| 1 | House Resolution |
| 2 | A resolution congratulating Tampa Bay's WFLA Channel 8. |
| 3 |
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| 4 | WHEREAS, WFLA Channel 8, Tampa's first television station, |
| 5 | aired its first broadcast, live and remote and in black and |
| 6 | white, covering the Gasparilla Parade on Valentine's Day 1955, |
| 7 | and |
| 8 | WHEREAS, a week later, on February 21, WFLA was up and |
| 9 | running, including along with NBC's prime-time lineup its first |
| 10 | local newscast, anchored by a radio newsman and lasting less |
| 11 | than five minutes, and the following week brought daytime |
| 12 | programming to the WFLA viewing audience, and |
| 13 | WHEREAS, at that time, NBC did not offer a full day of |
| 14 | programs, leaving Channel 8 to fill time slots with imaginative |
| 15 | local programming, including the production of commercials, and |
| 16 | WHEREAS, throughout its 50-year history, Channel 8 has been |
| 17 | owned by Media General and has been affiliated with NBC, NOW, |
| 18 | THEREFORE, |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of |
| 21 | Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | That WFLA Channel 8 is recognized not only for its |
| 24 | willingness to take risks during the earliest days of |
| 25 | television, but for the success it has achieved within the past |
| 26 | 50 years of broadcasting, and is heartily congratulated as the |
| 27 | number 1-rated television station in Florida, airing the number |
| 28 | 1 newscast in Tampa Bay. |
| 29 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be |
| 30 | presented to WFLA Channel 8 as a tangible token of the |
| 31 | sentiments expressed herein. |