WZRA-CA
Encyclopedia
WZRA-CA is the Tampa Bay
area's first ethnic channel, reaching to ethnic groups in Pinellas
, southwestern Pasco
and northwestern Hillsborough
counties.
In Pinellas County, WZRA is available on Knology
cable TV channel 122 and on Bright House
digital channel 948. WZRA is also on channel 24 on Verizon FiOS
throughout the market, as far south as Sarasota County
.
, aimed for the Greek audience in Tarpon Springs
, but the channel also offers programming in other languages, such as Italian
, German
, and English
.
WZRA also presents daily newscasts from Canada's CTV
network (generally Canada AM
and CTV National News
), and from Newfoundland's NTV
—all aimed at Canadian "snowbirds
". They also carried Dini Petty
's CTV talk show, via NTV, until CTV cancelled the series' repeats in the early-2000s. In fact, NTV's website promotes the fact that NTV advertisers can reach Tampa viewers through channel 48—never mind that the signal doesn't come in well in Tampa itself, and has no cable coverage in Tampa itself. (WZRA's schedule (see below for link) may be outdated, as it mentioned that it's seen on Americast
(now Knology
) and Time Warner
(now Bright House
in Tampa Bay).)
In addition, WZRA offers some general entertainment and infomercials—some of it from the America One
network.
When the station signed on the late-1990s, channel 48 went by the translator-style call sign
"W48AY", and used the moniker "Bay TV". When the station became a class A television service
in the early 2000s, the call sign changed to "WZRA-CA", though at present, it is unknown for what the call sign meant, or if they were randomly chosen by the FCC.
WZRA currently has its transmitter in Oldsmar, broadcasting at 41.7 kW. They do have a construction permit to broadcast at 150 kW from Port Richey
, which will increase coverage in west Pasco
and southwestern Hernando
counties, but will lose coverage in Hillsborough and central Pinellas.
channel 15 in the Tarpon Springs area. But on that date, WZRA was unceremoniously 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 local Government-access television in Pinellas County, and had given that slot to WZRA on an interim basis, until Tarpon Springs started their own channel. And with WZRA being a low-powered station, Bright House is not obligated to carry the channel.
Since being dropped, WZRA received thousands of calls in support of the station, especially from the Greek community. Support was so huge, WZRA's station manager Angelos Angelatos urged their viewers to call Bright House, as well as call 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 four Spanish channels, while ignoring and mistreating other ethnic groups.
In July 2006, Bright House gave WZRA a permanent home -- on digital channel 948 in Pinellas County. However, a specific digital subscription, not just those that are part of the standard digital package, is required. However, WZRA will be dropped from Bright House by the end of April 2011..
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
area's first ethnic channel, reaching to ethnic groups in Pinellas
Pinellas County, Florida
Pinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. This county is contained entirely within the telephone area code 727, except for some sections of Oldsmar, which have the area code 813...
, southwestern Pasco
Pasco County, Florida
Pasco County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 344,765. The July 1, 2007 census estimate according to the U.S. Census Bureau for the county is 462,715. Its county seat is Dade City, Florida which is in the northeast part of the county - somewhat...
and northwestern Hillsborough
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...
counties.
In Pinellas County, WZRA is available on Knology
Knology
Knology Inc. is a cable company that formed in 1994 by ITC Holding Company, Inc, a telecommunications holding company in West Point, Georgia that also founded Internet service provider Mindspring. In late 1994, shortly after Knology's inception, two employees made a $600,000 investment to make...
cable TV channel 122 and on Bright House
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
digital channel 948. WZRA is also on channel 24 on Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
throughout the market, as far south as Sarasota County
Sarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 372,057. Its county seat is Sarasota, Florida....
.
Programming
Most of WZRA's programming is GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, aimed for the Greek audience in Tarpon Springs
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 21,003 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 22,554....
, but the channel also offers programming in other languages, such as Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
WZRA also presents daily newscasts from Canada's CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
network (generally Canada AM
Canada AM
Canada AM is a Canadian breakfast television news show, which has aired on the CTV Television Network since 1972. It is currently hosted by Beverly Thomson and Seamus O'Regan, with Marci Ien reporting from the headline news desk and Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports...
and CTV National News
CTV National News
CTV National News is CTV's flagship newscast, which airs at 11:00 p.m. local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and live at 10:00pm ET, with repeats hourly up until 2 a.m. ET on CTV News Channel, CTV's 24-hour cable news television channel, and the previous day's can be seen on the Internet. ...
), and from Newfoundland's NTV
CJON-TV
CJON-DT is a Canadian English language television station broadcasting on channel 21 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with additional transmitters and cable coverage throughout the province. It is known on-air as NTV, for Newfoundland Television...
—all aimed at Canadian "snowbirds
Snowbird (people)
The term snowbird is used to describe people from the U.S. Northeast, U.S. Midwest, or Canada who spend a large portion of winter in warmer locales such as California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt region of the southern and southwest United States,...
". They also carried Dini Petty
Dini Petty
Dini Petty is a Canadian television and radio host.At 22, wearing a trademark pink jumpsuit and working for Toronto radio station CKEY, she became the first female traffic reporter to pilot her own helicopter...
's CTV talk show, via NTV, until CTV cancelled the series' repeats in the early-2000s. In fact, NTV's website promotes the fact that NTV advertisers can reach Tampa viewers through channel 48—never mind that the signal doesn't come in well in Tampa itself, and has no cable coverage in Tampa itself. (WZRA's schedule (see below for link) may be outdated, as it mentioned that it's seen on Americast
WOW! Internet Cable Phone
WOW! , is the 15th largest cable provider in the United States. It has been given accolades by Consumer Reports as the top Television and internet provider in it's 2009 telecom survey.-History:...
(now Knology
Knology
Knology Inc. is a cable company that formed in 1994 by ITC Holding Company, Inc, a telecommunications holding company in West Point, Georgia that also founded Internet service provider Mindspring. In late 1994, shortly after Knology's inception, two employees made a $600,000 investment to make...
) and Time Warner
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
(now Bright House
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
in Tampa Bay).)
In addition, WZRA offers some general entertainment and infomercials—some of it from the America One
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...
network.
When the station signed on the late-1990s, channel 48 went by the translator-style call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
"W48AY", and used the moniker "Bay TV". When the station became a class A television service
Class A television service
The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" or "-CD" , although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD...
in the early 2000s, the call sign changed to "WZRA-CA", though at present, it is unknown for what the call sign meant, or if they were randomly chosen by the FCC.
WZRA currently has its transmitter in Oldsmar, broadcasting at 41.7 kW. They do have a construction permit to broadcast at 150 kW from Port Richey
Port Richey, Florida
Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,021 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is...
, which will increase coverage in west Pasco
Pasco County, Florida
Pasco County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 344,765. The July 1, 2007 census estimate according to the U.S. Census Bureau for the county is 462,715. Its county seat is Dade City, Florida which is in the northeast part of the county - somewhat...
and southwestern Hernando
Hernando County, Florida
Hernando County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 130,802. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 165,409 . Its county seat is Brooksville, Florida. The majority of the county's population is in Spring Hill, west portion of Hernando...
counties, but will lose coverage in Hillsborough and central Pinellas.
Bright House dispute in Tarpon Springs
Until Mid-February 2006, WZRA was seen on Bright HouseBright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
channel 15 in the Tarpon Springs area. But on that date, WZRA was unceremoniously 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 local Government-access television in Pinellas County, and had given that slot to WZRA on an interim basis, until Tarpon Springs started their own channel. And with WZRA being a low-powered station, Bright House is not obligated to carry the channel.
Since being dropped, WZRA received thousands of calls in support of the station, especially from the Greek community. Support was so huge, WZRA's station manager Angelos Angelatos urged their viewers to call Bright House, as well as call 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 four Spanish channels, while ignoring and mistreating other ethnic groups.
In July 2006, Bright House gave WZRA a permanent home -- on digital channel 948 in Pinellas County. However, a specific digital subscription, not just those that are part of the standard digital package, is required. However, WZRA will be dropped from Bright House by the end of April 2011..