WSB-TV

Coordinates: 33°45′51.7″N 84°21′41.7″W / 33.764361°N 84.361583°W / 33.764361; -84.361583 (WSB-TV tower)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

WSB-TV
FCC
Facility ID23960
ERP869 kW
HAAT326 m (1,070 ft)
Transmitter coordinates33°45′51.7″N 84°21′41.7″W / 33.764361°N 84.361583°W / 33.764361; -84.361583 (WSB-TV tower)
Translator(s)see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wsbtv.com

WSB-TV (channel 2) is a

Poncey-Highland and Old Fourth Ward
neighborhoods.

WSB-TV is the second largest ABC-affiliated station by market size that is not

owned and operated by the network (the largest being Tegna-owned WFAA in Dallas).[2]

History

WSB-TV first began broadcasting on September 29, 1948, originally broadcasting on channel 8. It is the first television station in Georgia, and only the second station south of

NBC Radio
. It also carried some ABC programming from 1948 until 1951.

In 1950, Cox bought Atlanta's other major newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, from its longtime owners, the Howell family. Both newspapers owned broadcast properties. Included in the latter were AM station WCON (550 kHz), which ceased operations May 31, 1950, in favor of the clear channel WSB;[3] WCON-FM, which was merged with WSB-FM on the former's 98.5 MHz frequency;[4] and the construction permit for WCON-TV (channel 2), which before the merger had begun construction on its tower at 780 Willoughby Way that it billed as the world's tallest. However, Cox now had a problem. At the time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not permit the sale of television station construction permits, considering it "trafficking". Cox thus had no choice but to keep the construction permit for WCON-TV rather than the already-operating WSB-TV.[5] To solve the problem, Cox sold the channel 8 license for $525,000 to Broadcasting, Inc., a group of local businessmen, in 1951, with plans to move the WSB-TV call letters and intellectual unit to channel 2. The sale was challenged by applicants for additional stations that were affected by the then-ongoing freeze on new construction permits, including Georgia Tech (owners of WGST radio)[6] and Decatur radio station owner, E. D. Rivers,[7] in part because planned allocation changes meant that there would be no further commercial VHF stations for Atlanta and they sought to operate the channel as well.[8]

The FCC dismissed the complaints and approved the sale of the channel 8 license to Broadcasting, Inc., in August 1951.

non-commercial educational use; it is now WGTV, a PBS member station, and also the flagship television station of Georgia Public Broadcasting.) Due to the way the 1950–51 transactions were structured legally, WXIA operates under the license originally granted to WSB-TV in 1948, while the present WSB-TV is a new license dating from 1951.[11]

With the move to channel 2, WSB-TV significantly increased its coverage area; it now provided at least secondary coverage from the

north Georgia mountains
.

In 1956, the WSB stations moved into the noted "White Columns" building, designed and built according to the

highway interchange where the Downtown Connector splits into Interstates 75 and 85 on the north end. The older building was razed shortly after the new building was occupied. The original columns that stood on the front portico of the old building were placed in a garden area alongside the new building. Brand new white columns have been placed inside the glass-enclosed lobby of the newer building. WSB-TV is located less than one block south of the building formerly utilized by WXIA when that station moved its operations to WATL
's studios in 2008.

In December 1965, WSB was the first television station in Georgia to broadcast live in color, beginning with Ruth Kent's Today in Georgia program.[13]

In 1972, the station aired the name of a murdered

U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn
in 1975.

ABC was the highest-rated network for most of the late 1970s and, at that time, was looking for stronger affiliates across the country, including Atlanta. ABC's longtime Atlanta outlet, WXIA, frequently traded second place with WAGA. However, WSB-TV was the far-and-away market leader despite being affiliated with last-place NBC. In June 1980, WSB announced that it would drop NBC and affiliate with ABC; WXIA subsequently agreed to join NBC. Some network daytime shows changed stations in August, while the full affiliation switch occurred on September 1. In January 1986, the station debuted the current number "2" logo it continues to use to this day.

On March 12, 2011, WSB-TV and

Mobile DTV
broadcasts.

On July 24, 2018, WSB-TV parent Cox Enterprises announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for Cox Media Group's television stations, which the company said could involve "partnering or merging these stations into a larger TV company".[14] Cox Media Group's president, Kim Guthrie, subsequently clarified to trade publication Radio & Television Business Report that the company was solely seeking "a merger or partnership" and not an outright sale of the television stations.[15]

In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations.[16][17] Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain the Cox Media Group name.[18] The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.[19]

Programming

Past programming preemptions and deferrals

As an NBC affiliate, WSB-TV preempted programs airing from noon to 2 p.m. in favor of airing a feature film presentation during that time. It would also air at least one film from its lineup in prime time, and it would also preempt the non-NFL-related NBC Sports programs in favor of carrying still another film, plus The Lawrence Welk Show.[20]

In 2004, WSB-TV and the other two ABC stations under Cox ownership (WSOC-TV in Charlotte and WFTV in Orlando) declined to telecast the Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan due to the graphic violence and profanity in the film after the FCC stepped up its vigilance on these matters following the Janet Jackson–Justin Timberlake Super Bowl incident that year. The FCC declared the film as not indecent once the telecast of the war drama concluded.[21]

Sports programming

The station was the original local television broadcaster of the relocated

Hall of Fame announcer Milo Hamilton (who simultaneously pulled double-duty anchoring Channel 2's sportscasts during this time) were the main announcers for what was then the largest television network in the history of baseball. WSB-TV also aired all Braves games whenever they appeared on NBC's coverage from 1966 to 1980, and then with ABC from 1981 to 1989, along with The Baseball Network regional coverage in 1994 and 1995, including games 1, 4, and 5 in the 1995 World Series
, which the Braves won (games 2, 3, and the clinching game 6 aired on NBC, thus locally on WXIA).

WSB-TV has also been involved with the NFL's

Atlanta Fulton County Stadium where Falcons hosted an AFC team from NBC, then from 1980 to 2005, Monday Night Football from ABC. The station has served as the local outlet for Falcons games which are a part of ESPN Monday Night Football since 2006, when it moved from ABC to ESPN as part of the NFL's requirements to syndicate cable games to local markets. WSB-TV served as the official local broadcaster of Super Bowl XXXIV, held at the Georgia Dome
.

The station airs select Atlanta Hawks games through ABC's contract with the NBA.

News operation

WSB-TV presently broadcasts 47 hours, 35 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours, 5 minutes each weekday, 5 hours, 35 minutes on Saturdays and 6 hours, 35 minutes on Sundays).

Local news programming has had a strong presence on channel 2 since its debut, and it has led the news

Dayton also offer a half-hour noon newscast on weekends).[22]
In addition, WSB-TV's weekend newscast output is larger than that of Fox owned-and-operated station WAGA-TV (channel 5), which offers a larger overall weekly (and weekday) newscast output than WSB-TV.

WSB-TV became the second station in the Atlanta market (behind WXIA-TV) and the second Cox-owned station (behind WFTV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. The first HD broadcast was on September 27, 2006; during its noon broadcast. With the switch came a new HD-ready set and a graphics package designed by Giant Octopus.

In mid-November 2009, reporter Tom Jones and a cameraman escaped serious injury when the

high-voltage powerlines while leaving the Fulton County Jail. Georgia Power staff were surprised that anyone survived, but the two were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation at Grady Memorial Hospital and released later in the day. The massive electric spark caused an explosion, left a crater underneath the van, arced to and broke a water main, and caused a brief power outage; the vehicle was a total loss.[23][24][25]

In August 2018, WSB-TV added two additional hours to its weekday morning newscast during Good Morning America, an expansion exclusive to its 24-hour streaming channel, WSB NOW, available on its website and apps.[26]

In April 2020, WSB-TV changed the name of its 11 p.m. newscast to WSB Tonight. The station's nightly newscast had been called the Channel 2 Action News Nightbeat since the early 1990s. The newscast began as a nightly update on the COVID-19 pandemic, but the name change appears to be permanent. The Nightbeat name was still used for weekend newscasts, but the station began using the new name for weekend newscasts later in the year.[27] Unlike the Nightbeat, which was a rundown of the day's top stories, WSB Tonight goes into detail about the biggest stories of the day. The weather forecasts for the Nightbeat were filmed live, whereas most of the forecasts for WSB Tonight are pre-recorded.

On September 5, 2020, WSB-TV became the first station in the Atlanta market to expand its weekend morning newscast to 5 a.m.

Notable current on-air staff

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is

multiplexed
:

Subchannels of WSB-TV[31]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
Atlanta Athens Gainesville
2.1 2.11 2.21 720p
16:9
WSB-HD Main WSB-TV programming / ABC
2.2 2.12 2.22 480i BOUNCE Bounce TV
2.3 2.13 2.23 Dabl Dabl
2.4 2.14 2.24 COMET Comet
2.5 2.15 2.25 SCRIPPS Scripps News
17.3 17.13 17.23 480i 16:9 COURT Court TV (WPCH-DT3)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station
DT2 logo during MeTV affiliation.

WSB's digital channel went on the air on November 21, 1997, making it one of the first regular-service

station ID in the lower corner. RTV programming was replaced with MeTV on June 1, 2011. Later on March 25, 2017, MeTV was replaced with Escape and on September 25, 2017, Escape was replaced with Bounce TV
.

In 2021, a simulcast of WKTB-CD's Telemundo subchannel moved to WSB-TV from WPXA-TV. After WGCL-TV's owner, Gray Television, bought WKTB-CD the following year, the subchannel simulcast moved to WGCL-TV's spectrum (remaining mapped to virtual channel 47.1).

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSB-TV shut down its analog signal, over

UHF channel 39,[34] using virtual channel
2.

During late August and into September 2009, the station removed its analog transmitter from the top of the tower, and moved its side-mounted digital antenna up from its previous lower location on the tower.

On September 6, 2019, at 9 a.m., WSB-TV shifted from physical channel 39 to 32 because of the

bandplan
, repacking those stations into channels 2 to 36.

Translators

In March 2009, the station filed applications for two digital fill-in

radio tower as Cox's WSRV FM and WSBB-FM, and reaches as far into Atlanta's north-northeastern suburbs as Lilburn. The Athens-licensed translator broadcasts on UHF channel 17, with its transmitter located southwest of Winder
, and its signal also reaches as far west as Lilburn. WSB-TV requested special temporary authority to begin immediate operation of these stations, pending approval of its regular applications.

The

on-channel boosters) will not be used. The translators are intended to overcome the terrain obstructions caused by Stone Mountain
to the east of the WSB transmitter, and were in operation by January 2011. The Athens translator uses virtual channels 2.11 to 2.15 instead of 2.1 to 2.5, while the Gainesville translator uses 2.21 to 2.25, allowing viewers to choose whichever station whose signal is better receivable at a given time (certain ATSC tuners may have trouble with two stations using the same virtual channel, and even if not, the user would have to enter the channel number and press "channel-up" or "channel-down" buttons to access the alternates, which would not be separately labeled or identified by the tuner).

In late June 2009, the station also applied for a translator on channel 14 just southwest of

Newnan on channel 17. This translator will be co-located on the same tower as Cox-owned WALR-FM (104.1), and less than .25 miles (0.40 km) west of another tower holding WRDG (105.3 FM; which is not owned by Cox).[37]

Out-of-market coverage

In northwest Georgia, WSB-TV was carried in some of the counties covered by the

counties.

In

uplinked to the AMC-10 TV satellite. WSB was also carried in Vidalia in the Savannah
DMA.

In south Georgia (as far south as the Florida border), it was carried on Cox Communications, and virtually all TCI, later Mediacom systems, with the exception of the Columbus operation due to a historic lack of an ABC affiliate in the Albany media market covering southwest Georgia. Since the market's NBC affiliate WALB began carrying ABC on its 10.2 digital subchannel in 2010, WSB has been dropped by almost all systems. Given the long distance to South Georgia, it was likely that WSB-TV was uplinked to the AMC-10 TV satellite. Charter Communications also carried WSB for its subscribers in the town of Douglas in Coffee County.

In western North Carolina it is carried in the Cherokee County town of Murphy, alongside Asheville ABC affiliate WLOS.

In northeast Alabama, it was carried on the cable systems in Gadsden (

Sparklight
) in the 80s.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSB-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Nielsen DMA Rankings 2021 MediaTracks Communications. Retrieved on February 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "WCON Will Cease Operations Tonight". Atlanta Constitution. May 31, 1950. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  4. ^ "The Constitution Seeks To Assign WCON-FM, TV". Atlanta Constitution. Associated Press. April 9, 1950. p. 13-A. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  5. ^ "Cox, Howell Merge: Affects Atlanta AM-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 20, 1950. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "Tech Moves To Halt TV Sale Here". Atlanta Constitution. Associated Press. April 25, 1951. p. 6. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "FCC Authorizes Sale Of WSB-TV's Properties". Atlanta Constitution. August 10, 1951. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "Tech Seeks To Block TV Sale". Atlanta Constitution. Associated Press. June 23, 1951. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  9. ^ Jones, Paul (September 26, 1951). "WSB's TV Tops World In Coverage". Atlanta Constitution. pp. 1, 9. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Cox Alerts TV Industry to Major Duties In Dedicating Powerful Facilities of WSB". Atlanta Constitution. October 1, 1951. pp. 1, 3. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  11. ^ FCC History Cards for WXIA-TV
  12. ^ "'White Columns'...WSB's Fabulous New Home". Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine. November 7, 1956. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018.
  13. ^ Gray, Dick (December 17, 1965). "WSB-TV Pioneers with Colorcast". Atlanta Journal.
  14. ^ Simon, Mollie (July 24, 2018). "Cox Enterprises looks to sell its TV stations". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  15. ^ Jacobson, Adam (July 24, 2018). "Cox On The Block: TV 'Merger or Partnership' Confirmed". Radio & Television Business Report. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  16. ^ "Apollo Global Management Acquires Cox's Television Stations Plus Radio & Newspapers In Dayton". RadioInsight. February 15, 2019. Archived from the original on February 16, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  17. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (March 6, 2019). "Cox TV Valued At $3.1 Billion In Apollo Acquisition". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia LLC. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  18. ^ Jacobson, Adam (June 26, 2019). "It's Official: Cox Radio, Gamut, CoxReps Going To Apollo". Radio & Television Business Report. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  19. ^ Venta, Lance (December 17, 2019). "Apollo Global Management Closes On Its Acquisition Of Cox Media Group". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  20. ^ "Which station in your market was/Is pre-emption happy – RadioDiscussions". Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  21. ^ Oldenburg, Ann (November 11, 2004). "Some stations shelved 'Private Ryan' amid FCC fears". USA Today. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  22. ^ This article requires some articles that prove its verity and credibility since April 2016.
  23. ^ News photographer, reporter escape serious injury in ENG van accident Archived July 31, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Broadcast Engineering, November 24, 2009.
  24. ^ WSB-TV employees survive truck explosion Archived July 31, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 18, 2009.
  25. ^ TV ENG Van Explodes Archived August 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, TVTechnology, November 19, 2009.
  26. ^ "WSB has expanded its morning news, but only for those with streaming devices". Changing Newscasts. August 2, 2018. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  27. ^ Ho, Rodney (May 6, 2020). "Briefs: WSB broadcast name change; OWN's 'Ambitions' canceled; NatGeo doc features five Atlanta WWII vets". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020.
  28. ^ "Cardwell leaves WSB-TV one day, announces for U.S. Senate the next | Political Insider | ajc.com". Archived from the original on July 7, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  29. ^ "Our Campaigns – Candidate – Hal Suit". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  30. ^ "Ukee Washington biography". KYW-TV. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  31. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WSB". RabbitEars.Info. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  32. ^ Atlanta Business Chronicle (November 20, 2007). "TV classics come to WSB with RTN". American City Business Journals, Inc. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2007. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  33. ^ "List of Digital Full-Power Stations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013.
  34. ^ "CDBS Print". Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  35. ^ http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?type=0&list=1&dist=1&dlat2=34&mlat2=14&slat2=2&dlon2=85&mlon2=13&slon2=50&size=10[dead link]
  36. ^ "Application Search Details", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, August 21, 2019, Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  37. ^ http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?type=0&list=1&dist=1&dlat2=33&mlat2=24&slat2=43&dlon2=84&mlon2=50&slon2=3&size=10[dead link]

External links

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