fbpx
Wikipedia

WTTO

February 15, 2024

Not to be confused with WTWO or WWTO-TV.

WTTO (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, United States, serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM (channel 68) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD (channel 58). The stations share studios at the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover (with a Birmingham mailing address); WTTO's transmitter is located atop Red Mountain, near the Goldencrest neighborhood of southwestern Birmingham.

WTTO
ATSC 3.0 station
CityHomewood, Alabama
Channels
BrandingCW 21
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WABM, WBMA-LD
History
FoundedNovember 6, 1979
First air date
April 21, 1982 (41 years ago) (1982-04-21)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 21 (UHF, 1982–2009)
  • Digital: 28 (UHF, until 2020)
Call sign meaning
Television Twenty-One[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID74138
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT422 m (1,385 ft)
Transmitter coordinates33°29′4.8″N 86°48′25.2″W / 33.484667°N 86.807000°W / 33.484667; -86.807000
Links
Public license information
  • Public file
  • LMS
Websitewtto21.com

In Tuscaloosa, west Alabama, and the western portions of the Birmingham area, WTTO's CW channel and two subchannels of WBMA-LD are rebroadcast on WDBB (channel 17), which is licensed to Bessemer. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and managed by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement (LMA); however, Sinclair effectively owns WDBB, as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith.

WTTO had a tortuous history prior to starting operations. It took nearly two decades for the station to be approved and built. Once on air, the station was a successful independent for the Birmingham area. It served as the Fox affiliate for the market from 1990 to 1996, when an affiliation shuffle resulted in the loss of the affiliation.

History edit

Early history of UHF channel 21 in central Alabama edit

The UHF channel 21 allocation in Central Alabama was originally allocated to Gadsden. The first television station in the region to occupy the allocation was WTVS, which operated during the 1950s as an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, and was one of the earliest UHF television stations in the United States.

However, it was never able to gain a viewership foothold against the region's other stations; its owners ceased the operations of WTVS in 1957, as it had suffered from severely limited viewership due to the lack of television sets in Central Alabama that were capable of receiving stations on the UHF band (electronics manufacturers were not required to incorporate built-in UHF tuners into television sets until the passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1961, although such tuners would not be included on all newer sets until 1964).[3]

A long way to air edit

In December 1963, Chapman Radio and Television Company—then the owners of radio station WCRT (1260 AM, now WYDE and 96.5 FM, now WMJJ)—filed an application to build a new television station in Homewood, using Birmingham's channel 54 allocation.[4] This application was designated for hearing with one by Symphony Network Association, Inc., in 1964.[5] In 1965, the UHF table of allocations was overhauled, and channel 21 was substituted for 54 on Chapman's application. The FCC granted the permit to Chapman in August 1965; however, the FCC chose to resume hearings on the matter after other applicants protested the granting of Chapman's petition.[4] (In the meantime, the Chapmans built, and then sold, WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa.)[6]

One of the new bidders was a startup station—WBMG (channel 42), the first commercial UHF station in Birmingham—which hoped it could replace channel 42 with 21.[7][6] When the contest resumed, there were five applicants. Besides Chapman and WBMG, there was Tele-Mac of Birmingham, owned by John McClendon, who also ran a chain of Black-oriented radio stations including WENN in Birmingham; Alabama Television Corporation, owned by John S. Jemison; and Birmingham Broadcasting Company, which was owned by Black businessman A. G. Gaston.[8] Tele-Mac bowed out in late November, leaving four parties seeking the channel.[9]

Hearing examiner James Kraushaar's initial decision, released in September 1968, gave the nod to Alabama Television,[10] based on its superior technical proposal.[11] However, Chapman and WBMG contested the award, and the FCC agreed, finding that Alabama Television had failed to contact Black people in the process of ascertainment of community needs required of prospective licensees. WBMG's petition also raised a 1969 incident in which a cemetery owned by Jemison refused to bury the body of a Black soldier killed in Vietnam.[12] In 1971, two other Alabama Television shareholders, George J. Mitnick and Joseph Engel, were sued by the United States Department of Justice for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the FCC opened new hearings on the firm's qualifications in light of the lawsuit.[13]

Meanwhile, another applicant, Birmingham Broadcasting—which pledged the first integrated TV station in the country—was facing trouble in its ownership group. One of its stakeholders was Oscar Hyde, who was convicted on extortion charges in 1968 but still owned a third of the firm, putting it at a serious disadvantage in comparative hearing until Hyde sold his stake in 1973.[14] WBMG had dropped out by this point, leaving Chapman and Birmingham Broadcasting the lone contenders for the construction permit; the Hyde stake was still being contested, but the FCC found the programming proposals from Chapman inadequate.[15] Furthermore, the two financial institutions that had promised Birmingham Broadcasting funding in 1964 no longer existed in 1976.[16] Hearings were held by the FCC that fall, but one Birmingham Broadcasting stakeholder, Jesse L. Lewis, refused to come; he was serving as the State Highway and Traffic Safety Director, making him the only Black leader of a state agency, and he feared that if he left town, his department would be abolished by the state legislature.[17]

The question of financial backing turned out to be the deciding factor when an administrative law judge found in favor of Chapman's bid in 1977.[18] The decision was appealed to the full FCC, which upheld the ruling in March 1979.[19] An attempted appeal in federal court turned out to have been filed one day late,[20] while a petition for reconsideration made to the FCC was also dismissed.[21]

Early years edit

With the permit in hand, construction—and new shareholders—entered the picture. The Chapman brothers sold half of the unbuilt station in 1980 to Byron Lasky, who owned Satellite Television & Associated Resources, a company providing microwave-based subscription television service in Birmingham.[22] The tower was erected alongside studios in the city's Goldencrest neighborhood in early 1982,[23] and on April 21, after more than 18 years, WTTO debuted as Birmingham's fourth commercial TV station, with the first program being Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.[24]

WTTO gave Birmingham its first independent station and Alabama its second, debuting a few weeks after WPMI-TV in Mobile. In 1983, Lasky acquired the remaining half of WTTO from the Chapmans.[25] During this time, the station extended its cable reach, appearing on the system in Anniston in 1985.[26]

Channel 21 was programmed as a typical UHF independent, maintaining a schedule reliant mainly on cartoons, sitcoms and movies. From its sign-on in 1982 until 1985, WTTO also carried programming from the Financial News Network. WTTO quickly became known in the market for airing a broad mix of cult films as part of its film lineup (the station also hosted film festivals at parks throughout central Alabama, featuring public screenings of the movies that it broadcast), as well as spoof promotional campaigns for its programs.[27] WTTO quickly became the strongest independent station in Alabama, and one of the highest-rated independents in the United States. WTTO remained the only independent station in central Alabama for its first two years of operation; however, it would eventually gain a competitor in the west-central part of the state. In 1984, WDBB began broadcasting from Tuscaloosa, and it activated a new transmission facility in 1986 that extended its signal to Birmingham.[28] It was WDBB (and WNAL-TV, a station in Gadsden that primarily rebroadcast it) that served as the market's first Fox affiliate.[29]

In September 1986, HR Broadcasting Company, a unit of HAR Communications, purchased the station along with WCGV-TV in Milwaukee from Byron Lasky's companies. HAR Communications was 20% owned by Hal Roach Studios.[30]

In June 1990, Qintex Entertainment sold its stake in HR Broadcasting Co., which owned WTTO and WCGV, to ABRY Communications for over $40 million.[31] ABRY was successful in winning the Fox affiliation from WDBB, which moved to WTTO on September 1, 1990.[32] As a result of their financial difficulties, WDBB and WNAL began simulcasting WTTO on January 30, 1991. Several stronger WDBB syndicated programs were added to WTTO's schedule as a result.[33] In addition to programming contracts, WTTO also purchased WDBB's Birmingham business offices and W62BG, a translator improving service in parts of the city.[34] The structure of WTTO's relationship with WDBB and WNAL changed to one of an affiliation; the stations also had the ability to air some of their own programming.[35] The three stations functioned as a regional network of their own, providing coverage comparable to WBRC and WVTM-TV.

By 1993, Abry had purchased WDBB and WNAL outright and converted both stations into full-time satellites of WTTO. WDBB then relocated its transmitter facilities to a tower in Moundville and reduced its transmitter power to reduce overlap with WTTO, but continued to maintain Bessemer as its city of license. That same year, WTTO entered into a local marketing agreement with WABM, which had been sold a few months earlier to a locally based group. By 1994, WTTO had become one of the highest-rated Fox affiliates in the country, and managed to overtake CBS affiliate WBMG as the third-highest-rated television station in central Alabama. Late that year, both WDBB and WNAL began airing separate programming during the daytime and late evening hours, consisting of syndicated sitcoms, drama and animated series that WTTO did not hold the rights to broadcast as well as local newscasts.

In 1994, Abry Communications merged with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which—in addition to acquiring WTTO and WDBB—also assumed the rights to the local marketing agreement with WABM. At that time, the station moved its operations into WABM's facilities on Beacon Parkway West. In 1995, WNAL was purchased by Fant Broadcasting, but it continued to simulcast WTTO's programming through a time brokerage agreement.

Disaffiliation from Fox and eventual switch to The WB edit

On May 5, 1994, Great American Communications (which would be renamed Citicasters following the completion of its debt restructuring later that year) agreed to sell WBRC and three of its sister stations—fellow ABC affiliate WGHP in High Point, North Carolina, NBC affiliate WDAF-TV in Kansas City and CBS affiliate KSAZ-TV in Phoenix—to New World Communications for $350 million in cash and $10 million in share warrants. As part of a broader deal between New World and Fox signed on May 23 of that year, New World agreed to affiliate five of its eight existing television stations and the four it had acquired from Great American with Fox, in a series of affiliation transactions that would take two years to complete due to the varying conclusion dates of their ongoing contracts with either ABC, NBC or CBS.[36][37][38] WBRC was one of the stations involved in this agreement. Although WTTO had established itself as one of the network's strongest affiliates, Fox jumped at the chance to align with WBRC, which had been the dominant station in central Alabama for over three decades.

Three weeks later, New World agreed to buy WVTM-TV and three other stations—CBS affiliates KDFW in Dallas–Fort Worth and KTBC in Austin, and ABC affiliate KTVI in St. Louis—from Argyle Television Holdings, in a purchase option-structured deal worth $717 million.[37] The two purchases created a problem for New World due to conflicts caused by restrictions on television station ownership imposed by the FCC at the time; New World was not permitted to retain both WBRC and WVTM in any event as the ownership of two television stations in the same market by a single company was prohibited, and the concurrent acquisitions would give New World ownership of a combined fifteen stations, three more than the FCC allowed. The group's affiliation deal with Fox allowed New World to solve its ownership conflicts in Birmingham, as it chose to establish and transfer the license of WBRC into a trust company with the intent to sell the station to the network's broadcasting subsidiary, Fox Television Stations; the trust transfer was completed on July 24, 1995.

Although the transfer of WBRC to the trust was finalized on July 24, 1995, Fox could not switch WBRC's network affiliation in the short-term, as the station's contract with ABC would not expire until August 31, 1996. While this forced Fox Television Stations to operate WBRC as an ABC affiliate for 8½ months after its purchase of the station from the New World-established trust closed on January 17, 1996, creating the rare situation in which a station was run by the owned-and-operated station group of one network but maintained an affiliation with one of its competitors, it gave ABC enough time to find a new central Alabama affiliate. The network first approached WTTO for an affiliation agreement. However, Sinclair—which would not own any stations affiliated with either of the Big Three networks until it acquired River City Broadcasting in 1996—was only willing to carry ABC's prime time and news programming, as it was not interested in carrying the network's then-languishing daytime and Saturday morning programs. Even though WDBB operated a news department at the time negotiations with ABC began, Sinclair was also not willing to start a news department for WTTO; the group did not allocate a budget for news production for its non-Big Three stations at the time.

Unlike situations in St. Louis and the Piedmont Triad, where the network had little other choice but to align with a Sinclair-owned station (or one that the group would later acquire) due to a lack of another financially secure full-power station, other options were available in the Birmingham market. After turning down the WTTO offer in late 1995, ABC reached an agreement with Allbritton Communications to affiliate with WCFT in November of that year; Allbritton planned to acquire the non-license assets of WNAL-TV under a local marketing agreement and convert it into a satellite of WCFT-TV. Allbritton would later terminate the proposed LMA with WNAL and entered into an LMA with Osborne Communications Corporation to take over the operations of WJSU-TV; it also purchased low-power independent station W58CK (channel 58, now WBMA-LD) to serve as the official ABC affiliate for central Alabama for the purpose of being counted in the Birmingham station ratings reports (as Nielsen designated Tuscaloosa and Anniston as separate markets at the time), with WCFT and WJSU serving as its satellites; this prompted Allbritton to sign a groupwide affiliation deal with ABC which renewed the network's affiliations with its stations in Little Rock, Tulsa, Harrisburg, Roanoke, and Washington, D.C. and caused the company's stations in Charleston and Brunswick, Georgia to switch to the network.[39][40][41]

On September 1, 1996, when WBRC-TV officially became a Fox owned-and-operated station and W58CK/WCFT/WJSU became an ABC affiliate, WTTO and WDBB reverted to operating as independent stations. Simultaneously, WNAL formally terminated the WTTO simulcast, and became the CBS affiliate for Gadsden and northeastern Alabama. WBRC originally planned to carry the entire Fox network schedule, running the Fox Kids block on weekday afternoons to replace the displaced ABC soap opera lineup upon its move to the W58CK trimulcast (which would be collectively known as "ABC 33/40," a brand referencing the respective channel numbers of WCFT and WJSU, and will mostly be referred to hereafter in the article as "WBMA+"). However, in what would be the catalyst to a change in the carriage policies for Fox Kids that allowed stations the option of either airing the block or being granted the right to transfer the rights to another station in the market, Sinclair approached WBRC about allowing WTTO to retain Fox Kids, which the Fox network (on behalf of Fox Television Stations) allowed it to keep.

On February 2, 1997, WTTO and WDBB became affiliates of The WB Television Network, and changed its on-air branding to "WB 21". It was one of the first Sinclair stations to affiliate with the network, occurring six months before the group struck an agreement to affiliate most of its UPN-affiliated and independent stations that it either owned or controlled to The WB on July 21.[42] Prior to that point, Birmingham had been one of the largest markets that was not served by a local WB affiliate; central Alabama residents were only able to receive WB programs on satellite and some cable providers through the national superstation feed of the network's Chicago affiliate, WGN-TV (now an independent station; its cable feed now operates as a standalone channel), which carried the network's programming nationwide from The WB's launch in January 1995 until October 1999.[43][44]

With the WB affiliation, WTTO added one of Fox Kids' competitors, Kids' WB, to its inventory of children's programming. The station carried Kids' WB's weekday morning and afternoon blocks together on Monday through Friday mornings (bookending Fox Kids' weekday morning block) on either a one-day delay or live-to-air depending on the time slot and accordant block; the Saturday morning edition of the block, meanwhile, aired on Sundays in a day-behind arrangement as WTTO aired the Fox Kids weekend block on Saturdays. During the late 1990s, WTTO reduced the number of movies, classic sitcoms and cartoons on its schedule, and began shifting its syndicated programming towards a lineup of talk, reality and court shows as well as more recent syndicated sitcoms, that would become the common variety of programming for netlet stations at that time.

In early 2000, WDBB relocated its transmitter facilities back to its original 609.6-meter (2,000 ft) guyed-mast transmission tower in Windham Springs (which was constructed and completed shortly before the station signed on in 1982). WTTO dropped the Fox Kids block in September 2000, at which time, the station moved the Kids' WB blocks to weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Neither WBRC, nor any other central Alabama station, chose to acquire the local rights to Fox's children's programming lineup; as a result, Fox Kids, as well as the successor blocks that 4Kids Entertainment programmed for the network after 2002 (Fox Box and 4Kids TV), were not cleared in the Birmingham market for the 7½ years that the network continued to carry children's programming; in addition, WTTO (as with WBRC) declined to air the paid programming block that replaced 4Kids TV in January 2009, Weekend Marketplace; it would air instead on WABM. WTTO has continued to air the children's program blocks carried by The WB, and later by The CW (Kids' WB, The CW4Kids/Toonzai, Vortexx and One Magnificent Morning), without interruption through the years. In 2001, Sinclair purchased WABM outright, creating the Birmingham–Tuscaloosa–Anniston market's first television duopoly with WTTO/WDBB.

CW affiliation edit

On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. Entertainment unit of Time Warner (which operated The WB) and CBS Corporation (which acquired UPN through its split from Viacom in December 2005) announced that the two companies would respectively shut down UPN and The WB, and enter into a joint venture to form a new "fifth" broadcast television network, The CW, that would initially feature a mix of programming from both of its forerunner networks as well as new content developed specifically for The CW.[45][46] WTTO, however, continued to show The WB's programming until The WB's The Night of Favorites and Farewells, which aired on September 17, 2006. On May 2, 2006, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it had signed an affiliation agreement with the network, in which WTTO would become the Birmingham charter affiliate of The CW; when it officially joined the network upon its debut on September 18, WTTO/WDBB adopted "CW 21" as its official branding (although, the station sometimes identifies as "CW 21 Alabama" in some promotional imaging); sister station WABM affiliated with MyNetworkTV, a new secondary service started by Fox, on September 5, 2006.

In 2007, Sinclair sold WDBB to Cunningham Broadcasting, and entered into a time brokerage agreement to continue operating that station as its repeater. However, the sale itself was purely nominal, as 97% of Cunningham's stock is controlled by trusts owned by the family of now-deceased Sinclair founder Julian Sinclair Smith (including, among others, its current chief executive officer David Smith). Since the late 1990s, when it was known as Glencairn, Ltd., Cunningham has long faced allegations that it merely acts a shell corporation to circumvent FCC rules on television station ownership within a single market.[47][48][49]

Secondary ABC affiliation edit

On July 29, 2013, Allbritton Communications announced that it would sell its seven television stations—including the trimulcast operation involving WBMA-LD and satellites WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV—to Sinclair Broadcast Group (which would purchase the stations for $985 million), in order to focus on running its co-owned political news website, Politico.[50][51] As part of the deal, Sinclair had intended to sell the license assets of WTTO and WABM to Deerfield Media, and retain operational responsibilities for those stations through shared services and joint sales agreements.[52]

On December 6, 2013, the FCC informed Sinclair that applications related to the deal need to be "amended or withdrawn," as Sinclair would retain the existing time brokerage agreement between WTTO and WDBB; this would, in effect, create a new LMA between WBMA+ and WDBB, even though the commission had ruled in 1999 that such agreements made after November 5, 1996, covering the programming of more than 15% of a station's broadcast day would count toward the ownership limits for the brokering station's owner.[53] On March 20, 2014, as part of a restructuring of the Sinclair-Allbritton deal in order to address these ownership conflicts as well as to expedite approval of the Allbritton acquisition that was delayed due to the FCC's increased scrutiny of outsourcing agreements (such as those maintained by Sinclair) used to circumvent in-market ownership caps, Sinclair announced that it would retain ownership of WTTO (under which WDBB would continue operating as its satellite under the existing LMA), and form a new duopoly between it and WBMA+ (which would mark the first known instance in which the senior partner in one duopoly became the junior partner in another, as well as the first instance involving a duopoly that was broken up legally terminating all operational ties with the junior partner); WABM was to be sold to a third-party buyer with which Sinclair would not enter into an operational outsourcing arrangement or maintain any contingent interest, other than a possible transitional shared facilities agreement until WTTO was able to move its operations from its Beacon Parkway studios to WBMA's facility in Hoover.[54][55]

On May 29, 2014, after informing the FCC that it had not found a buyer for WABM (even among the respective owners of WBRC, WVTM and WIAT that did not operate an existing duopoly in Birmingham, Raycom Media, Media General and LIN Media, the latter two of which were in the process of merging at the time), Sinclair stated that it would propose a surrendering of the WJSU and WCFT licenses, and migrate the WBMA simulcast to WABM's second digital subchannel on the basis that the latter's transmission facilities are superior to those of WCFT and WJSU (as a low-power station, WBMA-LD would not be affected as the FCC does not apply in-market ownership caps to low-power stations owned alongside any full-power station).[56][57] After nearly a year of delays, Sinclair's acquisition of Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014,[58] and completed one week later on August 1.[59]

On September 18, 2014, in preparation for the planned shutdown of WCFT and WJSU eleven days later on September 29 (the transaction would be suspended on Sinclair's asking by the FCC days prior to the shutdown after the group agreed to sell both stations to Howard Stirk Holdings, on the agreement that Sinclair would not enter into any operational arrangements with HSH for either station), WDBB added a simulcast feed of WBMA-LD on digital subchannel 17.2, replacing WCFT (which became a Heartland affiliate) as WBMA's Tuscaloosa repeater; WABM also added a simulcast of the WBMA on its 68.2 subchannel.[60]

Subchannel history edit

WTTO-DT2/WDBB-DT2 edit

On March 23, 2006, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it signed an affiliation deal with The Tube to carry the music video network on the digital subchannels of many of the group's stations. The channel launched on WTTO/WDBB's second digital subchannel, which launched on virtual channels 21.2 and 17.2 on June 15, 2006. On December 31, Sinclair dropped The Tube from the stations affected by the deal due to new educational programming regulations put into effect by the FCC that The Tube not immediately comply with by inserting E/I-compliant programming within its schedule, effectively putting the burden on local stations to carry programs that complied with the regulations; the network ceased operations on October 1, 2007, due to several factors likely including the discontinuance of the Sinclair carriage deal.

In August 2010, Sinclair signed a groupwide affiliation deal with The Country Network (later known as ZUUS Country during the final year of its carriage on WTTO/WDBB), a digital subchannel network featuring country music videos, to the 28 of the company's stations.[61] WTTO/WDBB relaunched its second subchannel as an affiliate of The Country Network on October 26, 2010; the subchannel disaffiliated from ZUUS Country on July 1, 2014, when it began carrying the classic movie network GetTV, as a result of a channel lease agreement with Sinclair that involved 33 of the company's stations.[62][63]

As a result of WDBB becoming a simulcaster of WBMA-LD on its second subchannel in October 2014, WTTO and WDBB only simulcast the former's main programming feed, choosing to reallocate bandwidth space on WDBB's signal to transmit WBMA's programming feed in high definition on digital channel 17.2. On January 4, 2016, as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with the network spurred by the network's acquisition of rights to reruns of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, WTTO switched the affiliation of its second digital subchannel to Antenna TV; this resulted in the displacement of GetTV (Now TBD) to a newly created fourth digital subchannel of the station.

WTTO-DT3 edit

On October 31, 2015, WTTO launched a tertiary digital subchannel on virtual channel 21.3, which became a charter affiliate of the sci-fi network Comet, which is owned by Sinclair and operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer under a management agreement with the group.

WTTO-DT4 edit

On June 1, 2017, GetTV was replaced with TBD, a digital subchannel which is owned by Sinclair and targeting millennial audiences.

Programming edit

WTTO/WDBB carries the entire CW network schedule. Until 2017, the station carried the network's educational program block, One Magnificent Morning, one hour earlier than the network-recommended time of 7 a.m. on most Saturdays during the fall and winter months in order to accommodate sports programming from the ACC Network; in this case, the block was transmitted to the station via the network's Eastern Time Zone feed. This changed on October 7, 2017, when the station began airing the block locally from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on an all-year round basis. Syndicated programming broadcast by WTTO/WDBB (as of September 2016) includes Modern Family, Hot Bench, The Andy Griffith Show, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Like WABM, WTTO/WDBB is one or two of the few remaining U.S. television stations that continues to sign off during the overnight hours, occurring on Sunday night/early Monday mornings from midnight to 5 a.m.[64]

Sports programming edit

In August 2009, WTTO/WDBB acquired the broadcast rights to ESPN Regional Television's SEC Network syndication service, carrying most regular season college basketball and football games from the Southeastern Conference, as well as games from the first three rounds of the SEC men's basketball tournament; this agreement ended when ESPN discontinued the service in 2012, upon the launch of a conference-focused cable-only network of the same name.

In September 2015, WTTO/WDBB became the local broadcast rightsholder to the ACC Network syndication service, airing most regular season football and basketball games from selected teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as games from the first three rounds of the ACC men's basketball tournament. Most college football and basketball telecasts on the station aired on Saturday afternoons during the fall and winter months, respectively, with occasional prime time games on weeknights (the station rescheduled CW prime time shows to air on weekend evenings if an evening game is scheduled, preempting movies usually aired on Saturday and Sunday evenings between 7 and 9 p.m., as The CW itself did not run network programming on those nights, and occasionally those usually aired in weekend afternoon timeslots). WTTO/WDBB assumed the rights to the ACC Network from sister station WABM, which passed on the rights due to its commitments to the Sinclair-owned American Sports Network ad hoc syndication service.

Newscasts edit

WB21 News at 9:00 edit

WTTO launched its own in-house news operation on September 8, 2003, and began airing a nightly hour-long prime time newscast, titled WB21 News at 9:00. The program was developed and formatted around the News Central local/national hybrid news concept created by Sinclair that year; local news segments originated from the station's Beacon Parkway studios in Birmingham, while national news, weather and sports segments were based out of studios located at Sinclair's corporate headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland. In addition, WTTO also aired "The Point", a controversial one-minute conservative political commentary feature during its newscasts; the segment was required to air on all Sinclair-owned stations that aired local newscasts (regardless of whether it carried the News Central format or not).

Outsourcing to WIAT edit

Further information: WIAT § News operation

The WB21 News at 9:00 was unable to make headway against WBRC's longer-established (and much higher-rated) 9 p.m. newscast, which debuted in September 1996 upon its switch to Fox; as a result, WTTO outsourced production of its evening newscast to CBS affiliate WIAT through a news share agreement in October 2005.[65] The WIAT-produced newscast was canceled on October 13, 2006, due to low ratings; the News Central format had earlier been phased out entirely in its other markets by March 2006.[66][67]

Technical information edit

Subchannels edit

The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on the multiplexed signals of other Birmingham television stations:

Subchannels provided by WTTO (ATSC 1.0)[68]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming ATSC 1.0 host
21.1 720p 16:9 WTTO-CW Main WTTO programming / The CW WIAT
21.2 480i 4:3 Antenna Antenna TV WABM
21.3 16:9 Comet Comet WVTM-TV
21.4 TBD TBD WBRC

Analog-to-digital conversion edit

On February 2, 2009, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced in an e-mail release to all cable and satellite television providers carrying its television stations that, regardless of the exact date of the mandatory switchover to digital-only broadcasting for full-power stations (which Congress rescheduled days later to June 12), its stations (including WABM) would shut down their analog signals on the originally scheduled transition date of February 17.[69]

WTTO and WDBB shut down their analog signals, respectively over UHF channels 21 and 17, at 11:59 p.m. on that date. WTTO's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 28; through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 21. WDBB also continued to operate its digital signal on its pre-transition digital channel, UHF 18; digital television receivers display its virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 17.[70] As part of the SAFER Act,[71] WTTO and WDBB kept its analog signal on the air until March 19 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.

With the digital conversion, WTTO moved its transmitter facilities from its analog transmitter site 3 miles (4.8 km) east on Red Mountain to a digital transmitter overlooking the Goldencrest neighborhood, that it shares with radio stations WZZK (104.7 FM) and WBPT (106.9 FM). The move and the resulting expansion of its coverage area, resulted in the shutdown of W62BG as the main signal provided adequate coverage of the entire Birmingham area; the translator's license was canceled in late October 2011.

ATSC 3.0 edit

Subchannels of WTTO (ATSC 3.0)[72]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
6.1 720p 16:9 WBRC Fox (WBRC)  
13.1 1080p WVTM NBC (WVTM-TV)  
21.1 720p CW The CW
42.1 1080p WIAT CBS (WIAT)
68.2 720p ABC3340 ABC WBMA-LD
  Subchannel broadcast with digital rights management

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Nelson, Bob (October 18, 2008). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WTTO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "Appendix 10: A Trail of Bleached Bones". DuMont History.
  4. ^ a b FCC History Cards for WTTO
  5. ^ "SYMPHONY NETWORK ASSOCIATION, INC., AND CHAPMAN RADIO AND TELEVISION CO. Order Designating Applications for Consolidated Hearing on Stated Issues" (PDF). Federal Register. May 15, 1964. p. 6422. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Weaver, Emmett (September 3, 1965). "Chapmans Plan UHF TV Station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 4. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Weaver, Emmett (June 24, 1965). "New UHF TV station Aims At Fall Opening". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 26. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Fourth Channel Looms For City". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. August 9, 1966. p. 15. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Fight For TV Channel 21 Narrows To 4 Companies". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. December 1, 1966. p. 24. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Weaver, Emmett (September 4, 1968). "But Appeal Delay Likely: Firm Gets Nod For New TV Channel". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 18. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Alabama TV gets nod for Birmingham UHF" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 9, 1968. pp. 62–63. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  12. ^ McFeatters, Dale (July 11, 1970). "Alabama television bias charged: FCC to rehear permit request". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 15. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Bell, Richard P. (June 10, 1972). "FCC hears case for city TV station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. 4. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Rockwell, David (December 5, 1973). "City may soon have integrated tv station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. E8. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Lytle, Stewart (December 17, 1975). "Birmingham may get new tv station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Lytle, Stewart (May 24, 1976). "Prospects for tv-21 run afoul". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. B20. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Lytle, Stewart (November 11, 1976). "Official fears trip may endanger job". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A16. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Lytle, Stewart (October 1, 1977). "Chapman Co. wins license for city's 4th TV station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Lytle, Stewart (March 6, 1979). "Chapmans win new TV station". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A1, A2. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Lytle, Stewart (April 6, 1979). "Television station license challenge seems day late". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. C1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Morring, Jr., Frank (November 10, 1979). "New city TV station step nearer". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. B5. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Rassenfoss, Joe (November 27, 1981). "After 18 years, they've "done something" for Birmingham". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. Kudzu 4. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Channel 21: 'It's getting exciting now'". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. March 5, 1982. p. Kudzu 8. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Herrmann, Thom (April 22, 1982). "Christmas arrives for WTTO owners". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. B6. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 25, 1983. p. 78.
  26. ^ "WTTO service OK'd for cable customers". The Anniston Star. Anniston, Alabama. July 2, 1985. p. 6A. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Geiss, Chuck (May 17, 2012), "Naked Birmingham", Black & White
  28. ^ Kemp, Kathy (March 7, 1986). "Looking at WDBB". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. Kudzu 4, 5, 6. from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Fiorella Chandler, Grace (August 7, 1986). "WDBB reaches agreement with Fox network". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A10. from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "HR Broadcasting Acquires 2 Independent TV Stations". Los Angeles Times. September 30, 1986. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  31. ^ Citron, Alan (June 6, 1990). "Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  32. ^ Rich, Cherry (August 10, 1990). "Fox move could boost WTTO-TV". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. A9. from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Rich, Cherry (January 30, 1991). "WDBB-17 now airing WTTO-21 programs". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. p. D10. from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Heine, Max (January 30, 1991). "WDBB-TV back in Tuscaloosa". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 8C. from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  35. ^ "Independent TV's atypical ABRY Communications" (PDF). pp. 43–44. (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  36. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; GREAT AMERICAN SELLING FOUR TELEVISION STATIONS". The New York Times. May 6, 1994. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  37. ^ a b Foisie, Geoffrey (May 30, 1994). . Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  38. ^ . Chicago Sun-Times. Hollinger International. May 23, 1994. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  39. ^ Rathbun, Elizabeth (January 8, 1996). . Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  40. ^ Wharton, Dennis (November 19, 1995). "Allbrigton Has Designs On CBS Affiliate WCFT". Variety. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  41. ^ Gimein, Mark (January 8, 1996). . Mediaweek. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  42. ^ . Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. July 21, 1997. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  43. ^ "Time Warner Takes Crucial Step Toward New Network Television: A pact with superstation WGN-TV gives it access to 73% of homes. Analysts say that will still leave gaps". Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1993. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  44. ^ . The Charleston Gazette. October 7, 1999. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  45. ^ Seid, Jessica (January 24, 2006). "'Gilmore Girls' meet 'Smackdown'; CW Network to combine WB, UPN in CBS-Warner venture beginning in September". CNNMoney.com. Time Warner.
  46. ^ Carter, Bill (January 24, 2006). "UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network". The New York Times.
  47. ^ . Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. July 13, 1998. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  48. ^ . Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. March 29, 1999. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  49. ^ "FCC fines Sinclair for Glencairn control". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. December 10, 2001. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  50. ^ Heath, Thomas; Wilgoren, Debbi (July 29, 2013). "Allbritton to sell 7 TV stations, including WJLA, to Sinclair for $985 million". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  51. ^ "Sinclair Buying Allbritton Stations For $985M". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. July 29, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  52. ^ "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  53. ^ Kreisman, Barbara A. (December 6, 2013). "Letter to Sinclair and Allbritton legal counsel" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  54. ^ Eck, Kevin (March 21, 2014). "Sinclair Offers to Sell Stations Ahead of FCC Decision". TVSpy. Prometheus Global Media.
  55. ^ "Sinclair Proposes Restructuring Of Allbritton Transaction In Order To Meet Objections Of The Federal Communications Commission". The Wall Street Journal (Press release). News Corp. PRNewswire. March 20, 2014.
  56. ^ Eggerton, John (May 29, 2014). "Sinclair Proposes Surrendering Three Licenses to Get Allbritton Deal Done". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  57. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (May 29, 2014). "Sinclair Giving Up 3 Stations To Appease FCC". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  58. ^ Eggerton, John (July 24, 2014). "FCC Approves Sinclair/Allbritton Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  59. ^ Malone, Michael (August 1, 2014). "Sinclair's Deal For Allbritton Closes". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  60. ^ "Use an antenna to pick up ABC 33/40? Important info here". WBMA-LD. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  61. ^ "Sinclair Broadcast Group to Air The Country Network" (Press release). Sinclair Broadcast Group. PRNewswire. August 24, 2010.
  62. ^ "GetTV Signs Big Affiliation Deal With Sinclair". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. June 23, 2014.
  63. ^ "getTV Signs Major Affiliation Deal With Sinclair Broadcast Group To Bring The Classic Movie Channel To 33 New Markets Including Minneapolis, Pittsburgh And St. Louis". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. June 23, 2014.
  64. ^ "WTTODT - TV Listings". Zap2It. Tribune Digital Ventures. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  65. ^ Romano, Allison (December 9, 2005). "The Battle of Birmingham". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Business Information. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  66. ^ Walker, Andrea K. (March 15, 2006). . The Baltimore Sun. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  67. ^ "Sinclair's NewsCentral model loses stations". TelevisionWeek. NewBay Media. March 13, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  68. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
    • "RabbitEars TV Query for WIAT". RabbitEars. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
    • "RabbitEars TV Query for WABM". RabbitEars. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
    • "RabbitEars TV Query for WVTM". RabbitEars. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
    • "RabbitEars TV Query for WBRC". RabbitEars. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  69. ^ Hearn, Ted (February 2, 2009). "Sinclair Sticks To Feb. 17 Analog Cutoff". Digital Video Report. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  70. ^ (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  71. ^ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  72. ^ "RabbitEars query for WTTO". www.rabbitears.info. Retrieved December 6, 2022.

External links edit

February 15, 2024
wtto, confused, with, wtwo, wwto, this, article, needs, updated, please, help, update, this, article, reflect, recent, events, newly, available, information, january, 2024, channel, television, station, licensed, homewood, alabama, united, states, serving, bir. Not to be confused with WTWO or WWTO TV This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information January 2024 WTTO channel 21 is a television station licensed to Homewood Alabama United States serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of The CW It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM channel 68 and ABC affiliate WBMA LD channel 58 The stations share studios at the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover with a Birmingham mailing address WTTO s transmitter is located atop Red Mountain near the Goldencrest neighborhood of southwestern Birmingham WTTOATSC 3 0 stationHomewood Birmingham AlabamaUnited StatesCityHomewood AlabamaChannelsDigital 21 UHF Virtual 21BrandingCW 21ProgrammingAffiliations21 1 The CWfor others see SubchannelsOwnershipOwnerSinclair Broadcast Group WTTO Licensee LLC Sister stationsWABM WBMA LDHistoryFoundedNovember 6 1979First air dateApril 21 1982 41 years ago 1982 04 21 Former channel number s Analog 21 UHF 1982 2009 Digital 28 UHF until 2020 Former affiliationsIndependent 1982 1991 1996 1997 Fox 1991 1996 Fox Kids secondary 1996 2000 The WB 1997 2006 Call sign meaningTelevision Twenty One 1 Technical information 2 Licensing authorityFCCFacility ID74138ERP1 000 kWHAAT422 m 1 385 ft Transmitter coordinates33 29 4 8 N 86 48 25 2 W 33 484667 N 86 807000 W 33 484667 86 807000LinksPublic license informationPublic fileLMSWebsitewtto21 wbr comIn Tuscaloosa west Alabama and the western portions of the Birmingham area WTTO s CW channel and two subchannels of WBMA LD are rebroadcast on WDBB channel 17 which is licensed to Bessemer It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and managed by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement LMA however Sinclair effectively owns WDBB as the majority of Cunningham s stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith WTTO had a tortuous history prior to starting operations It took nearly two decades for the station to be approved and built Once on air the station was a successful independent for the Birmingham area It served as the Fox affiliate for the market from 1990 to 1996 when an affiliation shuffle resulted in the loss of the affiliation Contents 1 History 1 1 Early history of UHF channel 21 in central Alabama 1 2 A long way to air 1 3 Early years 1 4 Disaffiliation from Fox and eventual switch to The WB 1 5 CW affiliation 1 5 1 Secondary ABC affiliation 2 Subchannel history 2 1 WTTO DT2 WDBB DT2 2 2 WTTO DT3 2 3 WTTO DT4 3 Programming 3 1 Sports programming 3 2 Newscasts 3 2 1 WB21 News at 9 00 3 2 2 Outsourcing to WIAT 4 Technical information 4 1 Subchannels 4 2 Analog to digital conversion 4 3 ATSC 3 0 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory editEarly history of UHF channel 21 in central Alabama edit The UHF channel 21 allocation in Central Alabama was originally allocated to Gadsden The first television station in the region to occupy the allocation was WTVS which operated during the 1950s as an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network and was one of the earliest UHF television stations in the United States However it was never able to gain a viewership foothold against the region s other stations its owners ceased the operations of WTVS in 1957 as it had suffered from severely limited viewership due to the lack of television sets in Central Alabama that were capable of receiving stations on the UHF band electronics manufacturers were not required to incorporate built in UHF tuners into television sets until the passage of the All Channel Receiver Act by the Federal Communications Commission FCC in 1961 although such tuners would not be included on all newer sets until 1964 3 A long way to air edit In December 1963 Chapman Radio and Television Company then the owners of radio station WCRT 1260 AM now WYDE and 96 5 FM now WMJJ filed an application to build a new television station in Homewood using Birmingham s channel 54 allocation 4 This application was designated for hearing with one by Symphony Network Association Inc in 1964 5 In 1965 the UHF table of allocations was overhauled and channel 21 was substituted for 54 on Chapman s application The FCC granted the permit to Chapman in August 1965 however the FCC chose to resume hearings on the matter after other applicants protested the granting of Chapman s petition 4 In the meantime the Chapmans built and then sold WCFT TV in Tuscaloosa 6 One of the new bidders was a startup station WBMG channel 42 the first commercial UHF station in Birmingham which hoped it could replace channel 42 with 21 7 6 When the contest resumed there were five applicants Besides Chapman and WBMG there was Tele Mac of Birmingham owned by John McClendon who also ran a chain of Black oriented radio stations including WENN in Birmingham Alabama Television Corporation owned by John S Jemison and Birmingham Broadcasting Company which was owned by Black businessman A G Gaston 8 Tele Mac bowed out in late November leaving four parties seeking the channel 9 Hearing examiner James Kraushaar s initial decision released in September 1968 gave the nod to Alabama Television 10 based on its superior technical proposal 11 However Chapman and WBMG contested the award and the FCC agreed finding that Alabama Television had failed to contact Black people in the process of ascertainment of community needs required of prospective licensees WBMG s petition also raised a 1969 incident in which a cemetery owned by Jemison refused to bury the body of a Black soldier killed in Vietnam 12 In 1971 two other Alabama Television shareholders George J Mitnick and Joseph Engel were sued by the United States Department of Justice for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the FCC opened new hearings on the firm s qualifications in light of the lawsuit 13 Meanwhile another applicant Birmingham Broadcasting which pledged the first integrated TV station in the country was facing trouble in its ownership group One of its stakeholders was Oscar Hyde who was convicted on extortion charges in 1968 but still owned a third of the firm putting it at a serious disadvantage in comparative hearing until Hyde sold his stake in 1973 14 WBMG had dropped out by this point leaving Chapman and Birmingham Broadcasting the lone contenders for the construction permit the Hyde stake was still being contested but the FCC found the programming proposals from Chapman inadequate 15 Furthermore the two financial institutions that had promised Birmingham Broadcasting funding in 1964 no longer existed in 1976 16 Hearings were held by the FCC that fall but one Birmingham Broadcasting stakeholder Jesse L Lewis refused to come he was serving as the State Highway and Traffic Safety Director making him the only Black leader of a state agency and he feared that if he left town his department would be abolished by the state legislature 17 The question of financial backing turned out to be the deciding factor when an administrative law judge found in favor of Chapman s bid in 1977 18 The decision was appealed to the full FCC which upheld the ruling in March 1979 19 An attempted appeal in federal court turned out to have been filed one day late 20 while a petition for reconsideration made to the FCC was also dismissed 21 Early years edit With the permit in hand construction and new shareholders entered the picture The Chapman brothers sold half of the unbuilt station in 1980 to Byron Lasky who owned Satellite Television amp Associated Resources a company providing microwave based subscription television service in Birmingham 22 The tower was erected alongside studios in the city s Goldencrest neighborhood in early 1982 23 and on April 21 after more than 18 years WTTO debuted as Birmingham s fourth commercial TV station with the first program being Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 24 WTTO gave Birmingham its first independent station and Alabama its second debuting a few weeks after WPMI TV in Mobile In 1983 Lasky acquired the remaining half of WTTO from the Chapmans 25 During this time the station extended its cable reach appearing on the system in Anniston in 1985 26 Channel 21 was programmed as a typical UHF independent maintaining a schedule reliant mainly on cartoons sitcoms and movies From its sign on in 1982 until 1985 WTTO also carried programming from the Financial News Network WTTO quickly became known in the market for airing a broad mix of cult films as part of its film lineup the station also hosted film festivals at parks throughout central Alabama featuring public screenings of the movies that it broadcast as well as spoof promotional campaigns for its programs 27 WTTO quickly became the strongest independent station in Alabama and one of the highest rated independents in the United States WTTO remained the only independent station in central Alabama for its first two years of operation however it would eventually gain a competitor in the west central part of the state In 1984 WDBB began broadcasting from Tuscaloosa and it activated a new transmission facility in 1986 that extended its signal to Birmingham 28 It was WDBB and WNAL TV a station in Gadsden that primarily rebroadcast it that served as the market s first Fox affiliate 29 In September 1986 HR Broadcasting Company a unit of HAR Communications purchased the station along with WCGV TV in Milwaukee from Byron Lasky s companies HAR Communications was 20 owned by Hal Roach Studios 30 In June 1990 Qintex Entertainment sold its stake in HR Broadcasting Co which owned WTTO and WCGV to ABRY Communications for over 40 million 31 ABRY was successful in winning the Fox affiliation from WDBB which moved to WTTO on September 1 1990 32 As a result of their financial difficulties WDBB and WNAL began simulcasting WTTO on January 30 1991 Several stronger WDBB syndicated programs were added to WTTO s schedule as a result 33 In addition to programming contracts WTTO also purchased WDBB s Birmingham business offices and W62BG a translator improving service in parts of the city 34 The structure of WTTO s relationship with WDBB and WNAL changed to one of an affiliation the stations also had the ability to air some of their own programming 35 The three stations functioned as a regional network of their own providing coverage comparable to WBRC and WVTM TV By 1993 Abry had purchased WDBB and WNAL outright and converted both stations into full time satellites of WTTO WDBB then relocated its transmitter facilities to a tower in Moundville and reduced its transmitter power to reduce overlap with WTTO but continued to maintain Bessemer as its city of license That same year WTTO entered into a local marketing agreement with WABM which had been sold a few months earlier to a locally based group By 1994 WTTO had become one of the highest rated Fox affiliates in the country and managed to overtake CBS affiliate WBMG as the third highest rated television station in central Alabama Late that year both WDBB and WNAL began airing separate programming during the daytime and late evening hours consisting of syndicated sitcoms drama and animated series that WTTO did not hold the rights to broadcast as well as local newscasts In 1994 Abry Communications merged with Sinclair Broadcast Group which in addition to acquiring WTTO and WDBB also assumed the rights to the local marketing agreement with WABM At that time the station moved its operations into WABM s facilities on Beacon Parkway West In 1995 WNAL was purchased by Fant Broadcasting but it continued to simulcast WTTO s programming through a time brokerage agreement Disaffiliation from Fox and eventual switch to The WB edit On May 5 1994 Great American Communications which would be renamed Citicasters following the completion of its debt restructuring later that year agreed to sell WBRC and three of its sister stations fellow ABC affiliate WGHP in High Point North Carolina NBC affiliate WDAF TV in Kansas City and CBS affiliate KSAZ TV in Phoenix to New World Communications for 350 million in cash and 10 million in share warrants As part of a broader deal between New World and Fox signed on May 23 of that year New World agreed to affiliate five of its eight existing television stations and the four it had acquired from Great American with Fox in a series of affiliation transactions that would take two years to complete due to the varying conclusion dates of their ongoing contracts with either ABC NBC or CBS 36 37 38 WBRC was one of the stations involved in this agreement Although WTTO had established itself as one of the network s strongest affiliates Fox jumped at the chance to align with WBRC which had been the dominant station in central Alabama for over three decades Three weeks later New World agreed to buy WVTM TV and three other stations CBS affiliates KDFW in Dallas Fort Worth and KTBC in Austin and ABC affiliate KTVI in St Louis from Argyle Television Holdings in a purchase option structured deal worth 717 million 37 The two purchases created a problem for New World due to conflicts caused by restrictions on television station ownership imposed by the FCC at the time New World was not permitted to retain both WBRC and WVTM in any event as the ownership of two television stations in the same market by a single company was prohibited and the concurrent acquisitions would give New World ownership of a combined fifteen stations three more than the FCC allowed The group s affiliation deal with Fox allowed New World to solve its ownership conflicts in Birmingham as it chose to establish and transfer the license of WBRC into a trust company with the intent to sell the station to the network s broadcasting subsidiary Fox Television Stations the trust transfer was completed on July 24 1995 Although the transfer of WBRC to the trust was finalized on July 24 1995 Fox could not switch WBRC s network affiliation in the short term as the station s contract with ABC would not expire until August 31 1996 While this forced Fox Television Stations to operate WBRC as an ABC affiliate for 8 months after its purchase of the station from the New World established trust closed on January 17 1996 creating the rare situation in which a station was run by the owned and operated station group of one network but maintained an affiliation with one of its competitors it gave ABC enough time to find a new central Alabama affiliate The network first approached WTTO for an affiliation agreement However Sinclair which would not own any stations affiliated with either of the Big Three networks until it acquired River City Broadcasting in 1996 was only willing to carry ABC s prime time and news programming as it was not interested in carrying the network s then languishing daytime and Saturday morning programs Even though WDBB operated a news department at the time negotiations with ABC began Sinclair was also not willing to start a news department for WTTO the group did not allocate a budget for news production for its non Big Three stations at the time Unlike situations in St Louis and the Piedmont Triad where the network had little other choice but to align with a Sinclair owned station or one that the group would later acquire due to a lack of another financially secure full power station other options were available in the Birmingham market After turning down the WTTO offer in late 1995 ABC reached an agreement with Allbritton Communications to affiliate with WCFT in November of that year Allbritton planned to acquire the non license assets of WNAL TV under a local marketing agreement and convert it into a satellite of WCFT TV Allbritton would later terminate the proposed LMA with WNAL and entered into an LMA with Osborne Communications Corporation to take over the operations of WJSU TV it also purchased low power independent station W58CK channel 58 now WBMA LD to serve as the official ABC affiliate for central Alabama for the purpose of being counted in the Birmingham station ratings reports as Nielsen designated Tuscaloosa and Anniston as separate markets at the time with WCFT and WJSU serving as its satellites this prompted Allbritton to sign a groupwide affiliation deal with ABC which renewed the network s affiliations with its stations in Little Rock Tulsa Harrisburg Roanoke and Washington D C and caused the company s stations in Charleston and Brunswick Georgia to switch to the network 39 40 41 On September 1 1996 when WBRC TV officially became a Fox owned and operated station and W58CK WCFT WJSU became an ABC affiliate WTTO and WDBB reverted to operating as independent stations Simultaneously WNAL formally terminated the WTTO simulcast and became the CBS affiliate for Gadsden and northeastern Alabama WBRC originally planned to carry the entire Fox network schedule running the Fox Kids block on weekday afternoons to replace the displaced ABC soap opera lineup upon its move to the W58CK trimulcast which would be collectively known as ABC 33 40 a brand referencing the respective channel numbers of WCFT and WJSU and will mostly be referred to hereafter in the article as WBMA However in what would be the catalyst to a change in the carriage policies for Fox Kids that allowed stations the option of either airing the block or being granted the right to transfer the rights to another station in the market Sinclair approached WBRC about allowing WTTO to retain Fox Kids which the Fox network on behalf of Fox Television Stations allowed it to keep On February 2 1997 WTTO and WDBB became affiliates of The WB Television Network and changed its on air branding to WB 21 It was one of the first Sinclair stations to affiliate with the network occurring six months before the group struck an agreement to affiliate most of its UPN affiliated and independent stations that it either owned or controlled to The WB on July 21 42 Prior to that point Birmingham had been one of the largest markets that was not served by a local WB affiliate central Alabama residents were only able to receive WB programs on satellite and some cable providers through the national superstation feed of the network s Chicago affiliate WGN TV now an independent station its cable feed now operates as a standalone channel which carried the network s programming nationwide from The WB s launch in January 1995 until October 1999 43 44 With the WB affiliation WTTO added one of Fox Kids competitors Kids WB to its inventory of children s programming The station carried Kids WB s weekday morning and afternoon blocks together on Monday through Friday mornings bookending Fox Kids weekday morning block on either a one day delay or live to air depending on the time slot and accordant block the Saturday morning edition of the block meanwhile aired on Sundays in a day behind arrangement as WTTO aired the Fox Kids weekend block on Saturdays During the late 1990s WTTO reduced the number of movies classic sitcoms and cartoons on its schedule and began shifting its syndicated programming towards a lineup of talk reality and court shows as well as more recent syndicated sitcoms that would become the common variety of programming for netlet stations at that time In early 2000 WDBB relocated its transmitter facilities back to its original 609 6 meter 2 000 ft guyed mast transmission tower in Windham Springs which was constructed and completed shortly before the station signed on in 1982 WTTO dropped the Fox Kids block in September 2000 at which time the station moved the Kids WB blocks to weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings Neither WBRC nor any other central Alabama station chose to acquire the local rights to Fox s children s programming lineup as a result Fox Kids as well as the successor blocks that 4Kids Entertainment programmed for the network after 2002 Fox Box and 4Kids TV were not cleared in the Birmingham market for the 7 years that the network continued to carry children s programming in addition WTTO as with WBRC declined to air the paid programming block that replaced 4Kids TV in January 2009 Weekend Marketplace it would air instead on WABM WTTO has continued to air the children s program blocks carried by The WB and later by The CW Kids WB The CW4Kids Toonzai Vortexx and One Magnificent Morning without interruption through the years In 2001 Sinclair purchased WABM outright creating the Birmingham Tuscaloosa Anniston market s first television duopoly with WTTO WDBB CW affiliation edit On January 24 2006 the Warner Bros Entertainment unit of Time Warner which operated The WB and CBS Corporation which acquired UPN through its split from Viacom in December 2005 announced that the two companies would respectively shut down UPN and The WB and enter into a joint venture to form a new fifth broadcast television network The CW that would initially feature a mix of programming from both of its forerunner networks as well as new content developed specifically for The CW 45 46 WTTO however continued to show The WB s programming until The WB s The Night of Favorites and Farewells which aired on September 17 2006 On May 2 2006 Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it had signed an affiliation agreement with the network in which WTTO would become the Birmingham charter affiliate of The CW when it officially joined the network upon its debut on September 18 WTTO WDBB adopted CW 21 as its official branding although the station sometimes identifies as CW 21 Alabama in some promotional imaging sister station WABM affiliated with MyNetworkTV a new secondary service started by Fox on September 5 2006 In 2007 Sinclair sold WDBB to Cunningham Broadcasting and entered into a time brokerage agreement to continue operating that station as its repeater However the sale itself was purely nominal as 97 of Cunningham s stock is controlled by trusts owned by the family of now deceased Sinclair founder Julian Sinclair Smith including among others its current chief executive officer David Smith Since the late 1990s when it was known as Glencairn Ltd Cunningham has long faced allegations that it merely acts a shell corporation to circumvent FCC rules on television station ownership within a single market 47 48 49 Secondary ABC affiliation edit On July 29 2013 Allbritton Communications announced that it would sell its seven television stations including the trimulcast operation involving WBMA LD and satellites WCFT TV and WJSU TV to Sinclair Broadcast Group which would purchase the stations for 985 million in order to focus on running its co owned political news website Politico 50 51 As part of the deal Sinclair had intended to sell the license assets of WTTO and WABM to Deerfield Media and retain operational responsibilities for those stations through shared services and joint sales agreements 52 On December 6 2013 the FCC informed Sinclair that applications related to the deal need to be amended or withdrawn as Sinclair would retain the existing time brokerage agreement between WTTO and WDBB this would in effect create a new LMA between WBMA and WDBB even though the commission had ruled in 1999 that such agreements made after November 5 1996 covering the programming of more than 15 of a station s broadcast day would count toward the ownership limits for the brokering station s owner 53 On March 20 2014 as part of a restructuring of the Sinclair Allbritton deal in order to address these ownership conflicts as well as to expedite approval of the Allbritton acquisition that was delayed due to the FCC s increased scrutiny of outsourcing agreements such as those maintained by Sinclair used to circumvent in market ownership caps Sinclair announced that it would retain ownership of WTTO under which WDBB would continue operating as its satellite under the existing LMA and form a new duopoly between it and WBMA which would mark the first known instance in which the senior partner in one duopoly became the junior partner in another as well as the first instance involving a duopoly that was broken up legally terminating all operational ties with the junior partner WABM was to be sold to a third party buyer with which Sinclair would not enter into an operational outsourcing arrangement or maintain any contingent interest other than a possible transitional shared facilities agreement until WTTO was able to move its operations from its Beacon Parkway studios to WBMA s facility in Hoover 54 55 On May 29 2014 after informing the FCC that it had not found a buyer for WABM even among the respective owners of WBRC WVTM and WIAT that did not operate an existing duopoly in Birmingham Raycom Media Media General and LIN Media the latter two of which were in the process of merging at the time Sinclair stated that it would propose a surrendering of the WJSU and WCFT licenses and migrate the WBMA simulcast to WABM s second digital subchannel on the basis that the latter s transmission facilities are superior to those of WCFT and WJSU as a low power station WBMA LD would not be affected as the FCC does not apply in market ownership caps to low power stations owned alongside any full power station 56 57 After nearly a year of delays Sinclair s acquisition of Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24 2014 58 and completed one week later on August 1 59 On September 18 2014 in preparation for the planned shutdown of WCFT and WJSU eleven days later on September 29 the transaction would be suspended on Sinclair s asking by the FCC days prior to the shutdown after the group agreed to sell both stations to Howard Stirk Holdings on the agreement that Sinclair would not enter into any operational arrangements with HSH for either station WDBB added a simulcast feed of WBMA LD on digital subchannel 17 2 replacing WCFT which became a Heartland affiliate as WBMA s Tuscaloosa repeater WABM also added a simulcast of the WBMA on its 68 2 subchannel 60 Subchannel history editWTTO DT2 WDBB DT2 edit On March 23 2006 Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it signed an affiliation deal with The Tube to carry the music video network on the digital subchannels of many of the group s stations The channel launched on WTTO WDBB s second digital subchannel which launched on virtual channels 21 2 and 17 2 on June 15 2006 On December 31 Sinclair dropped The Tube from the stations affected by the deal due to new educational programming regulations put into effect by the FCC that The Tube not immediately comply with by inserting E I compliant programming within its schedule effectively putting the burden on local stations to carry programs that complied with the regulations the network ceased operations on October 1 2007 due to several factors likely including the discontinuance of the Sinclair carriage deal In August 2010 Sinclair signed a groupwide affiliation deal with The Country Network later known as ZUUS Country during the final year of its carriage on WTTO WDBB a digital subchannel network featuring country music videos to the 28 of the company s stations 61 WTTO WDBB relaunched its second subchannel as an affiliate of The Country Network on October 26 2010 the subchannel disaffiliated from ZUUS Country on July 1 2014 when it began carrying the classic movie network GetTV as a result of a channel lease agreement with Sinclair that involved 33 of the company s stations 62 63 As a result of WDBB becoming a simulcaster of WBMA LD on its second subchannel in October 2014 WTTO and WDBB only simulcast the former s main programming feed choosing to reallocate bandwidth space on WDBB s signal to transmit WBMA s programming feed in high definition on digital channel 17 2 On January 4 2016 as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with the network spurred by the network s acquisition of rights to reruns of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson WTTO switched the affiliation of its second digital subchannel to Antenna TV this resulted in the displacement of GetTV Now TBD to a newly created fourth digital subchannel of the station WTTO DT3 edit On October 31 2015 WTTO launched a tertiary digital subchannel on virtual channel 21 3 which became a charter affiliate of the sci fi network Comet which is owned by Sinclair and operated by Metro Goldwyn Mayer under a management agreement with the group WTTO DT4 edit On June 1 2017 GetTV was replaced with TBD a digital subchannel which is owned by Sinclair and targeting millennial audiences Programming editThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information August 2019 WTTO WDBB carries the entire CW network schedule Until 2017 the station carried the network s educational program block One Magnificent Morning one hour earlier than the network recommended time of 7 a m on most Saturdays during the fall and winter months in order to accommodate sports programming from the ACC Network in this case the block was transmitted to the station via the network s Eastern Time Zone feed This changed on October 7 2017 when the station began airing the block locally from 8 a m to 11 a m on an all year round basis Syndicated programming broadcast by WTTO WDBB as of September 2016 update includes Modern Family Hot Bench The Andy Griffith Show The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men Like WABM WTTO WDBB is one or two of the few remaining U S television stations that continues to sign off during the overnight hours occurring on Sunday night early Monday mornings from midnight to 5 a m 64 Sports programming edit In August 2009 WTTO WDBB acquired the broadcast rights to ESPN Regional Television s SEC Network syndication service carrying most regular season college basketball and football games from the Southeastern Conference as well as games from the first three rounds of the SEC men s basketball tournament this agreement ended when ESPN discontinued the service in 2012 upon the launch of a conference focused cable only network of the same name In September 2015 WTTO WDBB became the local broadcast rightsholder to the ACC Network syndication service airing most regular season football and basketball games from selected teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as games from the first three rounds of the ACC men s basketball tournament Most college football and basketball telecasts on the station aired on Saturday afternoons during the fall and winter months respectively with occasional prime time games on weeknights the station rescheduled CW prime time shows to air on weekend evenings if an evening game is scheduled preempting movies usually aired on Saturday and Sunday evenings between 7 and 9 p m as The CW itself did not run network programming on those nights and occasionally those usually aired in weekend afternoon timeslots WTTO WDBB assumed the rights to the ACC Network from sister station WABM which passed on the rights due to its commitments to the Sinclair owned American Sports Network ad hoc syndication service Newscasts edit WB21 News at 9 00 edit WTTO launched its own in house news operation on September 8 2003 and began airing a nightly hour long prime time newscast titled WB21 News at 9 00 The program was developed and formatted around the News Central local national hybrid news concept created by Sinclair that year local news segments originated from the station s Beacon Parkway studios in Birmingham while national news weather and sports segments were based out of studios located at Sinclair s corporate headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley Maryland In addition WTTO also aired The Point a controversial one minute conservative political commentary feature during its newscasts the segment was required to air on all Sinclair owned stations that aired local newscasts regardless of whether it carried the News Central format or not Outsourcing to WIAT edit Further information WIAT News operation The WB21 News at 9 00 was unable to make headway against WBRC s longer established and much higher rated 9 p m newscast which debuted in September 1996 upon its switch to Fox as a result WTTO outsourced production of its evening newscast to CBS affiliate WIAT through a news share agreement in October 2005 65 The WIAT produced newscast was canceled on October 13 2006 due to low ratings the News Central format had earlier been phased out entirely in its other markets by March 2006 66 67 Technical information editSubchannels edit The station s ATSC 1 0 channels are carried on the multiplexed signals of other Birmingham television stations Subchannels provided by WTTO ATSC 1 0 68 Channel Res Aspect Short name Programming ATSC 1 0 host21 1 720p 16 9 WTTO CW Main WTTO programming The CW WIAT21 2 480i 4 3 Antenna Antenna TV WABM21 3 16 9 Comet Comet WVTM TV21 4 TBD TBD WBRCAnalog to digital conversion edit On February 2 2009 Sinclair Broadcast Group announced in an e mail release to all cable and satellite television providers carrying its television stations that regardless of the exact date of the mandatory switchover to digital only broadcasting for full power stations which Congress rescheduled days later to June 12 its stations including WABM would shut down their analog signals on the originally scheduled transition date of February 17 69 WTTO and WDBB shut down their analog signals respectively over UHF channels 21 and 17 at 11 59 p m on that date WTTO s digital signal remained on its pre transition UHF channel 28 through the use of PSIP digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 21 WDBB also continued to operate its digital signal on its pre transition digital channel UHF 18 digital television receivers display its virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 17 70 As part of the SAFER Act 71 WTTO and WDBB kept its analog signal on the air until March 19 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters With the digital conversion WTTO moved its transmitter facilities from its analog transmitter site 3 miles 4 8 km east on Red Mountain to a digital transmitter overlooking the Goldencrest neighborhood that it shares with radio stations WZZK 104 7 FM and WBPT 106 9 FM The move and the resulting expansion of its coverage area resulted in the shutdown of W62BG as the main signal provided adequate coverage of the entire Birmingham area the translator s license was canceled in late October 2011 ATSC 3 0 edit Subchannels of WTTO ATSC 3 0 72 Channel Res Aspect Short name Programming6 1 720p 16 9 WBRC Fox WBRC nbsp 13 1 1080p WVTM NBC WVTM TV nbsp 21 1 720p CW The CW42 1 1080p WIAT CBS WIAT 68 2 720p ABC3340 ABC WBMA LD Subchannel broadcast with digital rights managementSee also editTallest structures in the U S References edit Nelson Bob October 18 2008 Call Letter Origins The Broadcast Archive Retrieved October 31 2008 Facility Technical Data for WTTO Licensing and Management System Federal Communications Commission Appendix 10 A Trail of Bleached Bones DuMont History a b FCC History Cards for WTTO SYMPHONY NETWORK ASSOCIATION INC AND CHAPMAN RADIO AND TELEVISION CO Order Designating Applications for Consolidated Hearing on Stated Issues PDF Federal Register May 15 1964 p 6422 Retrieved September 19 2021 a b Weaver Emmett September 3 1965 Chapmans Plan UHF TV Station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p 4 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Weaver Emmett June 24 1965 New UHF TV station Aims At Fall Opening Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p 26 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Fourth Channel Looms For City Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama August 9 1966 p 15 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Fight For TV Channel 21 Narrows To 4 Companies Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama December 1 1966 p 24 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Weaver Emmett September 4 1968 But Appeal Delay Likely Firm Gets Nod For New TV Channel Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p 18 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Alabama TV gets nod for Birmingham UHF PDF Broadcasting September 9 1968 pp 62 63 Retrieved September 19 2021 McFeatters Dale July 11 1970 Alabama television bias charged FCC to rehear permit request Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p 15 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Bell Richard P June 10 1972 FCC hears case for city TV station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p 4 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Rockwell David December 5 1973 City may soon have integrated tv station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p E8 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart December 17 1975 Birmingham may get new tv station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A1 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart May 24 1976 Prospects for tv 21 run afoul Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p B20 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart November 11 1976 Official fears trip may endanger job Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A16 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart October 1 1977 Chapman Co wins license for city s 4th TV station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A1 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart March 6 1979 Chapmans win new TV station Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A1 A2 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Lytle Stewart April 6 1979 Television station license challenge seems day late Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p C1 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Morring Jr Frank November 10 1979 New city TV station step nearer Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p B5 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Rassenfoss Joe November 27 1981 After 18 years they ve done something for Birmingham Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p Kudzu 4 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Channel 21 It s getting exciting now Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama March 5 1982 p Kudzu 8 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Herrmann Thom April 22 1982 Christmas arrives for WTTO owners Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p B6 Retrieved April 15 2022 via Newspapers com Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting April 25 1983 p 78 WTTO service OK d for cable customers The Anniston Star Anniston Alabama July 2 1985 p 6A Retrieved April 16 2022 via Newspapers com Geiss Chuck May 17 2012 Naked Birmingham Black amp White Kemp Kathy March 7 1986 Looking at WDBB Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p Kudzu 4 5 6 Archived from the original on April 16 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 via Newspapers com Fiorella Chandler Grace August 7 1986 WDBB reaches agreement with Fox network Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A10 Archived from the original on April 16 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 via Newspapers com HR Broadcasting Acquires 2 Independent TV Stations Los Angeles Times September 30 1986 Retrieved January 5 2018 Citron Alan June 6 1990 Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets Los Angeles Times Retrieved December 31 2017 Rich Cherry August 10 1990 Fox move could boost WTTO TV Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p A9 Archived from the original on April 16 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 via Newspapers com Rich Cherry January 30 1991 WDBB 17 now airing WTTO 21 programs Birmingham Post Herald Birmingham Alabama p D10 Archived from the original on April 16 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 via Newspapers com Heine Max January 30 1991 WDBB TV back in Tuscaloosa The Tuscaloosa News p 8C Archived from the original on April 16 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 Independent TV s atypical ABRY Communications PDF pp 43 44 Archived PDF from the original on November 8 2021 Retrieved April 16 2022 COMPANY NEWS GREAT AMERICAN SELLING FOUR TELEVISION STATIONS The New York Times May 6 1994 Retrieved December 12 2015 a b Foisie Geoffrey May 30 1994 Argyle socks away profit New World Communications Group Inc acquires Argyle Television Holdings Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information Archived from the original on January 9 2016 Retrieved December 12 2015 Fox Gains 12 Stations in New World Deal Chicago Sun Times Hollinger International May 23 1994 Archived from the original on October 11 2013 Retrieved June 1 2013 Rathbun Elizabeth January 8 1996 Allbritton takes another route to Birmingham Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information Archived from the original on January 9 2016 Retrieved December 12 2015 Wharton Dennis November 19 1995 Allbrigton Has Designs On CBS Affiliate WCFT Variety Cahners Business Information Retrieved December 12 2015 Gimein Mark January 8 1996 Tuscaloosa Ala TV stations change hands Mediaweek Archived from the original on December 22 2015 Retrieved December 12 2015 WB woos and wins Sinclair Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information July 21 1997 Archived from the original on November 5 2013 Retrieved December 12 2015 Time Warner Takes Crucial Step Toward New Network Television A pact with superstation WGN TV gives it access to 73 of homes Analysts say that will still leave gaps Los Angeles Times December 4 1993 Retrieved December 12 2015 Last night Dawson s last WGN ceases to air WB programming The Charleston Gazette October 7 1999 Archived from the original on March 28 2015 Retrieved December 12 2015 Seid Jessica January 24 2006 Gilmore Girls meet Smackdown CW Network to combine WB UPN in CBS Warner venture beginning in September CNNMoney com Time Warner Carter Bill January 24 2006 UPN and WB to Combine Forming New TV Network The New York Times PUSH pushing FCC over Sinclair Glencairn Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information July 13 1998 Archived from the original on June 10 2014 Retrieved December 13 2013 Glencairn s dicey LMAs Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information March 29 1999 Archived from the original on June 10 2014 Retrieved December 12 2015 FCC fines Sinclair for Glencairn control Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information December 10 2001 Retrieved December 12 2015 Heath Thomas Wilgoren Debbi July 29 2013 Allbritton to sell 7 TV stations including WJLA to Sinclair for 985 million The Washington Post Retrieved July 29 2013 Sinclair Buying Allbritton Stations For 985M TVNewsCheck NewsCheck Media July 29 2013 Retrieved July 29 2013 APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE CDBS Public Access Federal Communications Commission August 9 2013 Retrieved August 30 2013 Kreisman Barbara A December 6 2013 Letter to Sinclair and Allbritton legal counsel PDF CDBS Public Access Federal Communications Commission Retrieved December 8 2013 Eck Kevin March 21 2014 Sinclair Offers to Sell Stations Ahead of FCC Decision TVSpy Prometheus Global Media Sinclair Proposes Restructuring Of Allbritton Transaction In Order To Meet Objections Of The Federal Communications Commission The Wall Street Journal Press release News Corp PRNewswire March 20 2014 Eggerton John May 29 2014 Sinclair Proposes Surrendering Three Licenses to Get Allbritton Deal Done Broadcasting amp Cable NewBay Media Retrieved May 30 2014 Jessell Harry A May 29 2014 Sinclair Giving Up 3 Stations To Appease FCC TVNewsCheck NewsCheck Media Retrieved May 30 2014 Eggerton John July 24 2014 FCC Approves Sinclair Allbritton Deal Broadcasting amp Cable NewBay Media Retrieved July 24 2014 Malone Michael August 1 2014 Sinclair s Deal For Allbritton Closes Broadcasting amp Cable NewBay Media Retrieved August 4 2014 Use an antenna to pick up ABC 33 40 Important info here WBMA LD Sinclair Broadcast Group Retrieved September 30 2014 Sinclair Broadcast Group to Air The Country Network Press release Sinclair Broadcast Group PRNewswire August 24 2010 GetTV Signs Big Affiliation Deal With Sinclair TVNewsCheck NewsCheck Media June 23 2014 getTV Signs Major Affiliation Deal With Sinclair Broadcast Group To Bring The Classic Movie Channel To 33 New Markets Including Minneapolis Pittsburgh And St Louis The Wall Street Journal News Corp June 23 2014 WTTODT TV Listings Zap2It Tribune Digital Ventures Retrieved September 23 2015 Romano Allison December 9 2005 The Battle of Birmingham Broadcasting amp Cable Reed Business Information Retrieved May 9 2016 Walker Andrea K March 15 2006 Sinclair cuts back on News Central Live newscasts viewership called low The Baltimore Sun Tribune Publishing Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved December 12 2015 Sinclair s NewsCentral model loses stations TelevisionWeek NewBay Media March 13 2006 Retrieved December 12 2015 RabbitEars Info rabbitears info Retrieved November 29 2022 RabbitEars TV Query for WIAT RabbitEars Retrieved June 23 2022 RabbitEars TV Query for WABM RabbitEars Retrieved June 23 2022 RabbitEars TV Query for WVTM RabbitEars Retrieved June 23 2022 RabbitEars TV Query for WBRC RabbitEars Retrieved June 23 2022 Hearn Ted February 2 2009 Sinclair Sticks To Feb 17 Analog Cutoff Digital Video Report Retrieved February 24 2009 DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds PDF Federal Communications Commission Archived from the original PDF on August 29 2013 Retrieved March 24 2012 UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program PDF Federal Communications Commission June 12 2009 Retrieved June 4 2012 RabbitEars query for WTTO www rabbitears info Retrieved December 6 2022 External links editMap all coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates Official website Tower Site of the week A Quick Jaunt Through Birmingham Alabama 2002 Listing 1050693 Antenna Structure Registration database U S Federal Communications Commission Listing 1035175 Antenna Structure Registration database U S Federal Communications Commission Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title WTTO amp oldid 1196057433, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.