WOFL (channel 35) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet.

[5] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the construction permit to Sun World on March 21, 1971, and the call sign WSWB-TV two months later.

It represented an investment of $3.6 million and was a general-entertainment independent station with movies, sports, reruns, children's shows, and pre-empted network programming.

In June, Sun World agreed to sell WSWB-TV to the Martin International Corporation,[17] though the transaction was not submitted for FCC approval until December 16.

[6] Meanwhile July 2, leasing company Continental Credit Corporation moved to seize $200,000 of mostly office furnishings from the studios, though the station continued to broadcast.

Marshals arrived at the station's studios with a court order and a group of movers and engineers to remove the RCA equipment from the building.

Even the youngest viewers, who watched channel 35's cartoons and children's programs, tried to help, sending letters of encouragement and in one case money from their allowances.

By mid-October, one of these potential buyers had bought the transmitter site: Ted Turner, who owned WTCG in Atlanta and WRET in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[27] Turner successfully pushed for the appointment of a receiver for Sun World, an action seen as delaying any return to air until the station was sold.

[28] The still-pending Martin International application was dismissed,[6] and instead Sun World tried to sell the station to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).

[31] The receiver tentatively agreed to sell the station to Turner, but his decision was subject to review by circuit court judge Frederick T.

[32] Even though Turner already owned the transmitter site, the stockholders of Sun World disagreed with the receiver's preferred bidder over the structure of the contract.

They preferred a different bid for channel 35: the Omega group, a five-man consortium headed by Lawrence H. "Bud" Rogers, a retired Taft Broadcasting executive.

[33] Pfeiffer bucked the receiver and his own "first impression" favoring Turner and approved the sale of WSWB-TV to Omega for $1.2 million on April 12, 1977.

[39] The appeals court case, further delayed by the resignation of a judge,[40] ended in June 1978 with a ruling upholding Pfeiffer's April 1977 decision favoring Omega.

[43][44] The Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa, had invested in Omega Communications before WOFL went on air[43] and held a 40-percent stake as well as a buyout option that it could trigger before 1984.

Licensed to Melbourne, it lacked the corporate and programming resources and technical facility of WOFL and only had a market share of 3 percent by late 1984.

[54] As early as 1983, a locally owned low-power TV station in Crystal River, W49AI, was on air, rebroadcasting WOFL to a small area in Citrus County.

[59] When the sale took effect on January 1, 1996,[60] WOFL's general manager assumed responsibility for WOGX, and the company set up data links between the two stations.

[64] As early as October 2001, speculation emerged of a potential trade between Meredith and the Fox Television Stations Group that would create duopolies in Orlando and Portland, Oregon.

[69][70] WOFL general manager Norris Reichel announced in July 1996 that the station planned to debut a "fast-paced" 10 p.m. local newscast seven nights a week in early 1997.

The original plans also included a 6 p.m. newscast for WOGX focusing on Ocala and Gainesville news,[72][73][74] but this failed to meet ratings and demographic targets and was discontinued after nine months.