The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Thursday a new multi-year media rights agreement with WFLA-TV/News Channel 8 to broadcast preseason games through the 2017 football season.
"We are excited to announce the return of WFLA-TV as our team's preseason broadcast partner," said Buccaneers Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer. "News Channel 8 provided a wonderful home for Tampa Bay Buccaneers football in the past, and they are looking forward to bringing the best Bucs coverage to all our fans."
News Channel 8 will produce and broadcast three games during the 2013 preseason: at home against the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET; at Miami on Saturday, August 24 at 7:30 p.m. ET; and at home versus the Washington Redskins on Thursday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m ET. The Buccaneers' second preseason game, at New England, will be broadcast nationally by FOX.
News Channel 8 will also produce and air pregame specials prior to each preseason game and News Channel 8's Dan Lucas will host "Bucs Bonus," a half-hour program that will air Saturday nights at 7 p.m. ET during the NFL season.
"This is a great day for News Channel 8. There is no more powerful programming on television than the NFL. We are thrilled to once again be the home of Buccaneers preseason football," said Brad Moses, President/GM, WFLA-TV News Channel 8.
About Media General
Media General is a leading provider of news, information and entertainment across 18 network-affiliated broadcast television stations and their associated digital media and mobile platforms. The company's stations serve consumers and advertisers in strong local markets, primarily in the Southeast. Media General's network affiliates include eight NBC stations, eight CBS stations, one ABC station and one CW station. One-third of the company's stations operate in the Top 50 markets in the United States. Media General's stations reach more than one-third of TV households in the Southeast and more than 8 percent of U.S. TV households. Media General entered the television business in 1955 when it launched WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, as an NBC affiliate. Today, WFLA is the company's largest TV station, operating in the 14th largest DMA in the United States.
