| Atlanta metropolitan area | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Channels | Digital: RF: 29 (UHF) Virtual: 32 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Owner | Prism Broadcasting Network |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Call letters' meaning | American News Network |
| Sister station(s) | WTBS-LP 26 |
| Former callsigns | W34AG, W22CD, WFNA-LP, WANN-LP |
| Former affiliations | Urban America Television, Shop at Home Network, Eye Music Network |
| Transmitter power | 14 kW (digital) |
| Height | 333 m (1,093 ft) |
| Class | LPTV class A |
| Website | http://www.wanntv.com/ |
WANN-LD is a low-power class-A digital TV station broadcasting on physical TV channel 29, virtual channel 32, and formerly as WANN-CA on analog 32 in metro Atlanta. Since late March 2010, programming carried on its various multiplexed digital subchannels include Tr3́s, ThisTV, PrismTV, infomercials, old movies, and even several local radio stations on audio-only channels. The programming and number of channels has varied widely since the station switched to broadcasting digitally in 2009, and seems to change without notice, but the large number of such channels is believed to be the second-most of any U.S. broadcaster, behind only KAXT-CA in Santa Clara, California. WANN is owned by Prism Broadcasting which also owns WTBS-LP on channel 26 in Atlanta. The station's TV studios are also the home of the American News Network (ANN), a satellite news service which provides national-focused newscasts mostly to religious broadcasters and lower-tier broadcast stations.
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The TV station facility was originally applied-for in January 1986, on channel 22 in Rome, Georgia, and assigned call sign W22CD. Before going on the air, it changed to channel 34 as W34AG. It was later moved to Sweat Mountain and licensed to serve Roswell, Georgia in north metro Atlanta, again as W22CD on channel 22, due to what was then WNGM-TV starting on channel 34 in Athens, Georgia. It was displaced from 22 again by WGTV's digital allotment (changed in 2004 to channel 12), finally settling in 1999 on channel 32 as WFNA-LP and moving its antenna, transmitter, and broadcast license to what is now the Bank of America Plaza in downtown Atlanta. It became WANN-LP in June 2002. The station had an application to increase analog power and greatly expand its range toward the south. Currently, the station's directional antenna still covers very little to the eastern half.
WANN-CA and originally -LD shared the same antenna, also diplexed with WDTA-LP, though that station has applied to move nearby to the SunTrust Plaza building. The station has a construction permit issued by the FCC to migrate to a low-power digital signal on channel 29 with the call sign WANN-LD, and this came on the air in February 2009. The transmitter and antenna location were the same as WANN-CA at the top of the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, where Prism also has a permit to move its WTBS-LP 26 (which also airs Tr3́s), and previously to begin new WTBS-LP 30.
As of March 2009, WANN-LD was off-air due to an informal objection filed by the owner of WIRE-CA, which had filed for its own digital companion channel on 29.BDCCDTL-20081215ACT The objection was to a requested special temporary authorization for WANN-LD to begin operation before its license to cover its construction permit was approved, absent any extenuating circumstance that would warrant it. That objection was withdrawn and the two stations worked together to resolve the issue. On March 25, WANN-LD filed for a modification of its construction permit, to move it to the east tower at the "Richland" site, between Druid Hills and North Druid Hills, but remaining on channel 29. This is the same location and channel as the original application for WIRE-CA's digital service, but at greater power (15 kW instead of 10 kW) and at much greater height (by 92m), effectively allowing it to cover the entire Atlanta metro area. On April 9, WTBS-LD applied to move to the same site and has since been granted a permit to do so. (WIRE-LD later applied for and received a permit to flash-cut to digital on 40.)
Once the station officially drops its analog license, the callsign will become WANN-CD, indicating a digital class-A station.
Prior to this, WANN-LD briefly carried Christian TV network Lifesat TV (which originates in the Atlanta area) on digital subchannel 32.4, with non-SMPTE vertical color bars (white/yellow/cyan/magenta/green/red/blue/black, left to right) on 32.1, 32.2, and 32.3. As of April 12, it was back on-air, carrying MTV Tr3́s (like sister station WTBS-LP analog 26) on 32.1, with other channels the same as before. There is no electronic program guide, though PSIP identified all channels as WANN. (Originally, Lifesat was on virtual channel 29.1 with color bars on 29.2, 29.3, and 29.4.) Unusually, all four digital subchannels were transmitted in 704×480i, an anamorphic ATSC format usually used for widescreen rather than the fullscreen (4:3) programming it broadcast. (Regular NTSC SDTV is 640×480i, while NTSC DVD is 720×480p.)
In late June 2009, the three unused channels were removed, all PSIP info stopped, and the station's remaining channel appeared on 29.1 (which may vary based on the ATSC tuner used, and whether it already has the station in memory as 32.1, or defaults to 29). It also returned to normal 640×480i format. On August 11, it began transmitting 12 subchannels – twice what ATSC over-the-air was designed for, and all with low quality (pixelation) due to severe video data compression. (Because at least one of the channels was broadcast in monochrome, in theory it could be broadcast with a third of the bandwidth of a color channel; blank screens and slideshows take up even less space, which could in theory account for the unusually high number of channels.) MTV Tr3́s continued on 29.1/4/5/8/10, with analog-simulcast infomercials on 29.2/3/6/7/9, a blank screen on 29.11, and a slideshow on 29.12. About two weeks later, it cut back to six channels, with MTV Tr3́s on .1/3/5 and infomercials on .2/4/6, each with "English"-labeled main audio and a blank second audio program labeled as "other" language. It changed yet again when PSIP returned in early September, with MTV Tr3́s on .1/3, ANN on .2, infomercials on .6, and a DVD player screensaver and menu on .4 and .5, changing a few days later to White Springs TV and color bars, then to duplicates of MTV Tr3́s and infomercials, respectively. Channels were labeled WANN-1 to WANN-6. A/V sync was offset on various channels from time to time, and the only language setting available on any channel was "other". PSIP info is incomplete, with no program titles or descriptions, and showing inconsistently (or not at all) on various tuners as major channel number 29 or 32. Some Zenith/Insignia DTV converter boxes (which have a newer LG chipset) detected the channels but did not display any video, even with good signal strength, which also indicated a data problem with the station.
According to the station's website in August, it expected to use 32.1 for MTV Tr3́s, 32.2 for American News Network, 32.3 for Real Hip-Hop Network, and 32.4 for theCoolTV. By September 12, 32.3 was changed to Eye Music Network, and 32.4 was dropped. The station's channels appeared to be for lease, with infomercials being brokered programming. Around October 20, this actually became the channel lineup, but with White Springs and local TV ads on 32.4. 32.3 went to non-stop infomercials a few weeks later. In very early 2010, the station put an unidentified network on 32.3, showing old B movies in color including Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.
In late March 2010, the station briefly went to 10 blank channels (32.1 to 32.10), then aired 12 channels from 32.1 to 32.7 and 32.9 to 32.13, including This TV and Jewelry TV. The last channel was the area's first DTV radio channel, simulcasting WKLS FM 96.1, "Project 9-6-1". Near the end of the month, it slightly rearranged the lineup, and moved 32.13 to 32.103, also reserving channels in that range for other radio stations (all owned by Clear Channel Communications), but for two days broadcasting the same station on all of them. This is very unusual for broadcast TV, as three-digit subchannel numbers are to be reserved for datacasting and not for regular channels. Some ATSC tuners may therefore not be able to tune to these channels at all, or if so then not through direct numeric pad entry. Even without the audio-only radio stations, this large number of channels could possibly be the most transmitted by any ATSC station (excluding cable TV, which has double the bitrate per physical 6 MHz channel).
Clear Channel's Pride Radio was briefly carried on 32.105 for just a couple of days, but was intermittent, apparently coming from via WWVA HD Radio channel (105.7-2) and suffering from poor reception. WGST AM 640 was carried on 32.101 during the same period. These two channels then carried duplicates of 32.102 and 32.106, respectively. Om April 5 it aired "Project 9-6-2" (WKLS HD-2) on 32.105. Although 32.105 was labeled "105.3" and now "PATRON" (for "El Patrón"), that Hispanic station had never been carried by WANN.
Its flagship American News Network seems to have disappeared on March 29. Another change came on April 6, with the radio channels moving to 32.21 to 32.26, and adding "ESPN-Sp" (blank, presumably for future ESPN Deportes Radio) on 32.27, and blank "TBA" (to be announced) audio channels 32.28 to 32.30. Further changes occurred in May, with HSN and religious being dropped from 32.8, and its label changed from "HSN" to "SHOP". Other channel labels were also updated, and ESPN-Sp (which never aired) was changed to TBA. In late June, 32.7 became infomercials instead of unidentified old color B movies, changing channel labels from "MOVIES" to "LEGACY", and airing EmVeeTV home shopping in the daytime and Legacy TV religious programming at night.
In mid-June the station changed channel 32.2 to a Zap2it program guide for all broadcast TV stations in Atlanta, using the audio from channel 32.5. In late June this was upgraded so that all of the graphics (text and grid) were much sharper, the motion of the guide smoother and less jerky (likely a newer software version), a crawl was added on the bottom, TV commercials and station promos ran in the inset video box, and the audio matched the video. All full-power channels are included in the listing, plus all 20 channels on WANN, as well as a few other low-power TV stations like WTHC-LD 42.1 (The Atlanta Channel). WIRE-CA 40 is included, although it is now digital channels 40.1 to 40.4. WKTB-CA (Telemundo) is also included, but is listed as analog 67 instead of digital 47.1 to 47.4. Other errors in Zap2it's listings include channel 17.2 (a simulcast of 17.1, discontinued years ago), 14.4 (Worship, dropped in 2009), and 46.2/46.3 (temporary channels not transmitted since 2009 and 2008). WANN's own 32.6 is shown as LATV, which it has never aired. 32.7 and 32.8 were labeled as "TBA" although program listings were shown on 32.7
In early July 2010, 32.7 became Tuff TV, with Legacy and EmVeeTV moved from 32.7 to 32.8, and infomercials moved from 32.8 to 32.6, where a duplicate of Corner Store TV had been. The Zap2it program listings on 32.2 had already begun showing Tuff TV on 32.7 prior to this, and Legacy is now shown for 32.8 even when EmVeeTV is on, with LATV listings still shown for 32.6. In mid July MTV Tr3́s changed its branding to just simply "Tr3́s", and was moved to channel 32.2, with the program guide now on 32.1, but still showing Tr3́s in a large window at the top of the screen (reducing the guide to only two channels at a time) and having the audio for Tr3́s as well. Text on either side of the window shows sponsors, as well as notices that Tr3́s has moved and that LATV is coming to 32.6 soon. Channels for all other local stations were also corrected on the listing.
In late 2009, WANN-LD received a broadcast license to cover its digital permit on October 5. On October 15, it made two applications for its digital service. The first was for 9 kW on channel 50, for which WDTA-LP 53 had an expired analog construction permit. The second, apparently made just a few minutes later, was for 15 kW on channel 31, but under the callsign and facility ID of WANN-CA instead of WANN-LD. Both applications have a cardioid radiation pattern, the first with a moderate null to the south and southeast, the second with a sharp null to the east and southeast. Both are at the same location as the current license, but 11 meters (36 ft) lower on the tower.
In late November, it applied to move its analog station to channel 31 with 150 kW ERP in the direction of beam tilt, or 101 kW in the horizontal plane. A few days later it applied for channel 32 again at 105/70 kW, and was granted a construction permit to do so. Both of these are at the new site. The analog permit shows a directional antenna that covers most of northern and western metro Atlanta, but no further than nearby Decatur toward the southeast, where there is a wide and deep null. As of February 2010[update], the 9 kW digital application for the same location and height is still pending.
As of February 2011[update], the following grid is the list of channels transmitted on this station. This appears to change at least slightly each month.
| Channel | Label | Format | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32.1 | APGuide | 480i | BIZ-TV/Atlanta Program Guide (Zap2it) |
| 32.2 | RTV | Retro Television | |
| 32.3 | thisTV | This TV | |
| 32.4 | MOXIE | MOXIE (originated by WANN) | |
| 32.5 | Oldie | Oldie Goldie: black & white movies | |
| 32.6 | MYFAM | My Family TV | |
| 32.7 | PBJ | PBJ TV | |
| 32.8 | LATV | LATV | |
| 32.9 | VIDATV | VIDA TV | |
| 32.10 | MTVtr3s | Tr3́s (formerly MTV Tr3́s) | |
| 32.21 | WGST640 | audio | WGST AM 640, "640 WGST" |
| 32.22 | 949BULL | WUBL FM 94.9, "94-9 the Bull" | |
| 32.23 | PROJECT | WKLS FM 96.1, "Project 9-6-1" | |
| 32.24 | WiLD | WWLG FM 96.7, "WiLD 105.7 & 96.7" | |
| 32.25 | WiLD | WWVA-FM 105.7, "WiLD 105.7 & 96.7" | |
| 32.26 | PATRON | WBZY FM 105.3, "El Patrón" | |
| 32.27 | 1120 AM | WXJO AM 1120 | |
| 32.28 | duplicate of 32.22 | ||
| 32.29 | duplicate of 32.23 | ||
| 32.30 | duplicate of 32.25 |
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