WSB-TV

History[edit]

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's WTVR-TV (channel 6). The station was founded by James M. Cox, publisher of The Atlanta Journal, and who also owned WSB radio (AM 750 and 104.5 FM, now on 98.5 FM). Cox Enterprises 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. It also carried some ABC programming from 1948 until 1951.


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


The FCC dismissed the complaints and approved the sale of the channel 8 license to Broadcasting, Inc., in August 1951.^[7] 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 230 miles (370 km) away.^[9] On September 30, WSB-TV officially moved to channel 2; channel 8 returned at 5 p.m. that day as ABC affiliate WLTV.^[10] 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 and reserved for non-commercial educational use; it is now WGTV, a PBS member station, and also the flagship television station of Georgia Public Broadcasting.) Due to the way the 1950–51 transactions were structured legally, WXIA operates under the license originally granted to WSB-TV in 1948, while the present WSB-TV is a new license dating from 1951.^[11]


With the move to channel 2, WSB-TV significantly increased its coverage area; it now provided at least secondary coverage from the Tennessee-Georgia state line to Albany, as far west as the Alabama-Georgia line, and as far east as the outer fringes of Upstate South Carolina. 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.^[12] 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, on the dead-end northern portion of West Peachtree Street which is actually east of Peachtree Street. This is near the Brookwood Hills area, and just east of the "Brookwood split", a highway interchange where the Downtown Connector splits into Interstates 75 and 85 on the north end. The older building was razed shortly after the new building was occupied. The original columns that stood on the front portico of the old building were placed in a garden area alongside the new building. Brand new white columns have been placed inside the glass-enclosed lobby of the newer building. WSB-TV is located less than one block south of the building formerly utilized by WXIA when that station moved its operations to WATL's studios in 2008.


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


In 1972, the station aired the name of a murdered rape 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.


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


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