WSB-TV (channel 2) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
, United States, affiliated with
ABC. It is the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...
television property of locally based
Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is
sister to
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
s
WSB (750 AM),
WSBB-FM (95.5),
WSRV
WSRV (97.1 FM, "97.1 The River") is a commercial radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia, and serving Metro Atlanta. It is owned by the Cox Media Group. WSRV broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The studios and offices are in the Co ...
(97.1 FM),
WSB-FM (98.5) and
WALR-FM (104.1). The stations share studios at the WSB Television and Radio Group building on
West Peachtree Street in
Midtown Atlanta;
WSB-TV's transmitter is located on the border of the city's
Poncey-Highland and
Old Fourth Ward
The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an intown neighborhood on the eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site.
Geography
The Old Fourth Wa ...
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
WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29), w ...
in
Dallas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
).
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
Washington, D.C., five months behind
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
's
WTVR-TV (channel 6). The station was founded by
James M. Cox
James Middleton Cox (March 31, 1870 July 15, 1957) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the United ...
, publisher of ''The Atlanta Journal'', and who also owned WSB radio (
AM 750 and 104.5 FM, now on
98.5 FM).
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $21 billion in total revenue. Its major operating subsidiaries are Cox Communications and ...
owned WSB AM-FM-TV under the banner of
Miami Valley Broadcasting Inc., which later changed its name to the current
Cox Media Group. The station was originally a primary
NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's longtime affiliation with
NBC Radio
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first tw ...
. 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; WCON-FM, which was merged with WSB-FM on the former's 98.5 MHz frequency; 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
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(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. 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) and
Decatur radio station owner, E.D. Rivers, 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.
The FCC dismissed the complaints and approved the sale of the channel 8 license to Broadcasting, Inc., in August 1951.
In September 1951, channel 2 began broadcasting test patterns as WCON-TV—the only time the call letters were used on air—receiving reception reports from as far as away. On September 30, WSB-TV officially moved to channel 2; channel 8 returned at 5 p.m. that day as ABC affiliate WLTV. In 1953, WLTV became WLWA-TV (now
WXIA-TV) and was moved to channel 11 in order to resolve interference with
channel 9 at Rome, Georgia. (The channel 8 allocation was then moved to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
and reserved for
non-commercial educational
A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements ( TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was o ...
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.
With the move to channel 2, WSB-TV significantly increased its coverage area; it now provided at least secondary coverage from the
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
-Georgia state line to
Albany, as far west as the
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
-Georgia line, and as far east as the outer fringes of
Upstate South Carolina
The Upstate is the region in the westernmost part of South Carolina, United States, also known as the Upcountry, which is the historical term. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the commerc ...
. The analog channel 2 signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions, and WSB-TV could now better penetrate the more rugged parts of the
north Georgia mountains.
In 1956, the WSB stations moved into the noted "White Columns" building, designed and built according to the
Colonial Revival style, a defining characteristic of Atlanta architecture. They would remain there for 43 years, until a much more
modernist concrete and glass facility was built adjacent to it (on the same property) in 1998. The new building, which has been dubbed "Digital White Columns" by some, is located just off Atlanta's famed
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road ...
, on the
dead-end northern portion of West Peachtree Street which is actually ''east'' of Peachtree Street. This is near the
Brookwood Hills
Brookwood Hills is a historic neighborhood located in intown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, north of Midtown and south-southwest of Buckhead. Home to about 1000 people, it was founded in the early 1920s by Benjamin Franklin Burdett and his son ...
area, and just east of the "Brookwood split", a
highway interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...
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
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
s that stood on the front
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...
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
Lobby may refer to:
* Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building
* Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians
:* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States
* Lobby (food), a thick st ...
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
WATL (channel 36) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north ...
's studios in 2008.
In December 1965, WSB was the first television station in Georgia to broadcast live in
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
, beginning with Ruth Kent's ''Today in Georgia'' program.
In 1972, the station aired the name of a murdered
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
victim in violation of Georgia's
shield law. The
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
WGCL-TV turned on their
ATSC-M/H signals for the first time, becoming the first stations in the Atlanta area to offer
Mobile DTV broadcasts.
Sale to Apollo Global Management
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."
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.
In February 2019, it was announced that
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
would acquire Cox Media Group and
Northwest Broadcasting's stations.
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.
The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.
Programming
WSB-TV carries most of the ABC lineup in pattern. The station airs an alternate live feed of ''
ABC World News Tonight
''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...
'' at 7 p.m. (rather than 6:30 p.m. as with most ABC stations in the
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a smal ...
) due to a longtime hour-long 6 p.m. newscast. The network's
Sunday morning talk show, ''
This Week'', airs on a two-hour
delay
Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can
* '' The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film
People
* B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and ac ...
to accommodate the station's Sunday morning newscast. Prior to September 2015, WSB-TV has preempted ''
America This Morning'' in favor of running another half-hour of ''
World News Now
''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with weather forecasts, sp ...
'' until the start of the station's morning newscast.
Syndicated programs broadcast by WSB-TV include ''
Live with Kelly and Ryan'', ''
Tamron Hall'', ''
The Kelly Clarkson Show'', and ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...
'', among others.
As an NBC affiliate, WSB-TV preempted programs airing from noon to 2 p.m. in favor of airing a
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
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
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...
programs in favor of carrying still another film, plus ''
The Lawrence Welk Show''. WSB-TV continued this practice as late as June 2007, when it reportedly preempted a telecast of the
Pixar film ''
Finding Nemo
''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was wr ...
'' in favor of the
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...
-directed comedy ''
Parenthood''. In 2004, WSB-TV and other Cox's ABC stations did not air the movie ''
Saving Private Ryan'' due to the graphic violence and profanity in the film after the FCC stepped up its vigilance following the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake Super Bowl incident that year; the FCC declared the film as not indecent after the fact.
Sports programming
The station was the original local television broadcaster of the relocated
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...
baseball team, carrying the games from
1966 to
1972, until the Braves telecasts moved to WTCG (now
WPCH-TV) in
1973. Its sister AM station was the longtime radio flagship of the Braves, carrying the broadcasts for 38 out of the 46 years that the franchise has been in Atlanta, dating back to 1966.
Ernie Johnson, Sr., a former Braves pitcher and father of
his namesake Turner Sports broadcaster, with future
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
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 Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...
; from 1970 to 1979, it aired sold-out games at
Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
where Falcons hosted an
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
team from NBC, then from 1980 to 2005, ''
Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'' from ABC. The station has served as the local outlet for Falcons games which are a part of ''
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
Monday Night Football'' since
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 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
ratings in Atlanta for as long as records have been kept. WSB-TV is one of the few Big Three affiliates to carry a midday newscast on weekends (sister stations
WFTV
WFTV (channel 9) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside independent station WRDQ (channel 27). Both stations share studios on East South Street ( SR 15) in dow ...
in
Orlando,
WSOC-TV in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
and
WHIO-TV in
Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
also offer a half-hour noon newscast on weekends). 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
telescoping radio mast of their
electronic news-gathering van (holding a
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...
antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
for the
remote pickup unit used for
outside broadcasting) contacted 115-
kilovolt high-voltage powerlines while leaving the
Fulton County Jail.
Georgia Power
Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consoli ...
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
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
* Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
* Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...
underneath the van, arced to and broke a water main, and caused a brief
power outage; the vehicle was a
total loss.
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.
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
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, 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. 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 5:00 a.m..
Notable current on-air staff
*
Glenn Burns (
AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) – chief meteorologist
*
Sophia Choi
Sophia Choi (born March 5, 1971) is an American news broadcaster at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.
Biography
Sophia Choi was born in Daegu, Korea. She moved to the U.S. at the age of seven, and attended Hollywood Elementary School in Hollywood ...
– anchor/reporter
*
Linda Stouffer
Cinnamon Linda Stouffer (born August 5, 1970) is an American television news correspondent. She currently co-anchors the early morning news broadcasts on WSB-TV 2, Atlanta, Georgia.
Background
Born in San Marcos, Texas, Stouffer attended the p ...
– weekday morning anchor
*
Eboni Deon – weekend meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
*
Sandra Bookman – anchor/reporter (1989–1998; now at
WABC-TV
WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
)
*
Tom Brokaw – anchor/reporter (1965–1966; retired ''
NBC Nightly News'' anchor and
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
contributor; began his journalism career at WSB-TV)
*
Steve Buckhantz
Steve Buckhantz (born June 19, 1955) is a television play-by-play announcer, most recently for the Washington Wizards.
Biography
Buckhantz began his television announcing career as Sports Director at WTTG, the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox-owned ...
– sports anchor/reporter (now play-by-play announcer for
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
)
*
Dale Cardwell – investigative reporter (1996–2007; 2008
Democratic candidate for
Georgia in the
U.S. Senate, now has own consumer website called trustdale.com)
*
Milo Hamilton – sports director (1968–1976)
*
Ernie Johnson, Jr. – sports anchor/reporter (1982–1989; now sports host for
Turner Sports)
*
Monica Kaufman Pearson – anchor (1975–2012; now at
WANF)
*
Stu Klitenic – sports anchor/reporter (1989–1996; now
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...
Radio Network post-game host)
*
Jovita Moore – anchor/reporter (1998–2021)
*
John Palmer John Palmer may refer to:
People
Politicians
* John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician
*Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician
* John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York
* John Palmer (1842–190 ...
– anchor/reporter (1960–1962; retired from
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
in 2002)
*
Byron Pitts – reporter (1994–1996; now with ABC News)
*
Bob Richards – meteorologist (later at
KSDK)
*
Hal Suit – anchor/news director (1948–1978; former
Republican candidate for
Governor of Georgia
The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legis ...
in 1970)
*
Ukee Washington
Ulysses Samuel “Ukee” Washington III (born August 20, 1958) is an American news co-anchor for the weekday evening newscast on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He currently anchors ''CBS News Philadelphia'' on CBS 3 at 5,6 and 11 PM ...
– sports anchor (now at
KYW-TV
KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WPSG (channel ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed:
WSB's digital channel went on the air on November 21, 1997, making it one of the first regular-service
digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
stations in the country. The over-the-air
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...
2.2 started carrying the
Retro Television Network on January 28, 2008.
Prior to this, the channel was
blank, or later with a small
station ID
Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in th ...
in the lower corner. RTV programming was replaced with MeTV on June 1, 2011. Later on March 25, 2017, MeTV was replaced with
Escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some s ...
and on September 25, 2017, Escape was replaced with
Bounce TV
Bounce TV is an American digital multicast television network owned by Katz Broadcasting, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans", the channel fe ...
.
In 2021, a simulcast of
WKTB-CD's Telemundo subchannel moved to WSB-TV from
WPXA-TV. After WGCL-TV's owner,
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
, 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
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 2, on June 12, 2009, at 12:30 p.m., during a
live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay.
The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting.
...
from the station's
transmitter room on the noon newscast, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.
The switchover was led by the late Don McClellan, one of the station's veteran journalists who was celebrating his 50th year at the station during the switchover. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 39,
using
PSIP to display WSB-TV's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as 2 on digital television receivers.
During late August and into September 2009, the station removed its analog
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
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
spectrum incentive auction, which removed channels 38 to 51 from the television
bandplan, repacking those stations into channels 2 to 36.
Broadcast translators
In March 2009, the station filed applications for two digital fill-in
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
s (both of which also carry the WSB-TV callsign), due to expected loss of signal strength toward the east and northeast of Atlanta as a result of the shortcomings of the
ATSC digital broadcast standard. The station's
Gainesville-
licensed translator broadcasts on UHF channel 20, and began operations on June 26. It is located on the same
radio tower as Cox's
WSRV
WSRV (97.1 FM, "97.1 The River") is a commercial radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia, and serving Metro Atlanta. It is owned by the Cox Media Group. WSRV broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The studios and offices are in the Co ...
FM and
WSBB-FM, and reaches as far into Atlanta's north-northeastern
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
s 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
signal coverage of both stations largely overlap with one another, and are almost entirely within the estimated coverage area of the main station; however,
distributed transmission (
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
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. That translator would cover a significant portion of
northwest Georgia
Northwest Georgia is a region of the state of Georgia in the United States. It includes 12 counties (listed in the section below), which at the 2010 census had a combined population of 753,032. Northwest Georgia includes some of the southernmos ...
from the same tower as
WQTU (102.3 FM) and
WSRM (93.5 FM), and the same site as
WGPB (97.7 FM), W212AR (90.3 FM), and W215BA (90.9 FM). The application was dismissed on August 21, 2019. In October 2010, WSB-TV applied for and later received a
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
for another translator southwest of Atlanta in
Newnan
Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010.
History
Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Cou ...
on channel 17. This translator will be co-located on the same tower as Cox-owned
WALR-FM (104.1), and less than west of another tower holding
WRDG (105.3 FM; which is not owned by Cox).
[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 ]
Out-of-market coverage
In northwest Georgia, WSB-TV was carried in some of the counties covered by the
Chattanooga
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
DMA:
Catoosa,
Dade,
Murray
Murray may refer to:
Businesses
* Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles
* Murrays, an Australian bus company
* Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust
* D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
, and
Walker, but remains on line-ups in
Whitfield County. WSB is carried in the far
northeast Georgia counties in the
Greenville–
Spartanburg–
Asheville DMA in
Elbert,
Franklin,
Hart and
Stephens
Stephens is a surname. It is a patronymic and is recorded in England from 1086.
Notable people with the surname include:
*Alexander H. Stephens (1812–1883), Vice President of the Confederate States of America
*Alison Stephens (1970–2010), Brit ...
counties.
In
central Georgia, WSB-TV was available to subscribers of then-co-owned cable provider
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
in the
Macon area, although ABC programming was usually
blacked out
''Blacked Out'' is a studio album by American country rap duo Moonshine Bandits from California. It was released on July 17, 2015 via Average Joes Entertainment. It features guest appearances from Bubba Sparxxx, Colt Ford, Crucifix, Demun Jone ...
by another local ABC affiliate,
WGXA-DT2. Given the long distance to Middle Georgia, it was likely that WSB-TV was
uplinked to the
AMC-10 TV satellite. WSB was also carried in
Vidalia in the
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
DMA.
In south Georgia (as far south as the
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
border), it was carried on Cox Communications, and virtually all TCI, later
Mediacom systems, with the exception of the
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
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
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
in
Coffee County.
In
western North Carolina
Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United ...
it is carried in the
Cherokee County town of
Murphy, alongside Asheville ABC affiliate
WLOS
WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which prov ...
.
In northeast Alabama, it was carried on the cable systems in Gadsden (
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
) and Anniston (New Channel, now
Sparklight
Cable One, Inc. is an American broadband communications provider. Under the Sparklight brand, it provides service to 21 states and 900,000 residential and business customers. It is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, though it does not serve that ...
) in the 80s.
See also
*
Channel 2 virtual TV stations in the United States
*
Channel 32 digital TV stations in the United States The following television stations broadcast on Digital television, digital channel 32 in the United States:
* K32AB-D in Yuma, Colorado, on virtual channel 4, which rebroadcasts KCNC-TV
* K32AG-D in Parowan, Enoch, etc., Utah
* K32CA-D in Battle Mo ...
References
External links
WSBTV.com– Official website
WSB-TV Newsfilm Collectionfrom the
Digital Library of Georgia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wsb-Tv
ABC network affiliates
Bounce TV affiliates
Dabl affiliates
Comet (TV network) affiliates
Newsy affiliates
SB-TV
Cox Media Group
Television channels and stations established in 1948
1948 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)