WAGA (TV)
Encyclopedia
WAGA-TV, virtual channel
5.1 (RF
digital channel 27) is an owned-and-operated
television station
of the News Corporation
-owned Fox
Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia
, United States
. Due to the cable network Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters
on the actual channel 5, the station is placed on cable channel 4 instead.
along with WAGA radio (AM 590, now WDWD; and FM 102.9, now WVEE
at 103.3), all colloquially called "Wagga". It is Atlanta's second-oldest station, signing on seven months after WSB-TV
(channel 2). Originally a CBS
affiliate, channel 5 also carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
from 1949 to 1956. It also shared the ABC
affiliation with WSB-TV until WLWA-TV (channel 11, now WXIA-TV
) signed on in 1951. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
WAGA was the only VHF commercial station in Atlanta still on its original analog channel, with WSB and WXIA both having started on channel 8. That allocation was later occupied by WGTV, with the mentioned stations using channels 2 and 11 respectively later on. Storer sold the WAGA radio stations in 1959; however, channel 5 retained the "-TV" suffix for almost four decades longer until Fox dropped it in 1998 (only to regain the suffix in 2009).
WAGA-TV originally broadcast from TV studios and transmission facilities located at 1018 West Peachtree Street
NW. This building would later became home to pioneering superstation
and leading Atlanta independent station
WTBS (channel 17, now WPCH-TV). Sometime in the mid-1960s, the WAGA stations moved to their current facilities on Briarcliff Road NE on the DeKalb County side of Atlanta. The studio resembles an antebellum
Southern mansion
, a type of architecture
that was typical for Storer's other broadcasting facilities. While this design was somewhat out of place in most of Storer's other markets, it was a perfect fit for Atlanta.
The original WAGA tower is now the site of a different tower for WPCH-TV's analog channel 17 signal, and a backup for WWWQ
FM 99.7 (see list of Atlanta broadcast stations by location#Turner tower). Because Storer Cable became part of Comcast
, the tower (owned by competing cable TV provider Time Warner
, along with WPCH) was removed by October 2009, ending the land lease. The station's studios were used on location in the Matlock
episode, "The Reporter", broadcast in 1987.
In 1985, WAGA, along with the other Storer stations, was sold in a group deal to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a New York-based private equity firm. Two years later, KKR sold the Storer stations to Gillett Communications. After bankruptcy, Gillett restructured in the early 1990s, selling several stations, and changing its name to SCI.
In 1992, SCI filed for bankruptcy and put its stations on the market. In 1993, New World Communications
acquired the SCI stations, including WAGA, with the purchase becoming final on May 25. At the time, New World happened to be based in Atlanta. Because of this, WAGA became New World's flagship station.
children's programming stayed on former Fox O&O WATL-TV (channel 36), because WAGA was interested in airing more news. All but one station would retain its existing syndicated programming lineup. The lone exception was WGNX (channel 46, now WGCL-TV
), which became the new CBS affiliate despite turning it down at first, and sold many of its syndicated shows over to WVEU (channel 69, now WUPA
), which became a charter affiliate of the UPN
network in early 1995 (eventually becoming a UPN O&O). In the meantime, WATL would become independent until it became a charter affiliate of The WB Television Network
in 1995. At that time, Fox finalized the sale of WATL to Qwest Broadcasting (which was controlled by musician Quincy Jones
), which merged with WB part-owner Tribune Company
in 2000. WATL is now owned by the Gannett Company
as part of a duopoly
with WXIA-TV.
The affiliation switch occurred on December 11, 1994. It was originally scheduled for November 27, but was pushed back two weeks while negotiations between New World Communications, Fox and CBS were ongoing. At that point, WAGA's 45-year stint as a CBS affiliate came to an end. Before the switch, WAGA was the longest-tenured CBS affiliate south of Washington, D.C.
; an honor now held by WBTV
in Charlotte, North Carolina
.
With the affiliation switch, WAGA poured more resources into its news department. It added local newscast in morning and early evening timeslots, along with the move of the 11 p.m. newscast to 10 p.m., and the station also ran first-run syndicated talk/reality shows, game shows and movies. It did not run any children's programming except for some educational shows on the weekends. Also, with the affiliation switch, WAGA remained the home station for the Atlanta Falcons
; a year before the affiliation changeover, Fox had then-recently won the television rights to the National Football Conference
of the NFL
– a major reason why it sought an affiliation deal with New World. Since the Falcons play in the NFC, channel 5 had carried most Falcons games since the team's inception. In 2005, WAGA and the Falcons celebrated 40 years together.
Early in 1997, New World merged with Fox. Upon becoming a Fox-owned station (the second in Atlanta), the station rebranded itself as "Fox 5 Atlanta", per the network's branding guidelines. However, as with the other former New World stations that are still owned by Fox, the New World name lives on as channel 5's licensee.
WAGA-TV also has plans for a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 5.1.
Channel 5.2 originally was for the benefit of smaller cable systems which were taking the fullscreen SD signal straight from the air, and did not want problems due to the widescreen
or scan conversion
on 5.1. This lasted until the end of April 2009. The channel then stayed blank with no electronic program guide
data for several weeks until late June, when it again had identical programming, but this time in widescreen. The 704×480i anamorphic format is unusual, as most SDTV channels use a fullscreen 640×480i format. (By comparison, widescreen NTSC
DVD
s use 720×480p.) Channel 5.2 again went blank in late July, but continued to have the same program data as 5.1, until it was deleted entirely on December 3.
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 27 using PSIP
to display WAGA's virtual channel
as 5.
In 2009, the station's first chief broadcast engineer from 1949, Paul Cram (99 years of age at the time; now deceased), was given the duty of permanently turning off the analog transmitter live on the air at 12:30 p.m. on June 12. WSB-TV, WXIA-TV, and WATL also went off the air at the same time, with WSB and WXIA also live in their transmitter rooms like WAGA.
. That county is part of the Chattanooga DMA.
In the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WAGA once had carriage in Aiken
and Clemson
in South Carolina.
affiliate KRON-TV
in San Francisco); however as is standard with Fox stations that carry early evening weekend newscasts, WAGA's Saturday and Sunday 6 p.m. newscasts are subject to delay due to sports coverage.
For many years as a CBS affiliate, the station called its newscasts 5 News Scene. In the 1980s, this changed to Eyewitness News
. In 1992, WAGA dropped CBS This Morning in favor of a locally produced morning show, "Good Day Atlanta". With the 1994 affiliation switch to Fox, WAGA poured more resources into its news department. Channel 5's news department was already very well respected; for most of its history it was a solid runner-up to longtime leader WSB-TV, but from the 1970s until early 2009 had to fend off a spirited challenge from WXIA-TV. As of mid-2009, with plummeting ratings at WXIA, WAGA-TV has returned to a solid second-place position in the Atlanta news market. After affiliating with Fox, channel 5 increased its news output to 40 hours a week.
On March 26, 2007, WAGA debuted a new logo and set, bringing it in line with other Fox O&O's which had made similar re-designs in the period.
On January 14, 2008, WAGA launched a new 11 p.m. newscast called Fox 5 News Edge hosted by former WSVN
anchor Tom Haynes; it is similar to the 11 p.m. newscast on its sister station
WTVT
in Tampa and other Fox O&O stations across the country. On March 16, 2009 WAGA began producing its newscast in high definition, becoming the last major network-affiliated station in the market to do so behind WGCL, WSB, and WXIA; this was done with the updated FOX O&O HD graphics, that also debuted during the noon newscast.
On September 14, 2009, WAGA expanded its morning newscast to four hours from 5-10 a.m., with an hour-long 9 a.m. extension called Good Day Xtra, hosted by Karen Graham and Jeff Hill; it is the only local news broadcast in the Atlanta market in that timeslot. On April 1, 2010, WAGA expanded its morning news by an extra half-hour, now running for 5½ hours beginning at 4:30 a.m., becoming the first Atlanta station to do so; the extension was made in order to attract those who wake up go to work earlier than most; the additional half-hour competes against national early morning newscasts airing on WXIA, WGCL and WSB. As of September, 2010, WAGA dropped the Fox 5 Morning News and Good Day Xtra brandings, in favor of keeping the Good Day Atlanta branding.
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....
5.1 (RF
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
digital channel 27) is an owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
of the 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...
-owned 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...
Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Due to the cable network Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters
AIB TV - Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters is an interfaith, spiritual and educational television and internet network. Television can be viewed in 19 metro Atlanta Counties on Comcast Channel 5, AT&T U-verse Channel 6 and Charter Communications Channel 22. Programming can also be viewed on VOD at...
on the actual channel 5, the station is placed on cable channel 4 instead.
As a CBS affiliate
WAGA-TV first began operations on March 8, 1949. It was originally owned by Storer BroadcastingStorer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the northeast United States. It was incorporated in Ohio in 1927, and sold its broadcasting properties in 1983.-1920s—1940s:...
along with WAGA radio (AM 590, now WDWD; and FM 102.9, now WVEE
WVEE (FM)
WVEE is one of the most popular urban-formatted radio stations in the country and the highest-rated station of the Atlanta radio stations by Arbitron. WVEE has Atlanta as its city of license, and is owned by CBS Radio, a subsidiary of the CBS Corporation...
at 103.3), all colloquially called "Wagga". It is Atlanta's second-oldest station, signing on seven months after WSB-TV
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
(channel 2). Originally a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate, channel 5 also carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
from 1949 to 1956. It also shared the 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...
affiliation with WSB-TV until WLWA-TV (channel 11, now WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV, virtual channel 11.1 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Atlanta, Georgia. Popularly known by its 11 Alive moniker, WXIA is owned by the Gannett Company in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL...
) signed on in 1951. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
WAGA was the only VHF commercial station in Atlanta still on its original analog channel, with WSB and WXIA both having started on channel 8. That allocation was later occupied by WGTV, with the mentioned stations using channels 2 and 11 respectively later on. Storer sold the WAGA radio stations in 1959; however, channel 5 retained the "-TV" suffix for almost four decades longer until Fox dropped it in 1998 (only to regain the suffix in 2009).
WAGA-TV originally broadcast from TV studios and transmission facilities located at 1018 West Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is the main street of Atlanta. The city grew up around the street, and many of its historical and municipal buildings are or were located along it...
NW. This building would later became home to pioneering superstation
Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
and leading Atlanta independent station
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
WTBS (channel 17, now WPCH-TV). Sometime in the mid-1960s, the WAGA stations moved to their current facilities on Briarcliff Road NE on the DeKalb County side of Atlanta. The studio resembles an antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
Southern mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
, a type of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
that was typical for Storer's other broadcasting facilities. While this design was somewhat out of place in most of Storer's other markets, it was a perfect fit for Atlanta.
The original WAGA tower is now the site of a different tower for WPCH-TV's analog channel 17 signal, and a backup for WWWQ
WWWQ (FM)
WNNX is an Atlanta radio station that is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. The station broadcasts from the same building as its other Cumulus Atlanta sister stations WWWQ FM 99.7 and 99X...
FM 99.7 (see list of Atlanta broadcast stations by location#Turner tower). Because Storer Cable became part of Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
, the tower (owned by competing cable TV provider Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, along with WPCH) was removed by October 2009, ending the land lease. The station's studios were used on location in the Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
episode, "The Reporter", broadcast in 1987.
In 1985, WAGA, along with the other Storer stations, was sold in a group deal to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a New York-based private equity firm. Two years later, KKR sold the Storer stations to Gillett Communications. After bankruptcy, Gillett restructured in the early 1990s, selling several stations, and changing its name to SCI.
In 1992, SCI filed for bankruptcy and put its stations on the market. In 1993, New World Communications
New World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
acquired the SCI stations, including WAGA, with the purchase becoming final on May 25. At the time, New World happened to be based in Atlanta. Because of this, WAGA became New World's flagship station.
As a Fox station
In 1994, New World announced an affiliation agreement with Fox; as part of that agreement, Fox's parent company News Corporation acquired a 20 percent stake in New World. This deal resulted in most of New World's stations, including WAGA, switching to Fox beginning in September 1994. However, as in most New World markets, Fox KidsFox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
children's programming stayed on former Fox O&O WATL-TV (channel 36), because WAGA was interested in airing more news. All but one station would retain its existing syndicated programming lineup. The lone exception was WGNX (channel 46, now WGCL-TV
WGCL-TV
WGCL-TV, virtual channel 46.1 is the CBS-affiliated television station serving the Atlanta, Georgia area. Its city of license is Atlanta, and the station is owned by Meredith Corporation, making it the largest-market CBS station not owned by the network...
), which became the new CBS affiliate despite turning it down at first, and sold many of its syndicated shows over to WVEU (channel 69, now WUPA
WUPA
WUPA, channel 69, is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia. An owned and operated station of the The CW Television Network, it identifies itself as "CW 69". It is owned by CBS Corporation, which is half-owner of The CW. Founded November 10, 1980, the station is broadcast locally in...
), which became a charter affiliate 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...
network in early 1995 (eventually becoming a UPN O&O). In the meantime, WATL would become independent until it became a charter affiliate of The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
in 1995. At that time, Fox finalized the sale of WATL to Qwest Broadcasting (which was controlled by musician Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
), which merged with WB part-owner Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
in 2000. WATL is now owned by the Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
as part of a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
with WXIA-TV.
The affiliation switch occurred on December 11, 1994. It was originally scheduled for November 27, but was pushed back two weeks while negotiations between New World Communications, Fox and CBS were ongoing. At that point, WAGA's 45-year stint as a CBS affiliate came to an end. Before the switch, WAGA was the longest-tenured CBS affiliate south of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; an honor now held by WBTV
WBTV
WBTV, channel 3 , is the CBS affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is one of two flagship stations of Raycom Media. WBTV's studios are located off Morehead Street just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter is located in north-central Gaston County, North Carolina...
in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
.
With the affiliation switch, WAGA poured more resources into its news department. It added local newscast in morning and early evening timeslots, along with the move of the 11 p.m. newscast to 10 p.m., and the station also ran first-run syndicated talk/reality shows, game shows and movies. It did not run any children's programming except for some educational shows on the weekends. Also, with the affiliation switch, WAGA remained the home station for the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
; a year before the affiliation changeover, Fox had then-recently won the television rights to the National Football Conference
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
– a major reason why it sought an affiliation deal with New World. Since the Falcons play in the NFC, channel 5 had carried most Falcons games since the team's inception. In 2005, WAGA and the Falcons celebrated 40 years together.
Early in 1997, New World merged with Fox. Upon becoming a Fox-owned station (the second in Atlanta), the station rebranded itself as "Fox 5 Atlanta", per the network's branding guidelines. However, as with the other former New World stations that are still owned by Fox, the New World name lives on as channel 5's licensee.
Digital television
The station's digital signal on channel 27 was previously multiplexed:| Channels | Programming |
|---|---|
| 5.1 | Main WAGA programming / FOX |
WAGA-TV also has plans for a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 5.1.
Channel 5.2 originally was for the benefit of smaller cable systems which were taking the fullscreen SD signal straight from the air, and did not want problems due to the widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
or scan conversion
Scan conversion
Scan conversion or scan rate converting is a video processing technique for changing the vertical / horizontal scan frequency of video signal for different purposes and applications...
on 5.1. This lasted until the end of April 2009. The channel then stayed blank with no electronic program guide
Electronic program guide
Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming...
data for several weeks until late June, when it again had identical programming, but this time in widescreen. The 704×480i anamorphic format is unusual, as most SDTV channels use a fullscreen 640×480i format. (By comparison, widescreen NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s use 720×480p.) Channel 5.2 again went blank in late July, but continued to have the same program data as 5.1, until it was deleted entirely on December 3.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WAGA shut down its analog signal, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United StatesDTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 27 using 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...
to display WAGA's 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....
as 5.
In 2009, the station's first chief broadcast engineer from 1949, Paul Cram (99 years of age at the time; now deceased), was given the duty of permanently turning off the analog transmitter live on the air at 12:30 p.m. on June 12. WSB-TV, WXIA-TV, and WATL also went off the air at the same time, with WSB and WXIA also live in their transmitter rooms like WAGA.
Out of market carriage and CATV
WAGA is carried in Cherokee County, North CarolinaCherokee County, North Carolina
- Transportation :Cherokee County is well known in North Carolina as the westernmost of the state's 100 counties. Several US and state highways serve the county, linking it with other regions of North Carolina, along with the neighboring states of Georgia and Tennessee.US 64 - the longest highway...
. That county is part of the Chattanooga DMA.
In the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WAGA once had carriage in Aiken
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...
and Clemson
Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson is a college town located in Pickens County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 11,939 at the 2000 census and center of an urban cluster with a total population of 42,199...
in South Carolina.
News operation
WAGA broadcasts a total of 55 hours of local news a week (ten hours on weekdays, four hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays), the most of anystation in the state of Georgia and the second most in the United States (behind MyNetworkTVMyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
in San Francisco); however as is standard with Fox stations that carry early evening weekend newscasts, WAGA's Saturday and Sunday 6 p.m. newscasts are subject to delay due to sports coverage.
For many years as a CBS affiliate, the station called its newscasts 5 News Scene. In the 1980s, this changed to Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
. In 1992, WAGA dropped CBS This Morning in favor of a locally produced morning show, "Good Day Atlanta". With the 1994 affiliation switch to Fox, WAGA poured more resources into its news department. Channel 5's news department was already very well respected; for most of its history it was a solid runner-up to longtime leader WSB-TV, but from the 1970s until early 2009 had to fend off a spirited challenge from WXIA-TV. As of mid-2009, with plummeting ratings at WXIA, WAGA-TV has returned to a solid second-place position in the Atlanta news market. After affiliating with Fox, channel 5 increased its news output to 40 hours a week.
On March 26, 2007, WAGA debuted a new logo and set, bringing it in line with other Fox O&O's which had made similar re-designs in the period.
On January 14, 2008, WAGA launched a new 11 p.m. newscast called Fox 5 News Edge hosted by former WSVN
WSVN
WSVN, channel 7, is a television station located in Miami, Florida, USA. WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company. The station has its studio facilities located in North Bay Village and transmitter based in north Miami-Dade County.WSVN operates a Key...
anchor Tom Haynes; it is similar to the 11 p.m. newscast on its sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
WTVT
WTVT
WTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the News Corporation...
in Tampa and other Fox O&O stations across the country. On March 16, 2009 WAGA began producing its newscast in high definition, becoming the last major network-affiliated station in the market to do so behind WGCL, WSB, and WXIA; this was done with the updated FOX O&O HD graphics, that also debuted during the noon newscast.
On September 14, 2009, WAGA expanded its morning newscast to four hours from 5-10 a.m., with an hour-long 9 a.m. extension called Good Day Xtra, hosted by Karen Graham and Jeff Hill; it is the only local news broadcast in the Atlanta market in that timeslot. On April 1, 2010, WAGA expanded its morning news by an extra half-hour, now running for 5½ hours beginning at 4:30 a.m., becoming the first Atlanta station to do so; the extension was made in order to attract those who wake up go to work earlier than most; the additional half-hour competes against national early morning newscasts airing on WXIA, WGCL and WSB. As of September, 2010, WAGA dropped the Fox 5 Morning News and Good Day Xtra brandings, in favor of keeping the Good Day Atlanta branding.
Newscast titles
- The World On Flight (1949–1953)
- The Texaco Newscast (1953–1963)
- Panorama News (1960–1969)
- The BIG News with Jim Axel (1963–1965)
- Marlboro News Report (1963–1967)
- TV-5 News (1967–1969)
- 5 News Scene (1969–1981)
- TV-5/Channel 5 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1981–1997) - Good Day Atlanta (morning newscast; 1992–present)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
Primetime (10 p.m. newscast; 1994–1999) - Fox 5 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1997–1999) - Fox 5 News (1999–present)
Station slogans
- The Best is Right Here on TV-5 / TV-5 is Easy on the Eyes (1973–1974; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- See The Best...TV-5 (1974–1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Catch the Brightest Stars on TV-5 (1975–1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- 5 Belongs (mid 1970s–1980)
- TV-5, We're the Hot Ones (1976–1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- There's Something in the Air, on TV-5 (1977–1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- TV-5, Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978–1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We're Looking Good on TV-5 (1979–1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Looking Good Together, Channel 5 (1980–1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Reach for the Stars on Channel 5 (1981–1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Great Moments on Channel 5 (1982–1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- The News Specialists (1982–1986)
- We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 5 (1983–1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- You and Channel 5, We've Got the Touch (1984–1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch on Channel 5 (1985–1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Share The Spirit on Channel 5 (1986–1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Good News, Atlanta! (1986–1988; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Good News")
- Channel 5 Spirit, Oh Yes (1987–1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Dedicated, Determined, Dependable (1988–present)
- You Can Feel It on Channel 5 (1988-1989; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Atlanta, Get Ready for Channel 5 (1989–1990; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Get Ready for Channel 5 (1990–1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- The Look of Atlanta is Channel 5 (1991–1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- This is CBS, on Channel 5 (1992–1993; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- It's All Right Here (1993–1994; promotional slogan)
- Just Watch (1994–1996; promotion for the switch to Fox)
- Don't Look, Just Watch (1996–1999)
- The Most Powerful Name in Local News (2007–present)
- So Entertaining, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
- So Fox 5 (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
- Fox 5 News Edge, So Informative, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for news promotion)
- The Fox 5 Weather Authority, So Accurate, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for weather slogan)
- Fox 5 Sports, So In Your Face, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for sports slogan)
- Fox 5 Morning News, So Convenient, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for morning news promotion)
- Fox 5 News at 10:00, So Dependable, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for 10 p.m. news promotion)
- Good Day Extra, So Fresh, So Fox (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign used for 9 a.m. news promotion)
- Fox 5 Weekends, So Convenient, So Fox (2009–present; promotion for weekend programming)
Anchors
- Gurvir Dhindsa - weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (5-9 a.m.)
- Karen Graham - weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (4:30-5 & 9-10 a.m.)
- Mark Hayes - weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (5-7 a.m.)
- Buck Lanford - weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (7-9 a.m.)
- Denise Dillon - weekend mornings
- Lisa Rayam - weekdays at noon and 5 p.m.
- Russ Spencer - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Amanda Davis - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Tom Haynes - weeknights at 11 p.m.
- Deidra Dukes - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Doug Evans - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.
Fox 5 Storm Team (formerly known as "Weather Authority")
- Ken Cook (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. - Joanne Feldman (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (4:30-10 a.m.) fill-in weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11 p.m. - Jeff Hill (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekdays at noon, weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; fill-in weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Steve Milone (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings, also weather producer
- Cheryl White (AMS member; NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
member) - fill in meteorologist;
Sports team
- Ken Rodriguez - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
- Chris Clark - sports anchor and reporter, weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Buck Lanford - sports reporter and producer
- Bill Hartman - High 5 sports reporter, fill in sports anchor
Sky Fox Traffic
- Cheryl White - Sky Fox traffic reporter weekday mornings "Good Day Atlanta" (4:30-9 a.m.)
Reporters
- Portia Bruner - general assignment reporter
- Darryl Carver - general assignment reporter
- George Franco - general assignment reporter
- Justin Gray - general assignment reporter
- Julia Harding - general assignment reporter
- Mark Hyman - general assignment reporter
- Tacoma Perry - general assignment reporter
- Kaitlyn Pratt - general assignment reporter
- Aungelique Proctor - general assignment reporter
- Chris Shaw - general assignment reporter
- Marc Teichner - general assignment reporter
- Graham Carroll - "SkyFox 5" reporter/photographer
- Doug Evans - "Georgia's Most Wanted" correspondent
- Beth Galvin - health reporter
- Morse Diggs - political reporter (city and county)
- Paul Yates - political reporter (state and national)
I-Team
- Dana Fowle - investigative reporter
- Dale Russell - senior investigative reporter
- Randy Travis - investigative reporter
The Georgia Gang
- Dick Williams - moderator
- Jeff Dickerson - panelist
- Phil Kent - panelist; also substitute moderator
- Alexis Scott - panelist
- Martha Zoller - panelist; also substitute moderator
Notable former on-air staff
- Jim Axel (anchor/reporter, 1962-1996; deceased)
- John DoyleJohn Doyle (announcer)John Doyle is a professional announcer whose voice was most notably used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology on their radio clock WWV, a "time and temperature" voice for the Audichron Company.and others....
(previously with WGCL-TVWGCL-TVWGCL-TV, virtual channel 46.1 is the CBS-affiliated television station serving the Atlanta, Georgia area. Its city of license is Atlanta, and the station is owned by Meredith Corporation, making it the largest-market CBS station not owned by the network...
) - Jeff HullingerJeff HullingerJeff Hullinger is a multi-Emmy Award-winning news and sports anchor from Atlanta. Jeff is now with WXIA TV NBC Atlanta serving as an anchor/reporter. He has worked as the morning drive news anchor on B98.5 WSB-FM, and the afternoon drive news anchor on News/Talk 750 WSB Radio...
(now political reporter/anchor at WXIA) - Sachi KotoSachi KotoSachi Koto was a news anchor on CNN Headline News for 16 years, usually during weekend evenings, until her contract expired in July 2005. At age 54, CNN opted not to renew her contract. She is also a founder of WWAAAC ....
(previously with CNN Headline News) - Don NaylorDon NaylorDon Naylor , born Donald Covey Naylor in Millwood, Texas, was a writer, producer, singer and radio personality, a radio and television program director and an advertising creative director throughout a fifty-year career in Atlanta, Georgia.Naylor worked at WGST Radio and later WAGA radio and...
(deceased) - Deborah NorvilleDeborah NorvilleDeborah Norville is an American television broadcaster and journalist. Since 1995 she has been host of the syndicated American television program Inside Edition...
(currently host of syndicated newsmagazine Inside EditionInside EditionInside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
) - Robin Roberts (currently co-host of Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
on ABC) - Dan RonanDan RonanDan Ronan is the Senior Director of Communications, Media Relations and Marketing at the American Bus Association, a Washington D.C. trade association representing the Motorcoach, Tourism and Travel Industry...
(retired from broadcasting in 2008; now Senior Director of Communications, American Bus Association, Washington D.C.) - Forrest SawyerForrest SawyerForrest Sawyer is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with ABC News, where he frequently anchored ABC World News Tonight and Nightline and reported for all ABC News broadcasts...
(later with ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, now founder and president of Freefall Productions) - Guy Sharpe (meteorologist, 1968-1977; deceased)
- Paul Shields (anchor/reporter/news director, 1965-1991; deceased)
- Richard WarnerRichard T. WarnerRichard T. Warner is the host of "Georgia's Business" on Georgia Public Television and the Chief Executive Officer of What's Up Interactive.-Biography:...
(now host of Georgia's Business on Georgia Public Television) - Judy WoodruffJudy WoodruffJudy Woodruff is an American television news anchor and journalist.Woodruff is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Broadcast journalism career:...
(now with the PBS NewsHour)