LOOKING BACK
I still feel like I work at WTVTChannel
13 until I turn on the
6 p.m. newscast and instead
of myself, I see my son, Mark,
sitting beside co-anchor Kelly Ring.
I can’t believe it’s been six years
since I retired and ended 50 years of
broadcast journalism. Occasionally,
my wife, Mary K will remind me to stop
answering the phone saying, “This is John
Wilson from WTVT.” Thanksgiving 2014
was when I signed off after anchoring the
news at WTVT for twenty-plus years.
My experience there was extraordinary
because management let me do whatever
I wanted to do – editorials, special
projects and trips overseas in addition to
anchoring the news at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Those overseas trips took me to Moscow,
Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Havana,
Panama and Romania. There were national
nominating conventions for me to attend
in Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta and of
course, Tampa.
Shortly after I started at WTVT, it was
purchased by FOX Television (1994), which
created changes for our TV stations in the
Tampa Bay area. WTVT had been affiliated
with CBS since 1955. The TV station that
I came from, WTSP in St. Petersburg,
had been an ABC station since 1965, but
the move by FOX in our market forced
By John Wilson
dramatic network changes. When we said
“goodbye” to CBS at WTVT, ABC also
decided it was time to leave WTSP and
moved over to WFTS, Channel 28. CBS
had only one station in the market left to
go to and that was WTSP.
Not long after that, CBS bought another
station in town, WTOG-Channel 44,
and launched an evening newscast at 10
p.m. that originates in Miami. The NBC
affiliate here, WFLA-Channel 8, changed
its long-standing ownership by Media
General when it was bought by Nexstar
in 2017.
So, our television marketplace has
gone through dramatic ownership
changes since the Wilsons came here from
St. Louis in 1981. Our three sons, Paul,
Mark and Patrick, had a wonderful time
going to school and growing up here and
developing their careers. Paul created his
own advertising company and developed
a professional career as an actor and singer,
Mark launched his broadcasting career
128 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
here and after a turn with NBC in
Raleigh, took my place at WTVT,
and Patrick became a great success
onstage in Broadway shows and in
many movies on the big screen. Mary
K retired after 50 years of working
with church music and began
teaching private voice lessons for
aspiring young singers, many of whom
have gone on to professional careers.
She and I have great memories of
performing at concerts together with
The Florida Orchestra, The Mostly
Pops Orchestra, The Richie Community
Orchestra, the Tampa Bay Symphony, the
Sarasota Orchestra and the North Port
Symphony Orchestra. We have worked
with wonderful conductors including
Irwin Hoffman, Jahja Ling, Tsung Yeh,
Thomas Wilkins and Robert Romanski.
And we’ll never forget working for the
Steinbrenner family and the New York
Yankees for more than 30 years of orchestra
concerts for at-risk school children at
Christmas time on both sides of Tampa
Bay. It’s been an incredible experience for
us, and we will be forever grateful and
thankful. Our family has been blessed. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Wilson, who retired
from Fox TV in 2014, worked more than 50
years in radio and television news broadcasting.
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John Wilson