WFTT-TV

Not to be confused with WFFT-TV.

WFTT-TV

Venice–Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida United States
City	Venice, Florida
Channels	Digital: 25 (UHF) Virtual: 62
Branding	Scientology Network
Programming
Affiliations	62.1: Religious for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Entravision Communications (Entravision Holdings, LLC)
History
First air date	May 3, 1991 (1991-05-03)
Former call signs	WBSV-TV (1991–2000) WVEA-TV (2000–2017)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 62 (UHF, 1991–2009)
Former affiliations	Independent (1991–2001) Univision (2001–2017) UniMás (2017–2022) NRB TV (2022)
Call sign meaning	Telefutura Tampa (former name of UniMás)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	16788
ERP	750 kW
HAAT	472 m (1,549 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	27°49′10.8″N 82°15′38″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

WFTT-TV (channel 62) is a religious television station licensed to Venice, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Entravision Communications, the station maintains transmitter facilities in Riverview, Florida.

Despite Venice being WFTT-TV's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.

History

The station first signed on the air on May 3, 1991, as WBSV-TV (for Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice, the three cities it primarily served); locally owned by DeSoto Broadcasting, it originally operated as an English-language independent station serving the Sarasota area, and competed with the area's ABC affiliate WWSB (channel 40) and the other stations in the Tampa Bay and nearby Fort Myers markets. As WBSV, the station ran a variety of syndicated and local programming, along with infomercials and home shopping programs; early on, the station also produced a local newscast. However, the station was unprofitable, eventually relying more on home shopping and infomercials to keep the station afloat.

WVEA's logo prior to January 1, 2013

In 2000, the station was acquired by Entravision Communications, with the intent of moving its transmitter from Venice to Riverview and move Univision programming to the station from Entravision's existing low-power affiliate, WVEA-LP (channel 61). WBSV's history ended in early 2001, when the station ceased broadcasting for a few weeks to perform the move and establish WVEA's new studio facilities. In March 2001, the station returned to the air as Univision affiliate WVEA-TV.

2017 call sign and channel swap

On December 4, 2017, as part of a multi-market realignment, the programming and call signs of WVEA-TV and sister station WFTT were swapped: WVEA-TV and its Univision programming moved to the Univision-owned digital channel 47 and virtual channel 50 facility, while Entravision's digital channel 25 and virtual channel 62 facility became the new home of UniMás affiliate WFTT-TV.

On October 13, 2021, Univision announced it would take over operation of WVEA, as well as Orlando Univision affiliate WVEN-TV, effective January 1, 2022, coinciding with the end of licensing agreements on December 31, 2021, effectively ending WFTT's UniMás affiliation.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WFTT-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
62.1	1080i	16:9	SCNTV	Scientology Network
62.2	480i		LATV	LATV
62.3			Comet	Comet
62.4			TheNest	The Nest
62.5			TheGrio	TheGrio
62.6			TBD	TBD
62.7			ShopHQ	ShopHQ

Analog-to-digital conversion

WFTT-TV (as WVEA-TV) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 62, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 62.