WFLA-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Tampa Bay area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside St. Petersburg–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WTTA (channel 38). WFLA-TV and WTTA share studios on South Parker Street in downtown Tampa; through a channel sharing agreement, the stations transmit using WFLA-TV's spectrum from a transmitter in Riverview, Florida. History Channel 8 first signed on the air on February 14, 1955, with a live broadcast of the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. It is the longest serving television outlet in the Tampa Bay region still in operation, as it signed on less than two years behind UHF outlet WSUN-TV (channel 38), which ceased operations in 1970. It was originally owned by The Tampa Tribune, along with WFLA radio (970 AM and 93.3 FM, now WFLZ). WFLA-TV has been an NBC affiliate since the station's inception. Largely because of its newspaper background, it was the early ratings leader in the Tampa market until WTVT (channel 13) passed it for first place in 1962. In 1966, Richmond Newspapers, publishers of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and part-owner of the Tribune, acquired full control of the paper and the WFLA radio and television stations. Three years later, Richmond Newspapers changed its name to Media General, and WFLA-TV, the first television station owned and operated by the company, would be the flagship of its broadcasting group for the rest of its existence. Due to an FCC regulation in effect at the time that stated that TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different owners had to have differing callsigns, the station's callsign was changed to WXFL on January 19, 1983, after WFLA-AM and -FM were sold (WFLA and WFLZ are currently owned by iHeartMedia). At the time, Federal Communications Commission cross-ownership regulations forced Media General to sell the radio stations; however, the company was granted a permanent waiver permitting it to keep The Tampa Tribune and the television station. Channel 8 reverted to its original WFLA-TV call letters on January 1, 1989. That same year, it surged to first place in the Tampa Bay ratings and has stayed there for most of that time, led by one of the most popular anchor teams in the country. For one day in May 1999, UPN affiliate WTOG (channel 44) housed the operations for WFLA-TV, after a power outage occurred