Tampa ABC affiliate drops ‘Action News’ branding

WFTS, the E.W. Scripps-owned ABC affiliate in Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida, has launched a rebranding that marks the return of its channel number to its name.

The station, which has been known as ABC Action News since 2002, introduced its new name Aug. 18, 2025 — Tampa Bay 28.

It also unveiled a new logo featuring a clean sans serif topped with an outline of the area’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge that uses a mix of blues ranging from a more traditional shade to a brighter teal-ish color.

The new look marks a shift from the old news logo, which featured a condensed font and bold red design that excluded the channel number.

In the updated opens, the station uses a stacked version that features the bridge silhouette on top, the word “Tampa” on the next line and “Bay,” “28” and ABC globe dot on the last line, with the network logo sticking out to the right. This layout also notably aligns the left vertical stroke in the “B” directly under the vertical in the “T” above.

Real imagery of the Sunshine Skybridge is used in opens behind the logo.

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There is also a more horizontal version that includes all of the words on one line but with the bridge only spanning the words “Tampa” and “Bay,” leaving the “28” and ABC logo off to one side.

In some versions of the logo, the bridge outline is a gray-blue, but it can also be shown in white.

Scripps News Group launches unified graphics with ‘keeper’ concept

WFTS recently transitioned to the “keeper” graphics package developed by its owner, and the look has been updated to reflect the new logo and name.

While the opens don’t feature the word “News” on-screen, the updated announces do refer to the broadcasts as “Tampa Bay 28 News.”

The change marks a return to including the station’s virtual “28” channel number in its branding, while also taking advantage of the alliteration between “Tampa” and “twenty.”

The station has also been known as “28 Tampa Bay News” and “28 News” in the past.

Because WFTS’s website was centered around the ABC Action News branding, it has also updated its domain to tampabay28.com. Social media handles have also been updated and the station says it’s rolling out updates to its various apps to reflect the new name and logo.

The changes did not affect the station’s over-the-air or cable channel assignments and no rescan is required to continue to view the signal.

Dropping “Action News” also means that there is one less station using the “Action News” moniker (the name can also refer to a news format but not all stations with the branding use the format). The Action News name and its main rival, “Eyewitness News” (again, also a format), has been falling out of favor as branding preferences shift to cleaner constructions. Both names are trademarked.

WFTS’s old ABC Action News name was similar to what was used by sister Scripps station KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri. That station was known as NBC Action News from 2003 to 2021.

There had been a trend of stations dropping references to channel numbers and, in some cases, emphasizing network names starting in the early 2000s. Some of these changes were driven by periods when certain networks’ primetime lineups were performing particularly well, but ultimately didn’t become widespread with the exception of stations owned by a network.

Some shifts away from channel number references were also at least partially driven by the digital transition, originally slated for 2006 but eventually largely pushed to 2009. Before details of PSIP virtual channel number mapping was firmed up, it wasn’t how station’s channel number switches would play out.

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WFTS anchor Greg Dee had teased the change on social media Aug. 17, 2025.

“Tonight was the last night I’ll ever say “ABC Action News. Change is coming. Find out more tomorrow (Monday) at 5pm,” he wrote. 

The post was mistaken by some to mean Dee was leaving the station.