The Tampa Bay media market is Florida's second-largest metropolitan area with a variety of print, online and broadcast media outlets serving the region. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population for the Tampa-St. Petersburg

Tampa Bay Area

The Tampa Bay Area is the region of west central Florida adjacent to Tampa Bay. Definitions of the region vary. It is often considered equivalent to the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area defined by the United States Census Bureau. The Census Bureau currently...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) at 2,733,761 as of July 1, 2008. The Tampa Bay media market also includes Citrus

Citrus County, Florida

Citrus County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 118,085. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 141,416 . Its county seat is Inverness, Florida...

, Manatee

Manatee County, Florida

Manatee County is a county in the state of Florida. According to the 2010 census by the U.S. Census Bureau there are 322,833 people living in Manatee Country.Manatee County is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Sarasota

Sarasota County, Florida

Sarasota County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 372,057. Its county seat is Sarasota, Florida....

 and Polk

Polk County, Florida

Polk County is located in central Florida between the Tampa Bay and Greater Orlando metropolitan areas. The county was established by the state government in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War and named after former United States president James K. Polk. The county seat is Bartow and its...

 counties, which are outside the Tampa Bay area. Polk County is also served by media from Orlando

Orlando

Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

.

Newspapers

Major daily newspapers serving the area are the St. Petersburg Times

St. Petersburg Times

The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...

and The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...

. There also is a wide variety of smaller regional newspapers and alternative weeklies. La Gaceta is trilingual (English, Spanish and Italian), while CENTRO Tampa

CENTRO Tampa

CENTRO Tampa is an award winning weekly Spanish-language tabloid published in Tampa, Florida, by CENTRO Grupo de Comunicación, a division of Media General, a company that also owns The Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV....

publishes entirely in Spanish. Two newspapers serve the local black community: the Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Florida Sentinel Bulletin

The Florida Sentinel Bulletin is a Florida bi-weekly newspaper serving the Tampa Bay Area African-American community.-History:In 1919, General William W. Andrews opened the Florida Sentinel office in Jacksonville, Florida. Later, the office closed due to the Great Depression. In 1945, General...

(Tampa) and The Weekly Challenger (St. Petersburg). Creative Loafing is the primary alternative weekly. The Oracle

The Oracle (University of South Florida)

The Oracle, the University of South Florida's student-run newspaper, made history when its premier issue was published September 6, 1966...

serves the University of South Florida and its surrounding community. The Tampa Bay Business Journal is the region's business publication of record.

The Tampa Tribune publishes a portfolio of standalone weekly newspapers throughout the region, including the Plant City Courier & Tribune, Brandon News & Tribune, South Shore News & Tribune, Northeast News & Tribune, Carrollwood News & Tribune, South Tampa News & Tribune, Northwest News & Tribune, Central Tampa News & Tribune, and The Suncoast News. The St. Petersburg Times distributes a free Monday-through-Friday tabloid called TBT* (Tampa Bay Times) in the most heavily populated areas of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Several cities outside the Tampa-St. Petersburg core, but still within the Tampa Bay media market, have daily newspapers with overlapping coverage and distribution areas. They include The Bradenton Herald, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune is a daily newspaper located in Sarasota, Florida.It is owned by The New York Times Company, who purchased it in 1982, and part of its regional news group. Along with Comcast, the newspaper operates a local 24-hour...

, The Ledger

The Ledger

The Ledger is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida and the Polk County area. It is owned by The New York Times Company. Jerome Ferson became publisher of the newspaper on July 30, 2007....

of Lakeland, The News-Chief of Winter Haven (published by The Ledger), the Citrus County Chronicle (based in Inverness), Hernando Today

Hernando Today

Hernando Today is a daily newspaper based in Brooksville, Florida covering Hernando County....

(based in Brooksville) and Highlands Today

Highlands Today

Highlands Today is a Media General-owned newspaper published in Sebring, Florida. It is associated with The Tampa Tribune; Copies of the Tribune distributed in Highlands County, Florida include the supplement, which focuses on issues relevant to Sebring, Avon Park, Lake Placid, and other...

(based in Sebring). Both of the Today newspapers are published by The Tampa Tribune.

Television

The Tampa Bay area is the nation's 14th-largest TV market, according to Nielsen Media Research, with 1.78 million TV households. Fourteen television stations serve the region, including WEDU-Channel 3

WEDU

WEDU is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station, serving the Tampa Bay DMA in Florida. The station first signed on the air on October 17, 1958...

 (PBS), WFLA-Channel 8

WFLA-TV

WFLA-TV, virtual channel 8, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida. The station is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Media General. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Hillsborough County, Florida. WFLA is the only station in the market to be...

 (NBC), WTSP-Channel 10

WTSP

WTSP is a CBS-affiliated television station in St. Petersburg, Florida . It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10....

 (CBS), WTVT-Channel 13

WTVT

WTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the News Corporation...

 (Fox), WUSF-Channel 16

WUSF-TV

WUSF-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television station in Tampa, Florida, broadcasting on digital channel 34. Owned by the University of South Florida, WUSF-TV signed on in 1966....

 (PBS), WCLF-Channel 22

WCLF

WCLF is one of America's oldest religious stations, having its start in October 1979. The station presents religious programming around the clock, as flagship of the nationwide Christian Television Network, which has owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the southeast and in Iowa...

 (Trinity Broadcasting Network), WFTS-Channel 28

WFTS-TV

WFTS, virtual channel 28, is the ABC affiliate television station for the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida market, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 29. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.-History:...

 (ABC), WMOR-Channel 32

WMOR-TV

WMOR-TV is an independent television station in the Tampa Bay television market . It is licensed to Lakeland, with studios in Tampa. The station is owned by the Hearst Corporation.-History:...

 (independent), WTTA-Channel 38

WTTA

WTTA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tampa Bay Area of Florida that is licensed to St. Petersburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Riverview. Owned by Bay Television, the station is operated by the Sinclair Broadcast...

 (My Network TV), WWSB-Channel 40

WWSB

WWSB Channel 40 is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Florida Suncoast that is licensed to Sarasota. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Rutland Road in the unincorporated Manatee County community of Rye, about 5 miles ESE of Parrish...

 (ABC, Sarasota), WTOG-Channel 44

WTOG

WTOG, channel 44, is a television station in St. Petersburg, Florida. Owned by the CBS Corporation, WTOG serves as the Tampa Bay Area station for the co-owned The CW Television Network. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.-Early years:...

 (The CW), WRMD-CA-Channel 49 (Telemundo), WFTT-Channel 50 (Telefutura), WVEA-Channel 62

WVEA-TV

WVEA-TV is the Univision affiliate for Tampa Bay, Florida, licensed to Venice. The station is owned by Entravision Communications, and also operates Telefutura affiliate WFTT-TV. The two stations share studios on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, in a former Barnett Bank building west of Armenia Avenue...

 (Univision).

Local cable-only stations include Bay News 9

Bay News 9

Bay News 9 is a cable news television network located in St Petersburg, Florida. It currently serves the Tampa Bay Area including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Polk, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties...

 and Bright House Sports Network (operated by Bright House Networks) and SNN Local News 6 (operated by Comcast Cable, in partnership with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune).

Radio

The Tampa Bay area is the nation's 19th-largest radio market, according to Arbitron Research. More than 70 radio stations, split almost evenly between the AM and FM band. Most major programming formats are represented. Clear Channel Communications

Clear Channel Communications

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 is the biggest owner of radio stations in the area, followed by Cox Broadcasting

Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...

 and CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

. In addition, many Orlando-area stations can be heard in the northern and eastern reaches of the metropolitan area.