Largely because of its newspaper background, it was the early ratings leader in the Tampa market until WTVT (channel 13) passed it for first place in 1962.

Three years later, Richmond Newspapers changed its name to Media General, and WFLA-TV, the first television station owned and operated by the company, would be the flagship of its broadcasting group for the rest of its existence.

That same year, it surged to first place in the Tampa Bay ratings and has stayed there for most of that time, led by one of the most popular anchor teams in the country.

For one day in May 1999, UPN affiliate WTOG (channel 44) housed the operations for WFLA-TV, after a power outage occurred at the station's main studios in Downtown Tampa.

In January 2013, as a result of the sale, WFLA began outsourcing its digital operations and website to Worldnow, as part of a group deal with the company.

On August 20, 2014, Media General announced that it would acquire MyNetworkTV affiliate WTTA (channel 38) from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Edwards left Daytime in September 2020 and was replaced by former CBS News correspondent Maggie Rodriguez in February 2021.

[14][15] Since 2006, channel 8 airs any Tampa Bay Buccaneers games when they are featured on NBC Sunday Night Football; the station also served as the default home station of the team in its first season as a member of the American Football Conference in 1976; with the team's move to the National Football Conference the next year, the station aired up to two games a season in which they played host to an AFC team at Tampa Stadium until the end of the 1997 season.

As a result, it became the highest-rated station in the market, a position formerly held by WTVT, which saw its ratings drop after switching from CBS to Fox.

However, since NBC's ill-fated prime time experiment with The Jay Leno Show from September 2009 to January 2010, WTVT regained the top spot.

In the February 2012 sweeps period, WFLA was the clear ratings winner for early morning, evening, and late news.

It was also the only station in the market to gain an audience for its late newscast despite NBC's lackluster ratings performance at the time.

Previously, the news updates, which debuted eleven days before Media General's acquisition of WTTA, were produced by that station's former sister in West Palm Beach, WPEC.

Prior to the telecast, the station was swamped with numerous phone calls and e-mails against WFLA's broadcast of the program.

General manager Mike Pumo refused to elaborate on the decision, other than the show's content did not "raise the red flag" during pre-screening.