Blab TV is a local television channel in
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
, United States. It airs local programming as well as locally produced
infomercials
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
for businesses in the Florida Panhandle. Blab TV programming airs on local cable systems and on
WPAN
WPAN (channel 53) is a television station licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, and also serving Pensacola. Its main channel primarily airs programming from Blab TV, a locally based channel that produces local infomercials and ...
(channel 53), a broadcast station serving the
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
–Pensacola region.
History
Blab TV (originally stylized BLAB-TV, a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
for Basic Local Area Broadcasting or Basic Local Audience Broadcasting) was started by Fred Vigodsky and debuted on February 1, 1984, with a 90-minute program aired through local cable systems;
Vigodsky owned the network until its 2016 sale to a consortium of Doug Bunze, John Tolan, and
Eric Ober
Eric Ober is an American broadcasting executive who served as president of CBS News from 1990 to 1996 and of Food Network from 1997 to 2000. Prior to serving as president of CBS news he was the news director at affiliate WBBM-TV in Chicago.
A ...
.
During the time he owned it, Vigdosky expanded its reach from the Florida panhandle to the broader Gulf Coast region; it even briefly expanded beyond to
and
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
.
It also appeared on broadcast television for the first time when it leased 37 hours a week from WPAN, at the time an inactive station.
By 1994, 400,000 Mobile–Pensacola-area cable viewers had access to BLAB.
The next year, BLAB moved into new studios in the former J. C. Penney store in downtown Pensacola.
Joe Scarborough
Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of '' Morning Joe'' on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski. He previously hosted ''Scarbo ...
used Blab TV in his 1994 campaign to run for Florida's 1st congressional district.
In 2011, Blab TV leased a subchannel on
WFBD
WFBD (channel 48) is a religious television station licensed to Destin, Florida, United States, serving the Pensacola area as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's transmitter is located near Wing, ...
, a regional television station, expanding its reach.
Since October 2020, it has returned to WPAN, airing as its main subchannel.
References
External links
*{{official site, https://www.blabtv.com/
Television stations in the Mobile–Pensacola market
Television channels and stations established in 1984
1984 establishments in Florida