WABM
Encyclopedia
WABM, channel 68, is the My Network TV affiliate for the Birmingham
/Anniston
/Gadsden
/Tuscaloosa, Alabama
television market. WABM is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which also owns the market's CW
affiliate, WTTO
. WABM broadcast in ATSC digital format on channel 36. Through the use of PSIP
technology, the stations virtual channel
number displays as "68" on digital televisions and digital converter boxes. The station can also be seen on Bright House Networks
channel 2 and HD channel 629.
, as well as programming from the Southern Baptist Convention
's ACTS Network. The original studios were located on the campus of Samford University
.
The station struggled at first against Fox
affiliate WDBB/WNAL
and the market's leading independent, WTTO. Due to poor ratings, it began airing home shopping programming and infomercials with religious shows part of the day.
In 1990 the station was sold to Krypton Broadcasting, who changed the call letters to WABM and switched the station to a general entertainment format with old movies, dramas, and westerns. In 1991, WDBB/WNAL ended their own programming schedule, and began simulcasting WTTO. As part of the deal, WDBB/WNAL merged their stronger shows onto WTTO's schedule. This resulted in WTTO owning more shows than it could air, so it sold to WABM some classic sitcoms and cartoons that WTTO would have no room to keep.
Despite a strong format, WABM trailed WTTO in the ratings. WABM had a disadvantage when it came to signal coverage. Due to the acquisition of WDBB/WNAL, WTTO covered Birmingham as well as Gadsden
and Tuscaloosa with a city-grade signal. WABM covered only Birmingham with a city-grade signal while Tuscaloosa and Gadsden received a grade B signal. WTTO also had the Fox affiliation.
WABM also suffered because Krypton was going through financial problems. Krypton sold WABM's sister stations in West Palm Beach (WTVX
, channel 34) and Jacksonville (WNFT, channel 47, now WTEV-TV
), then in 1993 WABM itself was sold to a small ownership group which immediately began a local marketing agreement
with WTTO, which was then owned by Abry. Under this local marketing agreement, WTTO and WABM pooled shows, the stations ran separate schedules, and WTTO sold ad time on WABM.
In early 1995, WABM became one of the charter affiliates of the UPN
television network. By that time, the Sinclair Broadcast Group
had bought out Abry, and continued the LMA. It remained a UPN affiliate even through the Big Switch of 1996 which saw longtime ABC
affiliate WBRC
switch over to Fox. In March 1998, Sinclair and UPN had a fallout, and as a result, WABM dropped UPN for nearly 6 months, airing syndicated movies instead. By this time, WABM returned to being an independent. Sinclair and UPN would eventually come to an agreement, and WABM once again became a UPN affiliate. Sinclair would buy WABM outright in 2001. Over the years, the station moved away from classic sitcoms, movies, and syndicated cartoons and aired more recent sitcoms as well as talk shows, reality shows, and court shows. It still continued to air cartoons on weekday mornings until the fall of 2003 when UPN ended its cartoon block nationally.
On March 1, 2006, Sinclair and Fox announced that WABM would become an affiliate of News Corporation
's second U.S. broadcast network, My Network TV, in the fall of 2006, when UPN and the WB merged to form the CW Television Network
, which is seen on WTTO. WABM was also considering taking Fox's 4Kids TV
Saturday Morning kids block. WTTO had aired Fox Kids after losing the main Fox affiliation from 1996 until 2000, after that, it did not even air on WBRC, a situation that continued as 4Kids TV. This took effect on September 5, 2006.
The station now airs FOX's newest Saturday morning block, Weekend Marketplace
, Which WBRC-TV does not air, From 9AM-11AM Saturday mornings.
Effective February 17, 2009 at 11:59 P.M. WABM ceased its analog broadcast on channel 68, and now broadcasts exclusively in digital on channel 36.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
/Anniston
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
/Gadsden
Gadsden, Alabama
The city of Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama, and it is located about 65 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,459. Gadsden is closely associated with the...
/Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
television market. WABM is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which also owns the market's CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate, WTTO
WTTO
WTTO is a CW affiliate for the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa, Alabama market. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 28, however through the use of PSIP technology, digital television receivers display WTTO's virtual channel as 21. It is licensed to Homewood, a Birmingham suburb...
. WABM broadcast in ATSC digital format on channel 36. Through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
technology, the stations virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
number displays as "68" on digital televisions and digital converter boxes. The station can also be seen on Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
channel 2 and HD channel 629.
History
It started in 1986 as WCAJ, a religious station. Some of the shows that initially aired on the station were Catholic shows from the nearby Eternal Word Television NetworkEternal Word Television Network
The Eternal Word Television Network is an American cable television network which presents Catholic-themed programming. It was founded in 1980 by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA...
, as well as programming from the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
's ACTS Network. The original studios were located on the campus of Samford University
Samford University
Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....
.
The station struggled at first against Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate WDBB/WNAL
WPXH
WPXH-TV, digital channel 45, is the Ion Television network affiliate for the Birmingham/Gadsden/Anniston/Tuscaloosa market. The station's city of license is Gadsden. The station is owned by ION Media Networks...
and the market's leading independent, WTTO. Due to poor ratings, it began airing home shopping programming and infomercials with religious shows part of the day.
In 1990 the station was sold to Krypton Broadcasting, who changed the call letters to WABM and switched the station to a general entertainment format with old movies, dramas, and westerns. In 1991, WDBB/WNAL ended their own programming schedule, and began simulcasting WTTO. As part of the deal, WDBB/WNAL merged their stronger shows onto WTTO's schedule. This resulted in WTTO owning more shows than it could air, so it sold to WABM some classic sitcoms and cartoons that WTTO would have no room to keep.
Despite a strong format, WABM trailed WTTO in the ratings. WABM had a disadvantage when it came to signal coverage. Due to the acquisition of WDBB/WNAL, WTTO covered Birmingham as well as Gadsden
Gadsden, Alabama
The city of Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama, and it is located about 65 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,459. Gadsden is closely associated with the...
and Tuscaloosa with a city-grade signal. WABM covered only Birmingham with a city-grade signal while Tuscaloosa and Gadsden received a grade B signal. WTTO also had the Fox affiliation.
WABM also suffered because Krypton was going through financial problems. Krypton sold WABM's sister stations in West Palm Beach (WTVX
WTVX
WTVX is the CW-affiliated television station for West Palm Beach, Florida that is licensed to Fort Pierce. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter southwest of Palm City and I-95 in Martin County...
, channel 34) and Jacksonville (WNFT, channel 47, now WTEV-TV
WTEV-TV
WTEV-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Florida's First Coast licensed to Jacksonville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Hogan Road in the city's Southside section. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high...
), then in 1993 WABM itself was sold to a small ownership group which immediately began a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
with WTTO, which was then owned by Abry. Under this local marketing agreement, WTTO and WABM pooled shows, the stations ran separate schedules, and WTTO sold ad time on WABM.
In early 1995, WABM became one of the charter affiliates of the UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
television network. By that time, the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
had bought out Abry, and continued the LMA. It remained a UPN affiliate even through the Big Switch of 1996 which saw longtime ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WBRC
WBRC
WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area. The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham...
switch over to Fox. In March 1998, Sinclair and UPN had a fallout, and as a result, WABM dropped UPN for nearly 6 months, airing syndicated movies instead. By this time, WABM returned to being an independent. Sinclair and UPN would eventually come to an agreement, and WABM once again became a UPN affiliate. Sinclair would buy WABM outright in 2001. Over the years, the station moved away from classic sitcoms, movies, and syndicated cartoons and aired more recent sitcoms as well as talk shows, reality shows, and court shows. It still continued to air cartoons on weekday mornings until the fall of 2003 when UPN ended its cartoon block nationally.
On March 1, 2006, Sinclair and Fox announced that WABM would become an affiliate of News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
's second U.S. broadcast network, My Network TV, in the fall of 2006, when UPN and the WB merged to form the CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, which is seen on WTTO. WABM was also considering taking Fox's 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
Saturday Morning kids block. WTTO had aired Fox Kids after losing the main Fox affiliation from 1996 until 2000, after that, it did not even air on WBRC, a situation that continued as 4Kids TV. This took effect on September 5, 2006.
The station now airs FOX's newest Saturday morning block, Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace is a two hour Saturday morning block of paid programming airing on Fox that began airing on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV Saturday morning cartoon block that aired using time leased by 4Kids from Fox from 2002 until the last Saturday of 2008...
, Which WBRC-TV does not air, From 9AM-11AM Saturday mornings.
Effective February 17, 2009 at 11:59 P.M. WABM ceased its analog broadcast on channel 68, and now broadcasts exclusively in digital on channel 36.