WTVM

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WTVM-TV
Columbus, Georgia
Branding	WTVM News Leader 9
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	9 (VHF) analog, 47 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (secondary until 1970)
Owner	Raycom Media
Founded	October 6, 1953 (on ch.28, moved to ch.9 in 1960)
Call letters meaning	W TeleVision Martin (Theaters)
Former callsigns	WDAK-TV (1953-56)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953-1970) CBS (1953-1954)
Website	wtvm.com/

WTVM-TV, channel 9, is the ABC television affiliate in Columbus, Georgia. Its signal covers the Chattahoochee Valley area, including east-central Alabama. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 9 and its digital signal on UHF channel 47. The station is owned by Raycom Media and is sister station to WXTX channel 54, the area's primary FOX and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate. WTVM's transmitter is located in Cusseta, Georgia.

Contents 1 History 2 Weather Now 3 Newscasts 3.1 Weekdays 3.2 Weekends 4 News Team 4.1 Anchors 4.2 Storm Team 9 Meteorologists 4.3 Sports 4.4 Reporters 5 Past 6 External Links

[edit] History

The station signed on for the first time on October 6, 1953 as WDAK-TV on channel 28. It was a primary NBC affiliate with secondary CBS and ABC affiliations. It was owned by Allen Woodall, Sr., owner of WDAK-AM 540, and Martin Theaters of Georgia. WDAK lost CBS when WRBL-TV signed on two weeks later. Woodall sold his interest in the station to Martin Theaters in 1956, and the call letters were changed to the current WTVM. It moved to channel 9 in 1960 in a three-way FCC switch-and-move that saw WRBL-TV move from channel 4 to channel 3, and WTVY-TV in Dothan, Alabama give up its channel 9 and move to channel 4. The moves were permitted because, two years earlier, co-channel WROM-TV, Channel 9 in Rome, Georgia, had moved 70 miles north to Chattanooga, Tennessee to alleviate interference, if the FCC granted a new Channel 9 frequency in Columbus. WTVM-TV owner Martin Theaters of Georgia, had already purchased WROM-TV and renamed it WTVC-TV. Meanwhile, Channel 28, WTVM-TV's old channel, is now occupied by Georgia Public Broadcasting's WJSP-TV.

In 1970, WTVM moved to its current studios on Wynnton Road in Columbus. Shortly afterward, it became a sole ABC affiliate after WYEA-TV (now WLTZ) signed on.

[edit] Weather Now

WTVM operates a 24-hour weather channel known as Weather Now on its DT2 digital subchannel. The channel features a live stream of the station's "Triple Doppler 9" radar, current conditions, and updated focasts by WTVM meteorologists. Weather Now is also offered on two digital cable systems. It can be found on Knology Cable channel 170 and Mediacom channel 810. WTVM's website also offers a live stream of the weather channel. [1]

[edit] Newscasts

The station's radar is called "Triple Doppler 9". The station operates an East Alabama news bureau. WTVM produces three newscasts for its sister station WXTX.

[edit] Weekdays

• WTVM News Leader 9 Morning (5:30-7 AM)
• FOX 54 News Morning (7-8 AM on sister station WXTX)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at Noon (12-12:30 PM)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at 5 (5-5:30 PM)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at 5:30 (5:30-6 PM)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at 6 (6-6:30 PM)
• FOX 54 News at 10 / WXTX FOX Cast (10-10:30 PM on sister station WXTX)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at 11 / News Leader 9 Nightside (11-11:35 PM)

[edit] Weekends

• WTVM News Leader 9 at 6 (6-6:30 PM)
• FOX 54 News at 10 / WXTX FOX Cast (10-10:30 PM on sister station WXTX)
• WTVM News Leader 9 at 11 / News Leader 9 Nightside (11-11:30 PM)

(no morning news on weekends)

[edit] News Team

[edit] Anchors

• Cheryl Renee - weekday mornings
• Chuck Leonard - weekday mornings and Noon
• Deborah Singer - weekdays at 5:30 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)
• Wayne Bennett - weekdays at 5 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM
• Dee Armstrong - weekdays at 5 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM
• Roszell Gadson - weekdays at 10 PM on WXTX
• Semone Doughton - weekends at 6 PM and 11 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)
• Elizabeth White - Fridays at 10 on WXTX, also East Alabama Bureau Chief

[edit] Storm Team 9 Meteorologists

• Bruce Lee - weekday mornings and Noon
• Kurt Schmitz - Chief seen weekday evenings at 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)
• Derek Kinkade - weekends at 6 PM and 11 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)

[edit] Sports

• Dave Platta - Sports Director seen weekday evenings at 6 PM, and 11 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)
• Andrew Wittenberg - weekday reporter / weekend anchor at 6 PM and 11 PM (also at 10 PM on WXTX)

[edit] Reporters

• Priya Aujla
• Greg Funderburg
• Amanda Iler
• Jon Kalahar
• Layla Chapman - weekday reporter / weekend producer
• Zaneta Lowe - Consumer Watch reporter
• Brock Parker - reporter based at WTVM's East Alabama Bureau
• Elizabeth White - East Alabama Bureau Chief, also anchors weekends at 10 PM on WXTX

[edit] Past

• Brian McClure, meteorologist (Now at Bay News 9 in Tampa, FL)
• Casey Jones, anchor/ reporter (now at WTOC)
• Jade Hindmon, reporter (now at WHNS-TV)
• Ashley Nix, reporter (now at WBRC in Birmingham, AL)
• Amanda Iler, reporter (now at WLEX in Lexington, KY)
• Sean Couch, producer (now at WLEX in Lexington, KY)

[edit] External Links

• WTVM Website
• WTVM Wireless
• WXTX Website
• ABC Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVM

Broadcast television in the Columbus, Georgia market  (Nielsen DMA #127)
WRBL 3 (CBS) - WTVM 9 (ABC) - WCGT-LP 16 (IND) - WACS 25 (PBS/GPB) - WJSP 28 (PBS/GPB) - WLTZ 38 (NBC) - WGIQ 43 (PBS/APT) - WXTX 54 (FOX/MNTV) (The Tube on DT2) - WLGA 66 (The CW)
See also: Broadcast television stations in the Albany, Montgomery, Macon, Dothan and Atlanta Markets

ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Georgia
WSB 2 (Atlanta) - WJBF 6 (Augusta) - WTVM 9 (Columbus) - WJCL 22 (Savannah) - WPGA 58 (Perry / Macon)
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Georgia