jane Akre]] began work on a story regarding the [[agricultural biotechnology]] company [[Monsanto]] and [[recombinant bovine growth hormone]] (rBGH), a milk additive that had been approved for use by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] but also blamed for a number of health issues. Wilson and Akre planned a four-part investigative report on Monsanto's use of rBGH, which prompted the company to write to Fox News Channel president [[Roger Ailes]] in an attempt to have the report reviewed for bias and because of the "enormous damage that can be done" as a result of the report.<ref>''[http://reason.com/archives/2006/05/05/the-strange-case-of-steve-wils Reason]'': "The Strange Case of Steve Wilson," John Sugg, May 2006 issue.</ref>

WTVT did not run the story, and later argued in court that the report was not "breakthrough journalism." Wilson and Akre then claimed that the station's actions constituted the news broadcast telling lies, while WTVT countered looking only for fairness, and wanted to air a hard-hitting story with a number of statements critical of Monsanto.<ref name="sptimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/081900/TampaBay/Reporter_wins_suit_ov.shtml |title=Reporter wins suit over firing |publisher=Sptimes.com |date=August 19, 2000 |access-date=October 28, 2011}}<sup> [dead link}</sup></ref> Wilson and Akre stated that they rewrote the report over 80 times over the course of 1997, and WTVT decided to exercise "its option to terminate their employment contracts without cause,"<ref>[http://www.2dca.org/opinions/Opinion_Pages/Opinion_Page_2003/February/February%2014,%202003/2D01-529.pdf New World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre, 866 So. 2d 1231(2003)]</ref> and did not renew their contracts in 1998. WTVT later ran a report about Monsanto and rBGH in 1998, and the report included defenses from Monsanto.<ref name="Reason, May 2006">''Reason'', May 2006.</ref>

After Wilson and Akre's contracts were not renewed, they filed a lawsuit concerning WTVT's "news distortion" under Florida's whistleblower laws, claiming their termination was retaliation for "resisting WTVT's attempts to distort or suppress the BGH story."<ref name="New World Communs 2003">''New World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre'', 866 So. 2d 1231(2003)</ref> In a joint statement, Wilson claimed that he and Akre "were repeatedly ordered to go forward and broadcast demonstrably inaccurate and dishonest versions of the story," and "were given those instructions after some very high-level corporate lobbying by Monsanto (the powerful drug company that makes the hormone) and also ... by members of Florida's dairy and grocery industries."<ref>[http://www.foxbghsuit.com/sj040298.htm Prepared Statement]: Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, April 2, 1998. URL accessed April 8, 2010.</ref> The trial commenced in the summer of 2000 with a jury dismissing all of the claims brought to trial by Wilson, but siding with one aspect of Akre's complaint, awarding her $425,000 and agreeing that Akre was a whistleblower because she believed there were violations of the [[Communications Act of 1934]] and because she planned on reporting the station to the Federal Communications Commission. ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' magazine, referring to the case, noted that Akre's argument in the trial was that Akre and Wilson believed news distortion occurred, but that they did not have to prove this was the case.<ref name="Reason, May 2006"/>

An appeal was filed, and a ruling in February 2003 came down in favor of WTVT, who successfully argued that the FCC policy against falsification was not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle-blower law did not qualify as the required "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102.... Because the FCC's news distortion policy is not a "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102, Akre has failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute."<ref name="New World Communs 2003"/> The appeal did not address any falsification claims, noting that "as a threshold matter... Akre failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute," but noted that the lower court ruled against all of Wilson's charges and all of Akre's claims with the exception of the whistleblower claim that was overturned.<ref name="New World Communs 2003"/>

===Current on-air staff===
* [[Paul Dellegatto]] ([[American Meteorological Society|AMS]] [[Certified Broadcast Meteorologist]] Seal of Approval) – chief meteorologist; weeknights
* [[Mark Wilson (journalist and musician)| Mark Wilson]] – weeknight 6 and 10 p.m. anchor

===Notable former on-air staff===
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Jane Akre]] – investigative reporter and anchor
* [[Sharyl Attkisson]] – reporter (1988–1992; later at [[CBS News]] until 2014, now hosts ''Full Measure'' at [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]])
* [[Colin Cowherd]] – weekend sports anchor (1994–1996; now at [[Fox Sports Radio]])
* [[Tom Dunn (journalist)|Tom Dunn]] – anchor/reporter (1962–1964; deceased)
* [[Liz Brunner]] – anchor/reporter (1987–1992); later with [[WCVB-TV]] in [[Boston]]
* [[Don Harris (journalist)|Don Harris]] – reporter (1964–1968; later with [[NBC News]], murdered in [[Jonestown]] in 1978)
* [[Jack Harris (broadcaster)|Jack Harris]] – afternoon host, ''Pulse Plus'' (1984–1989; later at [[WFLA-TV]], was most recently at [[WFLA (AM)|Newsradio WFLA]])
* [[Tom Martino]] – reporter (1980s; moved to [[KDVR]])
* [[Kerry Sanders]] – reporter (1986–1991; later with NBC News, now retired)
* [[Hugh Smith (news anchor)|Hugh Smith]] – anchor (1963–1991; deceased)
* [[Steve Wilson (reporter)|Steve Wilson]] – investigative reporter (later at [[WXYZ-TV|WXYZ]] in [[Detroit]], now runs an investigative reporting service)
* [[Jessica Yellin]] – reporter (1999–2001; now at [[CNN]])
* [[Tony Zappone]] – news correspondent (1965 and 1976–1982)
{{div col end}}