WLTZ

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WLTZ
Columbus, Georgia
Branding	WLTZ 38
Channels	Analog: 38 (UHF) Digital: 35 (UHF)
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	SagamoreHill Broadcasting, LLC (SagamoreHill Broadcasting of Georgia, LLC)
First air date	October 29, 1970
Call letters’ meaning	Lewis Television Zenith
Former callsigns	WYEA-TV (1970-1981)
Transmitter Power	1480 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital)
Height	399 m (analog) 377.2 m (digital)
Facility ID	37179
Transmitter Coordinates	32°27′28.4″N, 84°53′8.2″W
Website	www.wltz.com

WLTZ is the NBC television affiliate in Columbus, Georgia, serving western Georgia and eastern Alabama. Its transmitter is located in Columbus.

Contents 1 History 2 Current Personalities 2.1 News 2.2 Weather 2.3 Sports 3 Personalities 4 Past Personalities 5 External links

[edit] History

Channel 38 began with several handicaps. First, like almost all other U.S. television markets with one or two dominant VHF stations, the Columbus area had strong-established preferences for either CBS station WRBL-TV or then-NBC affiliate WTVM. This meant that channel 38, which started with the callsign WYEA-TV, has had, as a UHF frequency, to struggle to make an impact on local viewers.

But it also has had problems in the outlying counties of Georgia and Alabama with established NBC stations WSB-TV in Atlanta (later WXIA-TV, after an affiliation change in that market), WALB in Albany, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama's WSFA, whose signals often turned up quite clearly (in pre-cable days) in many of those areas, constituting an encroachment of sorts. In fact, the original owners of WYEA, Gala Broadcasting, attempted unsuccessfully to legally block WSFA's plans to build a new tower in southeastern Alabama, fearing that it would cut into channel 38's proposed market share.

The new station went on the air anyway, on October 29, 1970, taking the NBC affiliation from WTVM, which became a full affiliate of ABC. Later in the 1970s, WYEA became the flagship station of locally-based insurance company Aflac's broadcast operations. In 1981, Aflac sold WYEA to J. Curtis Lewis, owner of WJCL, WTGS, and WJCL-FM in Savannah, WLTX, WNOK FM in Columbia, South Carolina, and WSTZ-FM and AM in Jackson, Mississippi. On August 31, 1981, channel 38 changed its callsign to WLTZ.

In May 2007, Lewis sold WLTZ, his last remaining station, to SagamoreHill Broadcasting[1].

Channel 38's newscasts were never competitive against WTVM and WRBL, despite a credible effort to make a dent in the ratings. Al Fleming, Columbus broadcast veteran and former nightclub owner, was once anchor of these newscasts, as was Richard Elliot, later of WRBL and WSB-TV. However, WLTZ had almost no success against WTVM and WRBL, and finally canceled its newscasts in 1993. For the next 14 years, while news ran on the other Columbus stations, channel 38 broadcasts syndicated shows instead, with taped news updates that ran only three minutes.

In November 2007, after a 14-year hiatus, the station relaunched news operations, utilizing local reporters and anchors from Independent News Network. The station partners with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer for resources and coverage.[2]

On May 29, 2008, WLTZ became the first in Columbus and the third in the state of Georgia to broadcast news in high definition.

[edit] Current Personalities

[edit] News

• John Beard, Anchor
• Libby Allison, Anchor
• Stefanie Tiso, Reporter
• Julie Bercik, Reporter
• Maria Jones, Reporter
• Donyel Perry, Reporter/Photojournalist
• Sunya Walls, Anchor

[edit] Weather

• Mark Prater, Chief Meteorologist
• Susie Martin, Meteorologist
• Evan Hutchinson, Meteorologist

[edit] Sports

• Nathan O'Leary, Sports Anchor
• Jeremy Moss, Sports Anchor

[edit] Personalities

• Calvin Floyd, Rise N Shine Host

[edit] Past Personalities

• Ed Harbison, Anchor (now Georgia State Senator)
• Al Fleming, Anchor
• Richard Elliot, Anchor (now at WSB-TV)
• Susanne Hudson, Anchor
• Shep Koster, Sports Director (now, Actor based in Los Angeles)
• Penny Leigh, Meteorologist
• Kathleen Kennedy, Reporter/Anchor (now anchor at CNN Headline News)
• John Lyles, Reporter
• Denise Kaigler, Reporter (now with Reebok International)
• Borden Black, Anchor/Reporter/News Director

[edit] External links

• WLTZ website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WLTZ
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WLTZ-TV
• Text of a 1970 FCC decision denying Gala Broadcasting's request to prohibit a new tower for WSFA

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Columbus / Opelika market  (Nielsen DMA #128) WRBL 3 (CBS) - W06BH 6 (Religious) - WTVM 9 (ABC, AccuWX TV on DT2) - WWCG-LP 11 (WSTV) - WYBU-CA 16 (CTN) - WACS 25 (PBS/GPB) - WJSP 28 (PBS/GPB) - WLTZ 38 (NBC) - WGIQ 43 (PBS/APT) - WXTX 54 (FOX/MNTV) - WLGA 66 (The CW) See also: Broadcast television stations in the Albany, Montgomery, Macon, Dothan and Atlanta Markets

v • d • e NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Georgia WSAV 3 (Savannah) - WALB 10 (Albany) - WXIA 11 (Atlanta) - WAGT 26 (Augusta) - WLTZ 38 (Columbus) - WMGT 41 (Macon) See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, PBS, and Other stations in Georgia

v • d • e SagamoreHill Broadcasting KGNS-TV (NBC) · KGWN-TV (CBS) · KXLT-TV (FOX)1 · WBMM (CW) · WLTZ (NBC) · WNCF (ABC) · WWMB (CW) 2 1KXLT-TV is operated by Quincy Newspapers under a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA). 2WWMB is operated by Barrington Broadcasting under an LMA.