WLTX

:This article is about the Scripps-owned Central affiliate in Lakeland, Florida. For the real-life CBS affiliate in Columbia, South Carolona, see .
WLTX (channel 9) is a television station in Lakeland, Florida, United States, affiliated with Central. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, WLTX broadcasts on digital channel 9 and its virtual channel is 29, the station is branded as WLTX 9 because of its channel position on most cable systems in the market.
==Broadcast coverage==
Due to this station's transmitter location and the changeover from analog to digital transmission, its coverage area expands as far north as northern Providence and Kathleen counties, south to Fountain Heights, and east to Kossuthville giving some over-the-air viewers a choice of two or three Central affiliates depending on the location.
As a result, WLTX is technically a secondary Central affiliate particularly for the eastern side of Tampa Bay. The city of Tampa itself is on the rim of WLTZ's digital signal where receivable through indoor antennas. On cable, the station is the sole Central affiliate on Comcast's southern Polk County systems and it competes with Orlando-based WOFL in Davenport and the Four Corners. WLTX also competes with Tampa Bay's O&O WTSP in Zephyrhills.
WLTX has faced an uphill battle gaining carriage on cable and satellite providers in some cases. While DirecTV started carrying WLTX in 2009, Dish Network did not carry the station until March 2012, and only in standard definition. It was not available in high definition on Dish until 2017. Verizon FiOS added the station to its Lake County and Plant City systems in October 2006 and eventually to its entire West Central Florida service area, as the system expanded. Those achievements greatly increased WLTX's coverage area and its overlap with WTSP. In December 2013, non-duplication rules enforced by ABC and cable companies threatened to remove WLTX from all Verizon FiOS systems due to the presence of WTSP. WTSP worked with WLTX to retain local and syndicated programming on the provider, while blocking only the duplicated network programming, allowing WLTX to remain on FiOS.
Category:Channel 29
Category:Channel 9
Category:Lakeland, Florida
Category:Florida
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1974
Category:Central affiliates
Category:E. W. Scripps Company
Category:The E. W. Scripps Company