WRDQ
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | April 23, 2000 in Orlando, Florida, United States |
| Headquarters | Orlando , United States |
| Owner | Cox Media Group |
| Website | tv27 |
WRDQ (channel 27) operates as an independent television station based in Orlando, Florida, and is owned by Cox Media Group alongside ABC affiliate WFTV (channel 9). Both stations maintain shared studio facilities in downtown Orlando, while WRDQ's transmitter is situated near Bithlo, Florida.
History
The station received its construction permit in 1990 and commenced broadcasting on April 23, 2000. Initially, WRDQ was owned by Reece Associates Ltd., with operational management handled by WFTV through a local marketing agreement (LMA). Reece Associates was co-owned by Marsha Reece, a former reporter and anchor at WFTV. After the FCC authorized duopoly ownership in August 1999, Cox Media Group exercised its option to fully acquire WRDQ on February 1, 2001.
On May 24, 2011, WRDQ was utilized by Cox to provide comprehensive coverage of the Casey Anthony trial from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., while WFTV broadcast the trial’s concluding hour, temporarily preempting regular programming. Due to substantial audience demand, by June 8 the primary coverage shifted to WFTV, with ABC granting Cox permission to move daytime shows to WRDQ during the trial period. This programming arrangement reverted once the trial concluded. A comparable temporary relocation of ABC Daytime content to WRDQ occurred during WFTV’s coverage of the George Zimmerman trial in 2013.
Newscasts
Shortly after its launch, WFTV began producing a nightly half-hour newscast at 10 p.m. specifically for WRDQ. This replaced a similar show that had been created for then-UPN affiliate WRBW and competes against an hour-long internally produced newscast on Fox-owned WOFL as well as a newscast produced by NBC affiliate WESH for CW-affiliated WKCF.
On June 29, 2006, WFTV upgraded all its newscasts—including those on WRDQ—to high-definition broadcasts.
In January 2007, a two-hour weekday morning newscast airing from 7 to 9 a.m. was introduced on channel 27 by WFTV. Prior to this addition, the 10 p.m. news was branded as Action News at 10, aligning with WRDQ’s original "Action TV 27" identity. Additionally, WRDQ aired The Daily Buzz from 7 to 9 a.m. on its digital subchannel 27.2, which preempted some Antenna TV programming.
WRDQ has periodically aired early evening newscasts: a special program at 7 p.m. in March 2003 covering the Iraq War and a regularly scheduled newscast at 6:30 p.m. from September 2010 until June 2013. The latter was discontinued in favor of a new 4 p.m. newscast on WFTV. On September 15, 2014, WFTV extended WRDQ’s weeknight 10 p.m. newscast to a full hour, citing strong viewer ratings that allowed it to closely challenge long-established leader WOFL.
Subchannels
WRDQ broadcasts multiple digital subchannels as follows:
| Channel | Resolution | Aspect Ratio | Identifier | Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WRDQ | Independent |
| 27.2 | 720p | 16:9 | CourtTV | Court TV |
| 27.4 | 480i | 16:9 | HSN2 | HSN2 |
| 31.2 | 480i | 16:9 | WTMO-SD | Telemundo (WTMO-CD) |
| 65.2 | 480i | 16:9 | Movies. | Movies! (WRBW) |
Key developments in subchannel offerings include the April 2008 launch of digital subchannel 27.2 featuring Retro Television Network, which was replaced by Antenna TV in September 2011. In June 2013, channel 27.3 was introduced and later remapped in January 2014 as virtual channel 31.2 to simulcast Telemundo affiliate WTMO. A fourth subchannel, designated as 27.4, was added in April 2015 to carry Grit TV from sister station WFTV. In 2020, Antenna TV was swapped out for a duplicate Court TV feed on channel 27.2. This TV replaced Grit TV on August 15, 2021, and around May of 2024 HSN2 succeeded This TV on that subchannel slot.
Analog-to-digital conversion
On June 12, 2009, WRDQ ended its analog transmission on UHF channel 27 in accordance with the federally required shift to digital broadcasting. Following the transition, its digital broadcast relocated from the original UHF channel 14 to channel 27.