cbs then persuaded the longtime abc affiliate in west palm beach, wpec (channel 12), to switch to cbs in order to retain a city-grade signal within fort lauderdale. in the fall of 1988, abc chose to affiliate with wpbf rather than with former cbs affiliate wtvx (channel 34), owing to the success of phipps and potamkin's other station, wctv in tallahassee, along with wtvx's general lack of success with its news department.