| Augusta, Georgia | |
|---|---|
| Branding | NBC 26 (general) NBC 26 News CW Augusta (on DT2) |
| Channels | Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 26 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 26.1 NBC 26.2 The CW |
| Owner | Schurz Communications (operated through JSA and SSA by Media General) (WAGT Television, Inc.) |
| First air date | December 24, 1968 |
| Call letters' meaning | We're Augusta's Great Television |
| Sister station(s) | WJBF |
| Former callsigns | WATU (1968-1981, added "-TV" suffix in 1979) |
| Former channel number(s) | 26 (UHF analog, 1968-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 400 kW |
| Height | 483 m |
| Facility ID | 70699 |
| Website | wagt.com |
WAGT is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of East-Central Georgia and West-Central South Carolina. Licensed to Augusta, Georgia, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 (or virtual channel 26.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Spiderweb section of Beech Island, South Carolina. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Knology channel 8. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast digital channel 232 and Knology digital channel 903. Owned by Schurz Communications, WAGT is operated through joint sales and shared services agreements by Media General as a sister outlet to ABC affiliate WJBF. This station currently has studios on Broad Street/US 1/US 25/SR 28/SR 104 in Downtown Augusta while WJBF has facilities nearby on Reynolds Street. Syndicated programming on WAGT includes The Andy Griffith Show, Dr. Phil, The Doctors and Judge Joe Brown among others.
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It operates the area's CW affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as CW Augusta, this can also be seen on Knology channel 12 and Comcast channel 23. WAGT-DT2 gets all of its programming from The CW Plus.
| Channels | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26.1 | WAGT-HD | 720p | 16:9 | Main WAGT programming / NBC |
| 26.2 | WAGT-DT2 | 480i | 4:3 | "CW Augusta" |
The station began operations Christmas Eve in 1968 with the call sign WATU-TV as the third television station in Augusta. Two Washington, D.C.-based men, Harold Twisdale and David Steel, were the leaders of the original ownership group. [1] Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 26, it was an NBC affiliate from the start. Unfortunately, the station became one of numerous UHF start-ups of that era to fail to obtain a foothold against long-established VHF competition. Despite the presence of WATU, NBC continued to keep a secondary affiliation with ABC affiliate WJBF and CBS affiliate WRDW-TV (as it had since October 1, 1966).
This was likely because most Augusta-area viewers still didn't have UHF-capable sets. In fact, it was not unusual for tape-delayed NBC programs to air on both WJBF and WRDW between 7 and 7:30 p.m. before the respective networks' prime-time feeds began for the evening. WJBF also aired NBC's Today and Tonight shows. It did not help matters that most of the South Carolina side of the market got a better signal from WIS in Columbia. Mainly because of those situations, WATU went dark in 1970.
It stayed off the air for four years until the station was able to secure a full NBC affiliation and return to the air. Twisdale and Steel sold WATU to local businessmen Thomas Jones and Francis Robertson, operating as Augusta Telecasters Inc., in the late-1970s. [2] Jones and Robertson, in turn, sold to current owner Schurz Communications in 1980. WATU changed its call letters to WAGT in late-1981 and the station moved to its present location on Broad Street. For much of the late-1980s and early-1990s, it used the on-air branding "26 Power".
At some point in the early-2000s, the station began to manage and promote the area's cable-only WB affiliate "WBAU". The service signed-on in 2000 but was originally operated by a separate entity. In early-2007, WAGT once again changed its identity to prepare for the digital phase-out of channel numbers in February 2009. This time it became "NBC Augusta" which resulted in the complete phase out of the channel number. In 2008, the station began branding in several voice promos and during newscasts referring to themselves as "NBC Augusta 26". However, there were no major graphical changes due to the new "NBC Augusta" graphics being created by Giant Octopus.
In 2009, the bug logo on the newscasts introduced a modified "NBC Augusta" logo with a bold Century Gothic typeface "26" off to the right of the logo. There have been several voice-over sequences within promos and graphics that have updated the branding to "NBC Augusta 26" without a change in graphics. However the main station graphics, its website, and the station's weather cut-ins during programming hours still brand as "NBC Augusta". At this point, WAGT brands as either "NBC Augusta" or "NBC 26". Newscast graphics were redesigned in 2009 to reflect the new "NBC Augusta 26" brand although the website still brands as "NBC Augusta".
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. WRDW offered UPN on a second digital subchannel which was announced as the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. As a result of WAGT's association with WBAU, it received rights to carry The CW. Schurz decided to do away with the fictional call sign upon launching a simulcast of the station on a new second digital subchannel of WAGT.
In October 2009, the parent companies of WAGT and WJBF announced that the two would enter into joint sales and shared services agreements in January 2010. This resulted in the two combining news operations, sales, and other operational services. [3] It was later announced that WJBF would control all of WAGT's news and advertising operations while that station handle programming and the maintaining of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. Most of WAGT's managerial staff were dismissed and other employees were reassigned to different positions. [4] Media General had initially intended to move WAGT into an expanded wing of WJBF's studios on Reynolds Street. However, that facility, built in 1956, is unable to sustain the expansion needed to house both stations. Media General instead chose to construct a new building for the stations. The new facility at the Augusta West Shopping Center was expected to be completed by April 2011, but was ultimately pushed back until October. [5]
For at least the first quarter of a century on-the-air, WAGT aired virtually no local newscasts apart from brief news and weather cut-ins during Today on weekday mornings. On September 21, 1995, the station finally established its first news department with broadcasts under the name 26 News. Initially included in the launch was a nightly show at 11. Soon after, a broadcast seen every night at 6 and a weekday morning newscast were added to the schedule. The latter program was expanded in June 2003 to a full two-hours from 5 until 7 in the morning resulting in WAGT being the first outlet in the market to do so. In addition, there was also a thirty minute news and lifestyle show weekdays at noon called Top 'o the Day. Although that program would eventually be dropped, the station added a new midday newscast at 11 on September 10, 2007 that aired for a half-hour.
For the most part over the years, WAGT has traditionally maintained a third place ranking among the area's other big three affiliates. The station has changed its branding several times to improve ratings and increase viewership by adopting variations including 26 Action News. It finally re-branded in 2003 as WAGT News. Between 2003 and 2005, Action News was completely phased out along with the "3D Weather" (a.k.a. "3 Degree Guarantee") weather segment. In 2005, its newscasts were branded as NBC 26 News phasing out the call letters "WAGT" in most but not all station graphics and logos. This was due to the fact the graphics package produced through Television By Design was less than a year old and still carried the WAGT News moniker. Along with this re-brand came other changes such as updates to the set, graphics package, and the regional Doppler weather radar.
After WJBF renovated its studios in 2004, the station entered into a news share agreement with Fox affiliate WFXG (then owned by Southeastern Media Holdings and operated by Raycom Media). The outsourcing arrangement resulted in a nightly prime time newscast to debut on that station. Known as Fox 54 News at 10, the thirty minute program originated from WJBF's facility on Reynolds Street in Downtown Augusta. The broadcast featured different on-air graphics and modified WJBF's existing set with separate duratrans in order to conceal that station's logo. The principal look of the set and on-air graphics for Fox 54 News at 10 remained the same from the newscast's launch and always used Gari Media Group's "The X Package" as its music theme.
Meanwhile, WAGT decided to establish its own weeknight prime time newscast at 10 in 2004 to offer an alternative against WFXG's effort. The production launched a few days after that outlet's show and initially seen on Class A Independent station WBEK-CA (ironically Augusta's original Fox station) through a similar outsourcing arrangement. Known as WBEK 16 News at 10, this program was soon cancelled due to low ratings and inconsistent viewership. The broadcast was unable to directly compete against WFXG's news because that broadcast was very successful in the time slot from its start.
After being retooled, WAGT's weeknight prime time newscast was relaunched on WBAU and became known as WB 23 News at 10. With that station's September 2006 affiliation switch to The CW, WAGT renamed the broadcast CW Augusta Now and tailored its format towards a younger audience as was the case with the newly-formed network. On April 23, 2007 in an attempt to boost continual anemic ratings, WAGT decided to drop the CW Augusta Now title and its fast-paced format replacing it with a more traditional newscast. However, NBC Augusta News at 10 was still unable to mount a strong challenge and alternative to WFXG's newscast so it was cancelled in April 2008.
Following a national trend among television stations, WAGT's continual third place ranking and low advertising sales resulted in Schurz Communications handing over daily operations to Media General and rival WJBF. In January 2010, WAGT dropped its weekday midday show and added a weeknight newscast at 7 that can currently be seen for a half-hour. Although physical operations of WAGT and WJBF remained based at their respective facilities for the time being, later plans called for this outlet to move into expanded space at WJBF's studios.
Media General ultimately decided to construct a new combined facility at the Augusta West Shopping Center in a former Barnes & Noble bookstore. After completed in October 2011, WAGT and WJBF finally upgraded newscasts to full high definition complete with separate sets and updated graphics packages. Rival WRDW became Augusta's first television station to add 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition broadcasts on August 17, 2010 and upgraded to full high definition (another area first) on January 24, 2011. WJBF continued producing Fox 54 News at 10 for WFXG despite the operational agreements with WAGT. As a result, some reporters and video footage from this station began to be seen on WFXG.
On September 26, 2011 after terminating the seven year old news share agreement with WJBF, WFXG launched its first ever in-house news operation, becoming the second station to broadcast local newscasts in High Definition. On the same day, WJBF introduced another prime time broadcast at 10 on WAGT-DT2. Known as NewsChannel 6 at 10 on The CW, the news is seen every night for thirty minutes. Despite airing on a second digital subchannel of WAGT, the program has WJBF branding and features anchors from that station. On October 31, WAGT became the last television station to upgrade local newscasts to high definition. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WAGT-DT2 continues airing the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz on weekdays from 6 until 9. [6]
+ denotes WJBF personnel
Anchors
StormTracker Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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