Jump to content

WAGA-TV

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CoolKatt number 99999 (talk | contribs) at 04:35, 25 July 2006 (For the last time, I AM NOT A KNOWN VANDAL. I AM ONLY TRYING TO MAKE THESE ARTICLES BETTER.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For broadcast stations that previously used the WAGA call sign, see WAGA (disambiguation)

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.

WAGA ("FOX5 Atlanta") is the Fox-owned and operated television station (O&O) in Atlanta, Georgia. The station's transmitter is co-located with its studios on Briarcliff Road Northeast in Atlanta, just west of Emory University.

History

WAGA first began operations on March 8, 1949. It was the second television station in Atlanta, after WSB-TV (then on channel 8). It was originally a CBS affiliate, with DuMont as a secondary affiliation from 1949 to 1955. It also shared ABC with WSB-TV until WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV) signed on in 1951. It is the only VHF commercial station in Atlanta still on its original channel. It was originally owned by Storer Broadcasting, which also owned WAGA-AM 1480 (now WYZE-AM) and WAGA-FM 102.9 (now WVEE-FM 103.3).

From the time WAGA was launched, it broadcasted from the original studios and transmission facilities located at 1018 Peachtree Street NW. This building would later became home to cable television pioneer WTBS channel 17. In 1966 or sometime after that, WAGA moved its broadcast facilities to its present-day location, which has an unusual design motif for a TV station's facilities. The building is a Georgia/Southern style mansion.

For many years, the station called its newscasts 5 News Scene. This would change over to Eyewitness News in the 1980s.

In 1984, WAGA, along with the other Storer stations, was sold in group deal to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a New York-based private equity firm. Two years later, KKR sold the Storer stations to Gillett. After bankruptcy, Gillett restructured in the early 1990s, selling several stations, and changing its name to SCI TV.

For many years, WAGA preempted many of CBS' daytime programs, along with an occasional primetime show. For several years until 1986, the pre-empted CBS shows were aired on local independent (now WB affiliate) WATL channel 36. After WATL became a Fox affiliate, WATL dropped the CBS shows, which were moved to WVEU (channel 69, now WUPA). Several years later, the pre-empted CBS shows were moved to WTLK (channel 14, now WPXA) in 1992.

In 1992, WAGA began pre-empting CBS This Morning in favor of a locally produced morning show, "Good Day Atlanta". Later that year, SCI would file for bankruptcy, putting their stations up for sale.

In 1993, New World Communications acquired the SCI stations, including WAGA. At the time, New World happened to be based out of Atlanta. Because of this WAGA was made the flagship station of New World for a short period of time.

In 1994, New World announced an affiliation agreement with Fox. This deal came because Fox had won the rights to air NFC football games from CBS, and Fox desired more VHF affiliates. This deal resulted in most of New World's stations, including WAGA, switching to Fox beginning in September 1994. However, in most markets, Fox Kids would stay on the existing Fox affiliate, because these stations were not interested in airing Fox Kids but rather more news. For example, in Atlanta, Fox Kids stayed on WATL instead of moving to WAGA. All but one station would retain their 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, 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 1995 when it became a charter affiliate of The WB Television Network. 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.

The affiliation switch occurred in December 1994. At that point, WAGA's 45-year stint as a CBS affiliate came to an end. Before the switch, WAGA was the longest running CBS affiliate south of Washington, D.C. -- an honor now held by WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the new Fox station, WAGA began to air over 40 hours of local news a week -- as it was expected being that WAGA did not air Fox Kids, as well as Fox's push for its affiliates to air more news. 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 Falcons, as the station had carried them as a CBS affiliate since the team's inception -- the Falcons had played in the NFC West division since 1970 (they are now in the NFC South). In 2005, WAGA and the Falcons celebrated 40 years together for most regular season games.

Early in 1997, New World sold all of its Fox affiliates, including WAGA, to Fox, while selling its two NBC affiliates -- KNSD in San Diego, and WVTM-TV in Birmingham (the latter of which is now owned by Media General) -- to NBC itself. Upon becoming a Fox O&O (the second in Atlanta), the station adopted the "FOX5" branding, per the network's branding guidelines. However, at the end of WAGA's newscast, the copyright notice says the station is still owned by "New World Communications of Atlanta" -- similar situations exist in most other ex-New World markets.

Former logos

Newscasts

In the late 1990s, WAGA changed its news branding to FOX5 News. However, it still runs a promo verbally encouraging viewers to "call Eyewitness News" if they see news happen.

Weekdays

  • FOX5 Morning News 5-7AM
  • Good Day Atlanta 7-9AM
  • FOX5 News at Noon 12-12:30PM
  • FOX5 News at 5PM 5-6PM
  • FOX5 News at 6PM 6-7PM
  • FOX5 News at 10PM 10-11PM

Weekends

  • FOX5 News at 6PM 6-7PM (Saturdays) & 6-6:30PM (Sundays)
  • FOX5 News at 10PM 10-11PM

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WAGA-TV&oldid=65692821"