WUVG-TV
Encyclopedia
WUVG-DT is the Univision
owned and operated TV station in the greater Atlanta area, on DTV
channel 48. WUVG-DT offers a Spanish-language programming format featuring TV news, talk show
s, drama
s, movies and other first-rate Spanish programming. Its city of license
is Athens, Georgia
.
standing for North Georgia Mountains
. Initially the station ran a general entertainment format with cartoon
s, classic and recent sitcoms, country music
blocks of programming, old movies and syndicated first-run shows.
The station's transmitter was located 60 miles (nearly 100 km) away from Atlanta, reaching Athens
with a grade A signal while sending a very weak signal into eastern metro Atlanta
. As a result, many syndicators sold the rights for shows that were already on the Atlanta stations to WNGM. The station provided an alternative to viewers in areas which had moderate VHF reception and poor UHF reception from Atlanta. However, the station floundered in the ratings. By late 1988, the station was running a blend of infomercial
s, low-rated syndicated shows and movies, and shop-at-home
programming.
In 1989, after the Home Shopping Network
failed to buy WVEU (now WUPA
TV 69), it arranged for Whitehead Media to buy WNGM. The station started to air HSN's programming 24 hours a day.
In 1993, it moved its transmitter
closer to Atlanta, covering the city with a grade A signal strength
. This was the same radio tower
as WFOX FM 97.1 and WYAY FM 106.7. Channel 34 was actually planned for this tower went it went up in 1984.
In 1996, it switched to an all music video
s format as an affiliate of The Box.
The station was bought by USA Broadcasting
(which was under the same ownership as HSN, under Barry Diller) in 1997. It became WHOT-TV in October 1999 (for Hotlanta, one of the city's nickname
s) and added syndicated cartoons, off-network sitcoms, dramas, old movies and syndicated talk/reality shows to its lineup, along with Fox Kids
which it picked up from WATL
TV 36. (The successor to Fox Kids, 4Kids TV
, later moved to WUPA
after WHOT/WUVG became a Univision station until that station switched to The CW
; afterwards, the block was not aired on any Atlanta station until it went off the air in December 2008. Today, Fox offers a replacement infomercial block, Weekend Marketplace
, which currently airs on WATL.) The station didn't receive spectacular ratings, but was still performing decently.
In 2000, WHOT obtained the rights to the Atlanta Hawks
basketball
games.
USA then planned to sell its stations to Disney
/ABC
, which would've created a partnership for Cox
-owned ABC affiliate WSB-TV
, but Univision
outbid its competition in a close race. In markets which already had Univision affiliates, the newly acquired stations became affiliates of TeleFutura
, a new network started by Univision. However, WHOT was Univision's only station in Atlanta (which had a relatively low, but growing, Spanish-speaking population). As such, the station changed its call sign to WUVG (for Univision Georgia) in November 2001 and became Atlanta's Univision affiliate on January 14, 2002.
Athens, Georgia
, the station's digital TV transmitter and antenna
are located very near the city of Atlanta, which has become a common occurrence for digital stations licensed to a community outside of the core metropolitan area of the main city within the media market
. The exact location is in North Druid Hills, along with several other stations.
The station's over-the-air digital channel is multiplexed. WUVG-DT transmits digitally on physical channel 48 from Atlanta, and since early December 2009 on channel 17 (vacated by analog WPCH-TV) in Athens. This is somewhat ironic, since the main signal is required to reach the city of license, while showing the need for a translator there proves that it does not. Both stations have the same broadcast callsign and the following channels, and receivers that can tune both stations will see duplicates.
The station airs TeleFutura
on their digital subchannel
34.2, which is a rarity as Univision prefers their two networks to operate on two different channels rather than in multiplex
ed form. However, this is a legacy of analog TV, the major disadvantage of sharing now being that 34.2 does not have the right to must-carry
since the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) failed to implement it for digital TV stations, even for cable TV systems that drop almost all analog channels to supposedly make more room for digital as Comcast
has done locally.
It also means that only one of the two channels can be in full 1080i60 HDTV, currently leaving the other in 480i60 SDTV since both networks went HD in December 2009 (this station being one of the first four markets in the country be converted by the company). The station could, however, downsample them both slightly and transmit in 720p
30 (possibly 720p24
for the movies on TeleFutura) without excessive video data compression, if it chose to do so.
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
owned and operated TV station in the greater Atlanta area, on DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
channel 48. WUVG-DT offers a Spanish-language programming format featuring TV news, talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s, movies and other first-rate Spanish programming. Its city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
is Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
.
History
The station went on air on April 18, 1987 as WNGM-TV with the call signCall sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
standing for North Georgia Mountains
North Georgia mountains
The Georgia Mountains Region or North Georgia mountains or Northeast Georgia is an area that starts in the northeast corner of Georgia, United States, and spreads in a westerly direction. The mountains in this region are in the Blue Ridge mountain chain that ends in Georgia...
. Initially the station ran a general entertainment format with cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
s, classic and recent sitcoms, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
blocks of programming, old movies and syndicated first-run shows.
The station's transmitter was located 60 miles (nearly 100 km) away from Atlanta, reaching Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
with a grade A signal while sending a very weak signal into eastern metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta
The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...
. As a result, many syndicators sold the rights for shows that were already on the Atlanta stations to WNGM. The station provided an alternative to viewers in areas which had moderate VHF reception and poor UHF reception from Atlanta. However, the station floundered in the ratings. By late 1988, the station was running a blend of infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s, low-rated syndicated shows and movies, and shop-at-home
Shopping channel
Shopping channels are television specialty channels that present shopping related content, particularly for home shopping enthusiasts.-USA:* America's Store* Home Shopping Network* Jewelry Television* QVC* Shop at Home Network* ShopNBC...
programming.
In 1989, after the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
failed to buy WVEU (now WUPA
WUPA
WUPA, channel 69, is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia. An owned and operated station of the The CW Television Network, it identifies itself as "CW 69". It is owned by CBS Corporation, which is half-owner of The CW. Founded November 10, 1980, the station is broadcast locally in...
TV 69), it arranged for Whitehead Media to buy WNGM. The station started to air HSN's programming 24 hours a day.
In 1993, it moved its transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
closer to Atlanta, covering the city with a grade A signal strength
Signal strength
In telecommunications, particularly in radio, signal strength refers to the magnitude of the electric field at a reference point that is a significant distance from the transmitting antenna. It may also be referred to as received signal level or field strength. Typically, it is expressed in...
. This was the same radio tower
Radio masts and towers
Radio masts and towers are, typically, tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. They are among the tallest man-made structures...
as WFOX FM 97.1 and WYAY FM 106.7. Channel 34 was actually planned for this tower went it went up in 1984.
In 1996, it switched to an all music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s format as an affiliate of The Box.
USA Broadcasting
USA Broadcasting was an American media company owned by veteran entertainment industry executive Barry Diller. This network was the over-the-air broadcasting arm of USA Network....
(which was under the same ownership as HSN, under Barry Diller) in 1997. It became WHOT-TV in October 1999 (for Hotlanta, one of the city's nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s) and added syndicated cartoons, off-network sitcoms, dramas, old movies and syndicated talk/reality shows to its lineup, along with Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
which it picked up from WATL
WATL
WATL is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by the Gannett Company and is a sister station to WXIA-TV , Atlanta's NBC affiliate. WATL's callsign refers to ATLanta, the station's city of license, also known as "the A-T-L" for its airport code...
TV 36. (The successor to Fox Kids, 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
, later moved to WUPA
WUPA
WUPA, channel 69, is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia. An owned and operated station of the The CW Television Network, it identifies itself as "CW 69". It is owned by CBS Corporation, which is half-owner of The CW. Founded November 10, 1980, the station is broadcast locally in...
after WHOT/WUVG became a Univision station until that station switched to The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
; afterwards, the block was not aired on any Atlanta station until it went off the air in December 2008. Today, Fox offers a replacement infomercial block, Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace is a two hour Saturday morning block of paid programming airing on Fox that began airing on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV Saturday morning cartoon block that aired using time leased by 4Kids from Fox from 2002 until the last Saturday of 2008...
, which currently airs on WATL.) The station didn't receive spectacular ratings, but was still performing decently.
In 2000, WHOT obtained the rights to the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
games.
USA then planned to sell its stations to Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
/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...
, which would've created a partnership for Cox
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
-owned ABC affiliate WSB-TV
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
, but Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
outbid its competition in a close race. In markets which already had Univision affiliates, the newly acquired stations became affiliates of TeleFutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
, a new network started by Univision. However, WHOT was Univision's only station in Atlanta (which had a relatively low, but growing, Spanish-speaking population). As such, the station changed its call sign to WUVG (for Univision Georgia) in November 2001 and became Atlanta's Univision affiliate on January 14, 2002.
Digital television
Despite still being licensed to serveCity of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, the station's digital TV transmitter and antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
are located very near the city of Atlanta, which has become a common occurrence for digital stations licensed to a community outside of the core metropolitan area of the main city within the media 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...
. The exact location is in North Druid Hills, along with several other stations.
The station's over-the-air digital channel is multiplexed. WUVG-DT transmits digitally on physical channel 48 from Atlanta, and since early December 2009 on channel 17 (vacated by analog WPCH-TV) in Athens. This is somewhat ironic, since the main signal is required to reach the city of license, while showing the need for a translator there proves that it does not. Both stations have the same broadcast callsign and the following channels, and receivers that can tune both stations will see duplicates.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Programming |
|---|---|
| 34.1/48.1 | WUVG main programming / Univision Univision Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva... network |
| 34.2/48.2 | TeleFutura TeleFutura TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time... network |
The station airs TeleFutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
on their digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
34.2, which is a rarity as Univision prefers their two networks to operate on two different channels rather than in multiplex
Multiplex (TV)
A multiplex or mux is a group of TV channels that are mixed together for broadcast over a digital TV channel and separated out again by the receiver...
ed form. However, this is a legacy of analog TV, the major disadvantage of sharing now being that 34.2 does not have the right to must-carry
Must-carry
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Canada :...
since the 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) failed to implement it for digital TV stations, even for cable TV systems that drop almost all analog channels to supposedly make more room for digital as Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
has done locally.
It also means that only one of the two channels can be in full 1080i60 HDTV, currently leaving the other in 480i60 SDTV since both networks went HD in December 2009 (this station being one of the first four markets in the country be converted by the company). The station could, however, downsample them both slightly and transmit in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
30 (possibly 720p24
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
for the movies on TeleFutura) without excessive video data compression, if it chose to do so.