WSTA-TV

WSTA-TV, virtual channel 12 (UHF digital channel 11), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to, United States. The station is owned by. WSTA-TV's studios and transmitter are located on State Road 72 in Sarasota.

Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, WSTA-TV is considered a semi-satellite of (channel 8) in. As such, it clears all network programming as provided through its parent station, but airs a separate offering of syndicated programming; there are also separate commercial inserts, legal identifications, and local newscasts & programs, plus WSTA-TV has it's own website. WSTA-TV serves the eastern side of the while WFLA-TV serves the western side. Although WSTA-TV maintains its own facilities, master control and some internal operations are based at the Riverbank Studios (WFLA-TV and 's studio facility) on South Parker Street in downtown Tampa.

WSTA-TV also offers programming on its second digital subchannel. WSTA-DT2 was activated in 2009 as an affiliate of. In 2015, WSTA-DT2 was changed to Great 38 Suncoast, a joint effort between WSTA-TV and WTTA. It was rebranded a second time as 12+ in 2019, also known as 12+ powered by Great 38.

On cable, WSTA-TV is available on channel 2 in most of Sarasota County.

History
WSTA-TV was the first television station in West Central Florida that was neither based in Tampa nor, first going on the air on January 1, 1960 on New Years' Day.

Perhaps the most noteworthy coverage from WSTA-TV was on September 11, 2001. While reading the grade-school level reading exercise The Pet Goat to a class at, U.S. President was informed by White House Chief of Staff  that a plane had hit Two World Trade Center in  (the president was informed of a previous plane crash into One World Trade Center upon arrival at the school). WSTA-TV cameraman Bryan K. Goll, who was shooting footage for a piece on education reform that was to be reported by Charon Shepherd (a WSTA-TV investigative reporter who was also an art class teacher at Emma E. Booker Elementary School), caught footage of Bush being informed of the attack, as well as footage of him and his staff in his holding room in the school, and the ensuing press conference.

WSTA-TV celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2010. Many former on-air staff returned for the celebration, including some who guest-anchored newscasts.

In 2011, WSTA-TV began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition, making it the first live and local broadcaster on the Florida Suncoast to have HD news.

Programming
Syndicated programming on WSTA-TV includes Forensic Files (which aired on NBC briefly in 2002 as a summer replacement series), The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dr. Phil, and The Dr. Oz Show. Syndicated programming on WSTA-DT2 includes The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Schitt's Creek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Golden Girls, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Designing Women.

On June 27, 2009, parent station WFLA aired an hour-long documentary, Silencing Christians, presented as a paid program from the American Family Association, which dealt with the Fundamentalist Christian position of condemning homosexuality as a sin and claims of the gay community's drive to make all criticism of homosexuality as hate speech in the name of political correctness. WFLA ran the documentary with much controversy, even leading to many protesters gathering outside of WFLA's studios to protest against the special and the station's attitude towards the community. WSTA did not air the documentary, instead airing reruns of Coach, with WSTA's own station manager saying that the documentary and the American Family Association "gave Christians a bad name."

On June 16, 2017, WSTA pre-empted the week's edition of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, which featured an interview with radio host Alex Jones, and ran a syndicated airing of What's Eating Gilbert Grape instead. Station management cited Jones' denial of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings as reasoning for the pre-emption. Parent station WFLA still ran the episode.