WTSP-TV history

Its current studios on Gandy Boulevard, originally known as the "Rahall Color Communications Center" were dedicated on October 15, 1968.

In October 1971, WXLT (now WWSB, channel 40) signed on to provide ABC network programming to the Sarasota area as WLCY's signal was mediocre to poor in most of Sarasota County.

In 1977, WLCY-TV was purchased by Dallas, Texas-based Gulf United Broadcasting.

New owner Alan Henry (of WINS New York fame), general manager Larry Clamage, and news director George "Bud" Faulder began to turn the station around, changing the call letters to WTSP-TV on September 12, 1978, and hiring several new on-air staff members who changed the face of the station.

In June 1979, WTSP began using a logo known as the "sunset 10" (which was later duplicated by its sister station KTSP in Phoenix, Arizona) along with the "Action News" format.

Until 1981, the station was licensed to Largo, north of St Petersburg, but its studios have always been based in St Petersburg.

By 1982, WTSP had passed WFLA in the evening news ratings where it remained until the latter part of the decade.

WTSP has won many prestigious awards, including the George Foster Peabody award in 1983.

Another technological advance was Tampa Bay's first satellite news truck called "Star 10" which was introduced in 1984, that beamed signals from distant locations to WTSP's Gandy Boulevard studios.

Taft Broadcasting (soon to be rebranded Taft Television and Radio) purchased the station along with four other Gulf properties in 1985.

WTSP later signed a deal to become the market's new CBS affiliate, resulting in a three-way affiliation swap that occurred on December 12, 1994 with the ABC Sunday Night Movie premiere of Hook being the final ABC program to air on channel 10 on December 11 at 9:00 p.m.

Three months later, in December 1996, the Gannett Company acquired WTSP in a swap deal, selling six of its radio stations to Jacor in return.

WFLA was the market leader, until dipping to second after the 2009 premiere of the 10 p.m.

The station re-launched its investigative unit, "10Investigates", in 2011 with the nucleus of investigative reporters Mike Deeson and Noah Pransky.

Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered a dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper digital video recorders.