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WFLA Launches Digital Channel 8 Prime
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Published: January 6, 2009
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You can now get a retro TV fix thanks to modern digital technology.
Golden oldies like "Wagon Train," "McHale's Navy," "Dragnet" and dozens more are being recycled on 8 Prime, a new channel that WFLA launched on Monday.
8 Prime is loaded with vintage TV shows from the Retro Television Network.
Included are "The A-Team," "Kojak," "Knight Rider," "The Rockford Files," "Bachelor Father," "Leave it to Beaver," "Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "Simon and Simon," "Magnum P.I.," "Mike Hammer," "The Virginian" and "The Jack Benny Show."
"It's all family programming that should have wide appeal in the Tampa Bay area," says WFLA vice president and general manager Mike Pumo.
8 Prime can be seen over the air on digital Channel 8.2 (if your television set has a digital tuner).
It can also be seen on Bright House Networks' Channel 607 and Verizon FiOS' Channel 460.
Digital technology allows television stations to transmit more than one channel. Stations throughout the country are signing on to the Retro Television Network, which now reaches more than 55 million homes.
8 Prime replaces a 24-hour weather channel, NBC Weather Plus, which is being discontinued.
8 Prime also carries advertising and infomercials and will be a source of revenue for WFLA. The station is owned by Media General, which also owns The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com.
The new channel airs rebroadcasts of WFLA's "News Channel 8" newscasts as well as other Media General productions such as "Daytime," "Reel Animals Fishing" and "Starwatch."
"We will have the ability to pre-empt the RTN programming for extended local news coverage if necessary," Pumo said. "Our local newscasts will air from 7 to 8 p.m., which provides an opportunity to those who might not have seen them earlier on WFLA."
MIDSEASON GOODIES: I'm fresh back from a week off with no TV and no computer. And I'm back just in time for the midseason onslaught of stuff to watch.
"Scrubs," canceled by NBC, gets another chance beginning tonight at 9 on ABC. New network. Same goofy gags. Courteney Cox guest-stars as the new head doc.
Speaking of shows that are getting long in the tooth, "Nip/Tuck" also comes back for a fifth - and possibly last - season at 10 tonight on FX. They've pushed the envelope so far that it's fallen off the table and into the trash.
The new season features Katee Sackhoff ("Battlestar Galactica") in a guest role. Freaky, high-rolling plastic surgeons Sean (Dylan Walsh) and Christian (Julian McMahon) are feeling their ages.
COMING SOON: FX's sizzling "Damages" returns on Wednesday; Tyler Perry's new comedy "Meet the Browns" debuts on TBS on Wednesday; new seasons of "Monk" and "Psych" begin on USA on Friday; and the long-awaited return of "24" is Sunday on Fox.
ANCHOR AWAY: WFTS anchor Walt Maciborski will leave Channel 28 on Friday when his contract expires. After three years as co-anchor of "ABC Action News" at 5 and 5:30 p.m., he is looking for work.
He says his departure comes after station management couldn't come to terms on a new contract. "It was a combination of things, including the end of my contract and the economy being in the tank and my desire to explore some other opportunities," he says.
"I don't have anything specific lined up, but I am weighing several possibilities," he adds. "I would like to get closer to home with something in Texas or California."
Born in Canada, Maciborski grew up in California. Prior to joining "ABC Action News," he worked in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; and Medford, Ore., and was an assistant producer at ABC News.
TUNE IN TONIGHT
"NCIS," 8 p.m., CBS
Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) gets trapped in a women's prison after a riot.
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