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| Channels | |
| Branding | WTVM News Leader 9 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WLTZ,WXTX | |
| History | |
First air date | October 6, 1953 (72 years ago) (1953-10-06) |
Former call signs | WDAK-TV (1953–1956) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Television Martin (from Martin Theaters, former owner) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 595 |
| ERP | 30.99kW |
| HAAT | 554 m (1,818 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°19′16.4″N84°47′28.2″W / 32.321222°N 84.791167°W /32.321222; -84.791167 |
| Translator(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WTVM (channel 9) is atelevision station inColumbus, Georgia, United States, affiliated withABC. It is owned byGray Media, which provides certain services to dualNBC/CW+ affiliateWLTZ (channel 38, owned bySagamoreHill Broadcasting)[2] andFox affiliateWXTX (channel 54, owned byAmerican Spirit Media) under separateshared services agreements (SSAs). WTVM and WXTX share studios (which also housemaster control and most internal operations for WLTZ) on Wynnton Road (GA 22) in theDinglewood section of Columbus; WTVM'stransmitter is located inCusseta, Georgia.
The station signed on for the first time on October 6, 1953, as WDAK-TV airing ananalog signal onUHF channel 28.[3] It was a primaryNBC station with a secondary ABC affiliation. WDAK was the first television station in the Columbusmarket (beating rivalWRBL by just over a month) and is the fifth-oldest in the state of Georgia and second-oldest outsideAtlanta. During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with theNTA Film Network.[4][unreliable source?] It was originally owned by Allen Woodall Sr., owner ofWDAK radio (540 AM), and Martin Theaters (forerunner ofCarmike Cinemas andAMC Theatres). Studios were located on 1st Avenue in downtown Columbus where Carmike's corporate headquarters were until December 2016.
Woodall sold his interest in the station to Martin Theaters in 1956 and the call letters were changed to the current WTVM. It moved to VHF channel 9 in 1960 in a three-way switch-and-move approved by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) in which WRBL moved from channel 4 to channel 3 andWTVY-TV inDothan, Alabama, moved from channel 9 to channel 4. The moves were permitted because two years earlier Martin Theaters had bought WROM-TV inRome, Georgia, and moved it 70 miles (113 km) north toChattanooga, Tennessee, while changing its calls toWTVC. Eventually, WTVM's old channel 28 allotment was occupied byGeorgia Public Broadcasting'sWJSP-TV.
On the same day WTVM moved to channel 9, it switched its primary affiliation to ABC, while relegating NBC to secondary status shared with WRBL. This was very unusual for a then two-station market, especially one of Columbus' size. Usually, ABC, as the smallest and weakest network, was relegated to secondary status on one or both of existing stations. ABC would not be on the same footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s, especially with markets of Columbus' size. However, Martin Theaters wanted to get WTVM in line with WTVC, which has always been an ABC affiliate. Additionally, fellow NBC affiliatesWSB-TV in Atlanta andWSFA-TV inMontgomery, Alabama, both transmitted fairly clear Grade B signals to the region. In contrast, much of Western Georgia and Eastern Alabama did not have access to ABC full-time. The nearest ABC affiliate that put even a Grade B into Columbus was WLWA-TV in Atlanta (now NBC affiliateWXIA-TV), which easily covered much of the northern portion of the market. Martin realized that an ABC affiliation would not bring significant out-of-market competition.Augusta businessmanJ. B. Fuqua bought Martin Theaters in 1969, including both WTVM and WTVC.
Early in 1970, Fuqua moved WTVM to its present studios on Wynnton Road. The station switched to ABC full-time in October of that year when WYEA (nowWLTZ) signed on and took over the NBC affiliation. Fuqua sold-off his broadcast interests in 1980, with WTVM going to Western Broadcasting. SFN Publishing eventually became the owner in 1984. A group of SFN managers formed Pegasus Broadcasting and purchased WTVM in 1986.AFLAC (which had owned WYEA at one point during the 1970s) bought the station in 1989, making channel 9 AFLAC's flagship station. In 1997, AFLAC sold its entire broadcasting division, including WTVM, to an investment group that merged with Ellis Communications to formRaycom Media. On February 2, 2012, Chief Meteorologist Derek Kinkade hinted on the WTVM Weather Facebook page that major studio changes were on the way. On February 16, all WTVM newscasts andFox 54 News at 10 moved to the newsroom, while a temporary weather office was constructed in the hallway between the editing bay and the newsroom. The new HD-ready set is to be completed in early March. On July 22, 2012, WTVM began airing newscasts in High Definition starting withFox 54 News at 10.
WTVM-DT2 previously carried a 24-hour local weather channel. Programming consisted of current weather conditions with forecasts, a live feed of "Live Doppler 9", and severe weather alerts when conditions warrant. On Saturday mornings, the subchannel broadcast educational shows to fulfill an E/I requirement. Despite being called "Storm Team 9 Weather Now", it was not affiliated withThe Local AccuWeather Channel. It was replaced withBounce TV on September 26, 2011. The channel is available on all cable systems in the viewing area.
On June 25, 2018, Atlanta-basedGray Television announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including WTVM), and Gray's 93 television stations) under the former's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—resulted in WTVM gaining newsister stations in nearby markets, including CBS affiliate WTVY andNBC affiliateWRGX-LD in Dothan, Alabama (while separating it fromWDFX-TV).[5][6][7][8] The sale was approved on December 20,[9] and was completed on January 2, 2019.[10][11]
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WTVM presently[when?] broadcasts27+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with4+1⁄2 hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays).
In addition to the main studios, the station operates an East Alabama bureau near the campus of Auburn University. WTVM produces a nightly prime time show for sister station WXTX known asFox 54 News at 10. At one point, there was also an hour long broadcast seen weekday mornings at 7 on that station. However, this production (calledFox 54 Morning News) was canceled.
Since half of the viewing area includes eastern Alabama, WTVM is part of the Raycom News Network, a system designed to rapidly share information among Raycom's widespread group of television stations and websites in Alabama. A regional network has developed among Montgomery's WSFA,Huntsville'sWAFF 48 News, and Birmingham'sWBRC in which stations share information, equipment such as satellite trucks or even reporters' stories. Between them, these four stations cover most of the state of Alabama, with the exception of theMobile–Pensacola DMA. The four stations also comprise the Raycom Weather Network and the Raycom Alabama Weather Blog, where meteorologists from all four stations post forecasts and storm reports, as well as live feeds from all of the cameras that the four stations operate. The site also has live feeds of "Live Doppler 9" (WTVM), "Doppler 12 StormVision" (WSFA), "FOX 6 VIPIR" (WBRC) and "Live StormTrack Doppler 48" (WAFF).
WTVM operates the Chattahoochee Valley's only live regionalweather radar called "Live Doppler 9" (formerly known as TrueView Doppler 9), located on top of WTVM's midtown studios. The station also has access to four different Level 2NEXRAD radars branded as the "Doppler 9 Radar Network" (formerly known as TrueView Tracker) which includes the capability to use 3-D graphics to track storms during newscasts. WTVM operates seven skycams (all but one, the Columbus Government Center skycam, are sponsored by ALFA Insurance) throughout the viewing area, and is a component in Raycom's statewide skycam networks throughout Alabama and Mississippi (also ALFA-sponsored). There are two in Columbus (St. Francis Hospital and Columbus Park Crossing), and one each inPine Mountain, Georgia;Auburn, Alabama;Opelika, Alabama andEufaula, Alabama.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WTVM | ABC |
| 9.2 | 480i | Bounce | Bounce TV | |
| 9.3 | 720p | PSN | Peachtree Sports Network | |
| 9.4 | 480i | Grit | Grit | |
| 9.5 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 9.6 | WTVM365 | 365BLK | ||
| 9.7 | Oxygen | Oxygen |
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the U.S. state ofGeorgia | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Georgia | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofAlabama | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Alabama | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS |
| |
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
