WAKA
Encyclopedia
WAKA is the CBS
-affiliated television station
for Central Alabama
's Black Belt
region licensed to Selma
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 42 (PSIP virtual channel
8) from a transmitter in Gordonville
. The station can also be seen on Knology
and Charter
channel 8. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 708 and Knology digital channel 902. Owned by Bahakel Communications
, WAKA has studios on Eastern Boulevard (US 80/US 231
) in Montgomery. Syndicated
programming on the station includes: Wheel of Fortune
, The Doctors
, Dr. Phil
, Jeopardy!
, and Inside Edition
.
featuring descriptive video service
. On WAKA-DT3, Knology digital channel 117, and Charter digital channel 138 is a 24-hour live weather radar
feed.
). Originally an Independent, it became Montgomery's ABC
affiliate soon afterwards. However, it only provided a Grade B signal to Montgomery, and Deep South could not afford a direct network feed. Instead, station engineers switched to and from the signal of WBRC-TV in Birmingham
whenever ABC programming was available. Oftentimes, if the engineer was not paying attention, local WBRC breaks and IDs would air on WSLA.
In 1964, WKAB-TV (later WHOA-TV and now WNCF
) started up as Montgomery's ABC affiliate, but WSLA continued to broadcast ABC programming to the western part of the market
because of UHF's limited coverage at the time.
Interestingly, it could be argued that WSLA was almost always a CBS affiliate. Once it ended a brief stint as a Independent station and affiliated with ABC, it also established a secondary affiliation with CBS by carrying one hour of that network's programming every week with Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour.
The station fought a 30-year battle (probably the longest on record) over its current transmitting facilities. Channel 8 received its construction permit
in February 1954 weeks before the area's only other VHF station, Montgomery's WSFA
. The Selma station was allowed just a 360 feet (109.7 m) tower just west of Selma, with only 3,000 watt
s of power.
Almost at once, Deep South applied to amend its permit requesting a much taller tower just north of Prattville
with a full 316,000 watts of power, the most allowed for a high-band VHF station. The new location would have easily covered Montgomery while still being within 15 miles of Selma as required by Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) rules. However, the FCC blocked this move due to a protest from Montgomery's then-CBS affiliate, WCOV-TV
, which claimed that the FCC would not be fostering the growth of UHF stations if it allowed the expansion. In truth, WCOV feared that if WSLA was permitted to expand its signal, CBS would move its programming there. Deep South proposed another facility this time from unspecified facilities in Southern Montgomery County
only to be rejected again due to protests from WCOV. Probably afraid the license would be in jeopardy, Deep South went on-the-air from its originally-specified facilities in Selma.
The station's facilities burned down on August 1, 1968, cause undetermined. WCOV's then-owner, Gay-Bell Corporation made a move to purchase the silent channel 8 facility from Deep South and it intended to operate it as a low-powered West Alabama repeater of WCOV. However, the FCC would not allow WCOV to reduce channel 8's power. For some unknown reason, perhaps the enormous amount of capital expense that would have been required, WCOV passed on the chance to operate channel 8 as a full-power station (and one that probably would have not been contested to operate as such since WCOV, the main protester in the channel 8 expansion case, would have owned the facility).
Due to intense competition from the Montgomery stations (especially WSFA) and the large amount of money Deep South had invested in the legal fight, WSLA was not rebuilt until 1972, when the dormant station was bought by Gala Broadcasting. Gala's owner, Charles Grisham of Huntsville
, also owned that city's CBS affiliate WHNT-TV
. The station was rebuilt in Selma and returned to the airwaves on November 1, 1973 as a full-time CBS affiliate. Grisham continued the battle for a tall tower and full power to cover Montgomery while WCOV continued its fight to prevent this. One of WSLA's applications to increase coverage (but out of direct fire from WCOV and WKAB) involved placing its tower in a position that would have allowed respectable coverage into Birmingham and Tuscaloosa
as well as to Selma and Montgomery. This application, however, was challenged by UHF stations WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa and WBMG (now WIAT
) in Birmingham.
At one time, WCOV proposed that the FCC move the analog channel 8 frequency to Tuscaloosa as an educational station and then make the entire Montgomery market UHF by re-assigning the channel 12 frequency to Columbus, Georgia
(which would have made that market all VHF). This got nowhere but did extend the battle. Finally, with all arguments exhausted and the FCC (in keeping with its emphasis on deregulation
) becoming more neutral in the protection of UHF facilities, WSLA was issued a construction permit in 1984 for a new tower in Lowndes County
which would give the station primary coverage of Montgomery. The station's call sign changed to WAKA on October 28, 1984 (unofficially said to stand for, in jest, We Are Kicking Ass). It was thought that with the move to Montgomery the calls WSLA would be confused with those of WSFA.
Bahakel Communications
bought WAKA from Grisham in 1985 and remains the owner today. That same year in April, WAKA began broadcasting from its long-sought 1757 feet (535.5 m) tower with 316,000 watts of power. It now boasted the largest coverage area in the entire state of Alabama. The station provides at least secondary coverage from the fringes of the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa suburbs to the Florida Panhandle
and Wiregrass Region
to the southeast. On New Year's Day
1986, WAKA became the sole CBS affiliate for Montgomery after the network dropped its programming from WCOV. That station later joined the upstart Fox
network.
WAKA was the first station in the Montgomery market to broadcast in stereo
and is the only one to transmit with a full one megawatt in digital (equivalent to five megawatts for an analog transmitter). Because of WAKA's original digital allocation on UHF channel 55, and a belief by ownership that a return to VHF channel 8 for digital service may create reception issues, WAKA petitioned to the FCC to move its post-transition channel to channel 42 since any channel above 51 would not be allocated for digital television after February 17, 2009. In order to get its post-transition channel up and running, WAKA ceased analog broadcasting on channel 8 on November 28, 2008.
At that time, the analog antenna and broadcasting equipment were removed from its tower and replaced with digital equipment for channel 42 (digital channel 55 continued to operate via a side-mounted antenna at full power). Digital channel 42 signed-on January 19, 2009 while digital channel 55 signed-off on the mandated date of February 17. Although for only a month, WAKA has the distinction of being the only facility in the country to actually operate two digital channels at the same time (42 and 55) as part of the digital transition. WAKA is the only big four station in the market to operate at full power (1 megawatt). PSIP is used to display WAKA's virtual channel
as 8.
On July 7, 2011, WAKA announced ambitious plans to purchase WBMM (CW) and operate a shared services agreement with WNCF (ABC) that will make them a media powerhouse in Montgomery. The plans call for building a new, ultra-modern, entirely HD communications center on the WNCF site (which, ironically WAKA's Bahakel has always owned). When completed, the operation of the WAKA facility on Eastern Boulevard, long hampered by lack of expansion space due to its urban location, will cease.
) known as the West Alabama Newsroom and in Greenville
known as the South Alabama Newsroom. In addition, WAKA operates a third bureau in Troy, Alabama. Those expansions along with improved production values helped WAKA become a solid runner-up to long-dominant WSFA in local Neilson ratings. In the July 2011 ratings, WAKA's noon and weekend 10 pm newscasts out-rated WSFA in key demographic areas. These types of victories for WAKA have happened in the past, and continue to signal a growing preference for the station's news product.
From January 2007 until September 2010, through a news share agreement, the station produced a weeknight half-hour prime time newscast (known as CW News at Nine) on CW affiliate WBMM
(owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting
). The arrangement was terminated after its sister station WNCF expanded its news department and introduced full thirty-minute taped shows weeknights at 9 (on WBMM) and 10.
On January 3, 2011, WAKA entered into another news share agreement with WCOV (owned by the Woods Communications Corporation) to produce a nightly prime time show known as WCOV News at 9. Previously, that station had its newscasts produced by WSFA but chose not to renew the outsourcing arrangement. Unlike most CBS affiliates, WAKA does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show but rather a 90-minute block beginning at 5:30 am. The 6 o'clock hour of CBS 8 News This Morning is simulcast on WMRK-FM 107.9. WAKA maintains simulcast agreements with numerous radio stations in central and south Alabama in the event of severe weather events.
CBS 8 First Alert Weather Network
The 8 Team
Reporters
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Central Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
's Black Belt
Black Belt (region of Alabama)
The Black Belt is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama, and part of the larger Black Belt Region of the Southern United States, which stretches from Texas to Maryland. The term originally referred to the region underlain by a thin layer of rich, black topsoil developed atop the chalk of the Selma...
region licensed to Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 42 (PSIP virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
8) from a transmitter in Gordonville
Gordonville, Alabama
Gordonville is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 318. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Gordonville is located at .According to the U.S...
. The station can also be seen on Knology
Knology
Knology Inc. is a cable company that formed in 1994 by ITC Holding Company, Inc, a telecommunications holding company in West Point, Georgia that also founded Internet service provider Mindspring. In late 1994, shortly after Knology's inception, two employees made a $600,000 investment to make...
and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 8. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 708 and Knology digital channel 902. Owned by Bahakel Communications
Bahakel Communications
Bahakel Communications is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based communications company that owns radio and television stations in the United States...
, WAKA has studios on Eastern Boulevard (US 80/US 231
U.S. Route 231
U.S. Route 231 is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 912 miles from St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 to south of U.S. Route 98 in Downtown Panama City, Florida.One of its most notable landmarks is the William H...
) in Montgomery. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on the station includes: Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, The Doctors
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, and Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
.
Digital programming
On WAKA-DT2 is a secondary audio channelSecond audio program
Second audio program , also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over the air and by cable TV.-Usage:...
featuring descriptive video service
Descriptive Video Service
The Descriptive Video Service is a major United States producer of video description, which makes visual media, such as television programs, feature films, and home videos, more accessible to people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired...
. On WAKA-DT3, Knology digital channel 117, and Charter digital channel 138 is a 24-hour live weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
feed.
| Channels | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WAKA programming / CBS SAP/descriptive video service on 8.2 |
| 8.2 | |||
| 8.3 | 480i | 4:3 | Weather radar |
History
Selma's analog VHF channel 8 debuted on March 17, 1960 as WSLA (acronym for SeLmA). The station was originally owned by the Brennan family and their company, Deep South Broadcasting, along with WBAM radio (740 AM now WMSPWMSP
WMSP is a radio station licensed to serve Montgomery, Alabama, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC...
). Originally an Independent, it became Montgomery's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate soon afterwards. However, it only provided a Grade B signal to Montgomery, and Deep South could not afford a direct network feed. Instead, station engineers switched to and from the signal of WBRC-TV in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
whenever ABC programming was available. Oftentimes, if the engineer was not paying attention, local WBRC breaks and IDs would air on WSLA.
In 1964, WKAB-TV (later WHOA-TV and now WNCF
WNCF
WNCF is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Gordonville. The station can also be seen on Knology and Charter channel 4. There is a high definition feed...
) started up as Montgomery's ABC affiliate, but WSLA continued to broadcast ABC programming to the western part of the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
because of UHF's limited coverage at the time.
Interestingly, it could be argued that WSLA was almost always a CBS affiliate. Once it ended a brief stint as a Independent station and affiliated with ABC, it also established a secondary affiliation with CBS by carrying one hour of that network's programming every week with Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour.
The station fought a 30-year battle (probably the longest on record) over its current transmitting facilities. Channel 8 received its construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
in February 1954 weeks before the area's only other VHF station, Montgomery's WSFA
WSFA
WSFA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt region licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Grady along the Montgomery and Pike County line. The station can also be seen on Knology and Charter...
. The Selma station was allowed just a 360 feet (109.7 m) tower just west of Selma, with only 3,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power.
Almost at once, Deep South applied to amend its permit requesting a much taller tower just north of Prattville
Prattville, Alabama
Prattville is a city in Autauga and Elmore counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 33,960. Nicknamed "The Fountain City" due to the many artesian wells in the area, Prattville is part of the Montgomery metropolitan statistical area and serves as...
with a full 316,000 watts of power, the most allowed for a high-band VHF station. The new location would have easily covered Montgomery while still being within 15 miles of Selma as required by Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) rules. However, the FCC blocked this move due to a protest from Montgomery's then-CBS affiliate, WCOV-TV
WCOV-TV
WCOV-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt area licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter southeast of Grady along the Montgomery and Crenshaw County line. The station can also be seen on...
, which claimed that the FCC would not be fostering the growth of UHF stations if it allowed the expansion. In truth, WCOV feared that if WSLA was permitted to expand its signal, CBS would move its programming there. Deep South proposed another facility this time from unspecified facilities in Southern Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Alabama
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the most populous county in the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area; its population in 2010 was 229,363 .- History :...
only to be rejected again due to protests from WCOV. Probably afraid the license would be in jeopardy, Deep South went on-the-air from its originally-specified facilities in Selma.
The station's facilities burned down on August 1, 1968, cause undetermined. WCOV's then-owner, Gay-Bell Corporation made a move to purchase the silent channel 8 facility from Deep South and it intended to operate it as a low-powered West Alabama repeater of WCOV. However, the FCC would not allow WCOV to reduce channel 8's power. For some unknown reason, perhaps the enormous amount of capital expense that would have been required, WCOV passed on the chance to operate channel 8 as a full-power station (and one that probably would have not been contested to operate as such since WCOV, the main protester in the channel 8 expansion case, would have owned the facility).
Due to intense competition from the Montgomery stations (especially WSFA) and the large amount of money Deep South had invested in the legal fight, WSLA was not rebuilt until 1972, when the dormant station was bought by Gala Broadcasting. Gala's owner, Charles Grisham of Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
, also owned that city's CBS affiliate WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Monte Sano. Owned by Local TV, the station has studios on Holmes Avenue Northwest in...
. The station was rebuilt in Selma and returned to the airwaves on November 1, 1973 as a full-time CBS affiliate. Grisham continued the battle for a tall tower and full power to cover Montgomery while WCOV continued its fight to prevent this. One of WSLA's applications to increase coverage (but out of direct fire from WCOV and WKAB) involved placing its tower in a position that would have allowed respectable coverage into Birmingham and Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
as well as to Selma and Montgomery. This application, however, was challenged by UHF stations WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa and WBMG (now WIAT
WIAT
WIAT, virtual channel 42, is the CBS-affiliated television station in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa/Anniston/Gadsden, Alabama television market. Licensed to Birmingham, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 30, although through the use of PSIP, the station's virtual channel number is...
) in Birmingham.
At one time, WCOV proposed that the FCC move the analog channel 8 frequency to Tuscaloosa as an educational station and then make the entire Montgomery market UHF by re-assigning the channel 12 frequency to Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
(which would have made that market all VHF). This got nowhere but did extend the battle. Finally, with all arguments exhausted and the FCC (in keeping with its emphasis on deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
) becoming more neutral in the protection of UHF facilities, WSLA was issued a construction permit in 1984 for a new tower in Lowndes County
Lowndes County, Alabama
Lowndes County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is named in honor of William Lowndes, a member of the United States Congress from South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,299...
which would give the station primary coverage of Montgomery. The station's call sign changed to WAKA on October 28, 1984 (unofficially said to stand for, in jest, We Are Kicking Ass). It was thought that with the move to Montgomery the calls WSLA would be confused with those of WSFA.
Bahakel Communications
Bahakel Communications
Bahakel Communications is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based communications company that owns radio and television stations in the United States...
bought WAKA from Grisham in 1985 and remains the owner today. That same year in April, WAKA began broadcasting from its long-sought 1757 feet (535.5 m) tower with 316,000 watts of power. It now boasted the largest coverage area in the entire state of Alabama. The station provides at least secondary coverage from the fringes of the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa suburbs to the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...
and Wiregrass Region
Wiregrass Region
The Wiregrass Region or Wiregrass Country is an area of the Southern United States encompassing parts of southern Georgia, southeastern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle...
to the southeast. On New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1986, WAKA became the sole CBS affiliate for Montgomery after the network dropped its programming from WCOV. That station later joined the upstart Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network.
WAKA was the first station in the Montgomery market to broadcast in stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
and is the only one to transmit with a full one megawatt in digital (equivalent to five megawatts for an analog transmitter). Because of WAKA's original digital allocation on UHF channel 55, and a belief by ownership that a return to VHF channel 8 for digital service may create reception issues, WAKA petitioned to the FCC to move its post-transition channel to channel 42 since any channel above 51 would not be allocated for digital television after February 17, 2009. In order to get its post-transition channel up and running, WAKA ceased analog broadcasting on channel 8 on November 28, 2008.
At that time, the analog antenna and broadcasting equipment were removed from its tower and replaced with digital equipment for channel 42 (digital channel 55 continued to operate via a side-mounted antenna at full power). Digital channel 42 signed-on January 19, 2009 while digital channel 55 signed-off on the mandated date of February 17. Although for only a month, WAKA has the distinction of being the only facility in the country to actually operate two digital channels at the same time (42 and 55) as part of the digital transition. WAKA is the only big four station in the market to operate at full power (1 megawatt). PSIP is used to display WAKA's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 8.
On July 7, 2011, WAKA announced ambitious plans to purchase WBMM (CW) and operate a shared services agreement with WNCF (ABC) that will make them a media powerhouse in Montgomery. The plans call for building a new, ultra-modern, entirely HD communications center on the WNCF site (which, ironically WAKA's Bahakel has always owned). When completed, the operation of the WAKA facility on Eastern Boulevard, long hampered by lack of expansion space due to its urban location, will cease.
News operation
In the past several years, in order to be more competitive, the station has expanded its news department with additional personnel, outlying bureaus, and more newscasts. Bureaus with live broadcast capabilities are based in Selma (on Landline Road/SR 22 Truck/SR 219Alabama State Route 219
State Route 219 or SR-219 is a long route that serves as a connector route between Selma in Dallas County and Centreville in Bibb County.-Route description:...
) known as the West Alabama Newsroom and in Greenville
Greenville, Alabama
Greenville is a city in Butler County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census, the population was 7,228. The city is the county seat of Butler County and is known as the Camellia City. The movement to change the Official Alabama State Flower from the goldenrod to the camellia originated in...
known as the South Alabama Newsroom. In addition, WAKA operates a third bureau in Troy, Alabama. Those expansions along with improved production values helped WAKA become a solid runner-up to long-dominant WSFA in local Neilson ratings. In the July 2011 ratings, WAKA's noon and weekend 10 pm newscasts out-rated WSFA in key demographic areas. These types of victories for WAKA have happened in the past, and continue to signal a growing preference for the station's news product.
From January 2007 until September 2010, through a news share agreement, the station produced a weeknight half-hour prime time newscast (known as CW News at Nine) on CW affiliate WBMM
WBMM
WBMM is the CW-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt licensed to Tuskegee. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in unincorporated Southeastern Bullock County. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 14 and Knology channel 19...
(owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting
SagamoreHill Broadcasting
SagamoreHill Broadcasting is a privately held American holding company that owns eleven television stations largely based in the southern United States...
). The arrangement was terminated after its sister station WNCF expanded its news department and introduced full thirty-minute taped shows weeknights at 9 (on WBMM) and 10.
On January 3, 2011, WAKA entered into another news share agreement with WCOV (owned by the Woods Communications Corporation) to produce a nightly prime time show known as WCOV News at 9. Previously, that station had its newscasts produced by WSFA but chose not to renew the outsourcing arrangement. Unlike most CBS affiliates, WAKA does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show but rather a 90-minute block beginning at 5:30 am. The 6 o'clock hour of CBS 8 News This Morning is simulcast on WMRK-FM 107.9. WAKA maintains simulcast agreements with numerous radio stations in central and south Alabama in the event of severe weather events.
Newscast titles
- Channel 8 World News (1960–1968)
- Channel 8 News (1973–1979)
- Action 8 News (1979–1994)
- TV-8 News (1994–1995)
- TV-8 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1995–2002) - CBS 8 News (2002–present)
Station slogans
- "The Spirit of Central Alabama" (1986–2002)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (2002–2008)
- "CBS 8 News is Everywhere" (2008–present)
News team
Anchors- Tim Lennox - weekday mornings
- Jeff Sanders - weekdays at noon and weeknights at 5 (also "Student of the Week" and "Positively Alabama" segments producer)
- Jamie Langley - weeknights at 5 and "Golden Apple" segment producer
- Stefanie Hicks - weeknights at 6, 9, and 10 (also "What's Right With Our Schools" segment producer)
- Glenn Halbrooks - weeknights at 6, 9, and 10 (also "Helping Schools" segment producer)
- Katy Solhoff - weekends
CBS 8 First Alert Weather Network
- Ashley McDonald - Chief seen weeknights
- Marcy Novack - weekday mornings and noon
- Micah Harris - weekends
The 8 Team
- Dee Jackson - weeknights at 6, 9, and 10 (also Jackson & Longshore Live host)
- Stu McCann - weekends
- John Longshore - Jackson & Longshore Live host
Reporters
- George McDonald - West Alabama Newsroom
- Jessica Gertler - South Alabama Newsroom
- Elise Burkart - South Alabama Newsroom
- Steve Flowers - politics
- Amanda McKenzie
- Tamika Bickham
- Krista Littlefield
Personalities time line
| Name | Span | Current position | Previous positions | Before WAKA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Lennox | August 2009–present | CBS 8 News This Morning, | WAIQ in Montgomery. Hosted "For The Record" for 10 years on Alabama Public Television Alabama Public Television Alabama Public Television is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service member non-commercial educational Public television stations serving the US state of Alabama. The television stations are licensed by the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which was created by the Alabama state... until it was cancelled. |
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| Jeff Sanders | January 2005 – present | CBS 8 News at Noon & 5 | CBS 8 News This Morning / at Noon | Weather anchor at WTVY in Dothan, AL |
| Jamie Langley | 2009–present | CBS 8 News at 5 | ||
| Glenn Halbrooks | March 2003–present | CBS 8 News at 6 & 10 (2003–2007, late August 2010 present) | CBS 8 News at 6 & 10 and CW News at 9 (Jan. 2007- August 2010) | WDEF-TV WDEF-TV WDEF–TV channel 12 is the CBS affiliate television station for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley. The station, whose call letters came from its former AM and FM sister stations, is owned by Morris Multimedia. Its transmitter is located in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Syndicated programming on... in Chattanooga, TN. |
| Stefanie Hicks | July 2004 – Present | CBS 8 News at 6 and 10 | WSFA 12 News at 6 & 10 | WTVY in Dothan, AL |
| Katy Solhoff | April 2011-present | |||
| George McDonald | June 2005 – Present | West Alabama Newsroom Reporter (July 2007 – Present) | General Assignment Reporter | WTOK-TV WTOK-TV WTOK-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of the city along MS 145 . The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 431. Owned by... in Meridian, MS |
| Krista Littlefield | December 2007 – present | General Assignment Reporter | ||
| Elise Burkart | September 2008 – Present | South Alabama Newsroom Reporter | University of West Georgia University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a comprehensive doctoral-granting university in Carrollton, Georgia, approximately 45 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia. The University is built on 645 acres including a recent land gift of 246 acres from the city of Carrollton in 2003... |
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| Tamika Bickham | August 2010–present | General Assignment Reporter | University of Miami University of Miami The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12... |
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| Amanda McKenzie | January 2011–present | General Assignment Reporter | Anchor/Reporter at NYFA NYFA The acronym NYFA can refer to:* New York Film Academy* New York Foundation for the Arts... , Intern at NBC's The Today Show The Today Show Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series... |
University of Florida University of Florida The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906... |
| Ashley McDonald | April 2007-May 2009 / May 2010 – present | Chief Meteorologist (as of May 2010) | Morning/Noon Meteorologist (June 2008-May 2009), Weekend Meteorologist (April 2007-June 2008) | WTOK-TV WTOK-TV WTOK-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of the city along MS 145 . The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 431. Owned by... in Meridian, MS (2007) and WXIA in Atlanta (2010) |
| Marcy Novack | January 2011–present | Morning Meteorologist | ||
| Micah Harris | May 2010 – present | Weekend Meteorologist | KTEN KTEN KTEN is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southeastern Oklahoma and North Texas that is licensed to Ada, Oklahoma. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter north of Milburn, Oklahoma along OK 7. Owned by the Lockwood Broadcasting Group, the station... in Oklahoma |
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| Dee Jackson | Late 1990s-? and February 2002 – present | Sports Director | KCTV KCTV KCTV channel 5 is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area that is licensed to the Missouri side. Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV and the two share facilities on Shawnee Mission Parkway KCTV channel 5 is... in Kasas City |
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| Stu McCann | May 2008 – Present | Weekend Sports Anchor | KCWY KCWY KCWY-DT, channel 13 , is the NBC affiliate television station for Casper, Wyoming. The station also airs its programing on six low-powered satellites: KSWY-LP channel 29 in Sheridan, KCHY-LP channel 13 in Cheyenne, K14LK channel 14 in Laramie and K28HL-D channel 28 in Riverton... in Wyoming |
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