WVEA-TV
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| Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Venice, Florida |
| Branding | Univision Tampa Bay (general) Noticias Univision Florida Central (newscasts) |
| Channels | Digital: 25 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 62.1 Univisión 62.2 LATV 62.3 Zuus Latino |
| Affiliations | Univision |
| Owner | Entravision Communications Corporation (Entravision Holdings, LLC) |
| First air date | May 3, 1991 |
| Call letters' meaning | "vea" is Spanish for "I see" (present subjunctive) |
| Sister station(s) | WFTT-DT |
| Former callsigns | WBSV-TV (1991-2000) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 62 (1991-2009) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1991-2001) |
| Transmitter power | 750 kW |
| Height | 472 m |
| Facility ID | 16788 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°49′10.9″N 82°15′38″W / 27.819694°N 82.26056°W |
| Website | www.wveatv.com |
WVEA-TV is the Univision affiliate for Tampa Bay, Florida, licensed to Venice. The station is owned by Entravision Communications, and also operates UniMás affiliate WFTT-DT. The two stations share studios on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, in a former Barnett Bank building west of Armenia Avenue. Its channel 25 digital transmitter is located at the antenna farm at Riverview.
WVEA can be seen on Bright House and Comcast cable -- channel 8 in Hillsborough, channel 7 in Pinellas and channel 15 in Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties. Currently, neither Bright House or Comcast carry the LATV subchannel.
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Digital [edit]
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WVEA programming / Univision |
| 62.2 | 480i | 4:3 | LATV |
| 62.3 | 480i | 4:3 | Zuus Latino[1] |
WVEA's digital signal transmits on channel 25.
History [edit]
Channel 62 first signed on May 3, 1991 as English-language WBSV-TV, the Sarasota area's own independent station, designed to compete against WWSB and the other stations in the Tampa Bay and nearby Ft. Myers markets. The call letters stood for Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice, the three cities it primarily served. WBSV had a variety of syndicated and local programming, plus infomercials and home shopping programs; early on, it also produced a local newscast. However, the station was unprofitable, eventually relying more on home shopping and infomercials to keep the station afloat.
In 2000, Entravision bought WBSV with the intent of moving the transmitter from Venice to Riverview and upgrade its low-power Univision station, WVEA-LP (channel 61). WBSV's history ended in early 2001, when the station left the air for a few weeks to perform the move and establish WVEA's new studios. In March 2001, the station returned to the air with its current programming and call letters.
In April, 2010 the station began transmitting in 1080i and passing the Univision network in HD.
Intellectual property [edit]
WVEA was Tampa Bay's first Spanish-language TV station, beginning operations in 1982 as low-power W50AC channel 50, which offered programming from the Spanish International Network, the forerunner of today's Univision. In 1988, to make way for new Home Shopping Network flagship WBHS (now WFTT-DT), the station relocated to channel 61 and became W61BL; in 1994, the station changed its call letters to WVEA-LP. After Entravision bought channel 62, in March 2001, WVEA-LP's programming moved to that facility. WVEA-LP itself remains in operation on channel 46, carrying the Home Shopping Network.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WVEA-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WVEA-TV
- mcsittel.com: 1990s DX screengrabs from Tallahassee -- includes a 1993 WBSV test pattern
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