WMAZ-TV

WMAZ-TV

Macon, Georgia United States
Channels	Digital:13 (VHF) Virtual:13
Branding	13WMAZ Central Georgia's CW 13.2(on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	13.1:CBS 13.2:CW+ for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Tegna Inc. (Pacific and Southern,LLC)
History
First air date	September 27, 1953(1953-09-27)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:13 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital:4 (VHF, 2003–2009)
Former affiliations	All secondary: DuMont(1953–1955) NBC(1953–1968) ABC(1953–1982)
Call signmeaning	"Watch Mercer Attain Zenith"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	46991
ERP	52.6kW
HAAT	238 m (781 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	32°45′10″N83°33′32″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.13wmaz.com

WMAZ-TV(channel 13) is atelevision stationinMacon, Georgia,United States, affiliated withCBSandThe CW Plus.The station is owned byTegna Inc.,and maintains studios on Gray Highway on the northeast side of Macon; its transmitter is located onGA 87/US 23/129 ALT(Golden Isles Highway) along theTwiggs–Bibbcounty line.

History

The station firstsigned onthe air on September 27, 1953.It was the second TV station in Macon. WETV, laterWNEX-TVand WOKA (channel 47), had begun operation on August 25, 1953, co-owned byWBML(1240 AM) andWNEX(1400 AM). However, in the 1950s, few people had TVs that received UHF channels; after being sold while indebted, it ended operations in May 1955.

WMAZ-TV was originally owned by the Southeastern Broadcasting Company and took its calls from co-owned WMAZ radio (940 AM, nowWMAC,and 99.1 FM, nowWLXFat 105.5). WMAZ-TV is the fourth-oldest television station in the state of Georgia and the oldest outside ofAtlanta,beating WDAK-TV (nowWTVM) inColumbusto the air by only one day. TheFederal Communications Commission(FCC) awarded Southeastern Broadcasting alicenseto operate a television station on its second try; it had previously made an unsuccessful bid for the VHF channel 7 allocation one year earlier in 1952. The new station was one of the most powerful VHF stations in the country, providing at leastsecondary signal coveragefrom the southern Atlanta suburbs to the western suburbs ofSavannah.

The station has been a primary CBS affiliate from its launch, owing to its radio sister's longtime affiliation with theCBS Radio Network.In addition, WMAZ-TV also carried secondary affiliations withABC,NBCand theDuMont Television Network.It lost DuMont in 1955, one year before the network ceased operations. Southeastern Broadcasting sold WMAZ-AM-FM-TV to Southern Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, earning a healthy return on its 1929 lease and 1935 purchase of WMAZ-AM. Southern Broadcasting merged with theGreenville, South Carolina–based News-Piedmont Company to formMultimedia, Inc.in 1967.

After the failure of WNEX-TV, WMAZ was the only commercial television station in the Macon market until September 1968, when WCWB-TV (channel 41, nowWMGT-TV) signed on and took the NBC affiliation. WMAZ-TV continued to carry select ABC programs (notably thesoap operaGeneral Hospitalin the afternoons and SaturdayNCAA footballcoverage in the fall) untilWGXA(channel 24, now a dualFox/ABC affiliate) started operations in April 1982.

In 1974, WMAZ-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio facility on Gray Highway in Macon. WMAZ-TV remains the only VHF station in Macon. This was due partly to an exception to the FCC's "2+1⁄2+ 1 "plan for allocating VHF television bandwidth. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available, and 69UHFchannels (which was later reduced to 56 with the removal of high-band channels 70-83 in the early 1980s). The VHF bands were more desirable because signals broadcasting on that band traveled a longer distance. Because there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. With the release of the FCC'sSixth Report and Orderin 1952, the Commission outlined a new allocation table for VHF licenses and opened up the UHF band. Through these initiatives, almost all of the United States would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus onenon-commercialallocation. Most of the rest of the country ( "1/2" ) would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas of the country would be designated as "UHF islands," since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" represented non-commercial educational (public television,usually affiliated withNET) stations, and "1/2" became ABC, which, as the smallest and weakest network then, usually wound up with the UHF allocation where no VHF allocation was available (or was relegated to secondary affiliations with the CBS and/or NBC stations).

However, Macon is sandwiched between Atlanta (channels2,5,8,and11) to the north, Columbus (channels3and 9) to the west,Albany(channel10) to the south, andAugusta(channels6and12) and Savannah (channels3,9,and11) to the east. This created a large "doughnut" incentral Georgiawhere there could be onlyoneVHF license. Partly because WMAZ-TV was able to gain that license, it has dominated theratingsin central Georgia for most of its history.

WMAZ-TV logo prior to April 2018

The station's longtime slogan, "Straight from the Heart", dates back to 1983, when WMAZ-TV debuted an image campaign based onBryan Adams'song of the same name,tying into Macon's location near the geographical center of the state (which is southeast of Macon inTwiggs County). Its NBC-affiliated sister station inKnoxville, Tennessee,WBIR-TV,also uses the slogan and image campaign.

On July 24, 1995, theGannett Companyannounced its acquisition of Multimedia for $1.7 billion. When the FCC approved the merger in November 1995, it announced that WMAZ-TV, along withKOCO-TVinOklahoma CityandWLWTinCincinnati,would have to be divested to comply with cross-ownership regulations. Gannett was granted a waiver to operate KOCO-TV and Multimedia Cablevision until December 1996, after which it would be required to sell either of the two properties. Shortly after the deal was consummated, the FCC increased the size of the ownership cap to allow companies to own stations that cover 35% of all U.S. households; as a result, Gannett ultimately retained control of WMAZ-TV, which becamesisterto Georgia's third-oldest television station, WXIA-TV in Atlanta.WLWT and KOCO-TV were traded toArgyle IIin January 1997; the merger between Argyle II andHearst Televisionwould be finalized seven months later.

On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WMAZ-TV was retained by the latter company, renamedTegna.

WMAZ-DT2

WMAZ-DT2,branded on-air asCentral Georgia's CW,is theCW-affiliated seconddigital subchannelof WMAZ-TV, broadcasting in720phigh definitionon channel 13.2. All programming on WMAZ-DT2 is received through The CW's programming feed for smaller media markets,The CW Plus,which provides a set schedule of syndicated programming acquired by The CW for broadcast during time periods outside of the network's regular programming hours; however, Tegna handles local advertising and promotional services for the subchannel.

History

The subchannel's history traces back to the September 21, 1998, launch of "WBMN", a cable-only affiliate ofThe WB Television Networkthat was originally managed and promoted byCox Communicationsalongside the launch ofThe WB 100+ Station Group,a similar service to The CW Plus that was created to expand national coverage of The WB via primarilylocal originationchannels managed by cable providers in markets ranked above #100 byNielsen Media Research.Since it was a cable-exclusive outlet and therefore not licensed by the FCC, the channel used the "WBMN"callsignin a fictional manner.

Prior to the launch of thecable channel,residents in the Macon market were only able to receive WB network programming oncablevia the network's Atlanta affiliateWATLor viaChicago-basedsuperstationWGNon both cable andsatellite.

On January 24, 2006, theWarner Bros.unit ofTime WarnerandCBS Corporationannounced that the two companies would shut down The WB andUPNand combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW.The CW Plus was created by the network as a replacement for The WB 100+ Station Group to allow the existing cable outlets as well aslow-poweranalogstations and digital subchannels of major network affiliates in smaller markets that joined The WB 100+ in the years following its launch to maintain a network affiliation; "WBMN" affiliated with The CW Plus on September 18, 2006, upon the launch of The CW.

On October 3, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that WMAZ-TV will carry The CW on a new second digital subchannel, retaining the "Central Georgia's CW" branding used by "WBMN".On October 11, 2013, WMAZ-TV began transmitting atest patternon digital subchannel 13.2. The subchannel officially debuted at midnight on October 14, 2013, with Gannett assuming promotional and advertising control of "WBMN" from Cox Communications with the subsequent sign-on of WMAZ-TV digital subchannel 13.2.It remained available on Cox cable channel 3. The subchannel broadcasts in the 720p resolution format for high definition programming, rather than The CW's native1080iformat (a full 1080i feed of the channel is available to Cox subscribers).

News operation

WMAZ-TV presently broadcasts 27 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with four hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in addition, the station produces five hours of newscasts each week (with one hour each weekday) for WMAZ-DT2. It has been the far-and-away market leader in Macon for as long as records have been kept. Not only did it essentially have the market to itself for its first 15 years on the air, but it was the only reliably viewable station in much of the market until cable television arrived in central Georgia in the early 1980s.

On November 4, 2011, WMAZ moved production of its newscasts to the set used by its legal advice programLaw Call,with the normal red and black newsroom/control room backdrop. Three days later, on November 7, the station (via theFacebookpage of then-morning anchor Stephanie Susskind) announced during its 5 p.m. newscast that it would be upgrading its news production to HD in the coming weeks. Ten days later, on November 17, 2011, WMAZ-TV became the second television station (afterWarner Robins–basedWRWR-LD(channel 38), which had debuted its newscasts on September 17, 2010, in the format) and the first full power station in the Macon market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. With the launch of WMAZ-DT2 on October 14, 2013, the station began producing a half-hour weekday morning newscast (airing at 7 a.m.) and a half-hour prime time newscast at 10 p.m. for the subchannel.

On April 18, 2018, WMAZ dropped theEyewitnessname from the newscast's title that it had used since the early 1980s to coincide with the switch to the new Tegna standardized music and graphics package. The newscasts are now identified as13 WMAZ News.

Notable former on-air staff

• Vanessa Echols– reporter (1983–1987; later atWFTVinOrlando, Florida,now retired)
• Joel Godard– weather anchor (early 1970s; later worked as an announcer, notable for working onLate Night with Conan O'Brienand theMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade)
• Phil Keating– reporter (1990; now atFox News Channel)
• David Lloyd– intern (1986; now atESPNonSportsCenter)
• Scott McGrew(1991–1993; now atKNTVinSan Jose, California)
• Maureen O'Boyle– morning anchor/reporter (1982–1987; later anchor of the syndicated newsmagazinesA Current AffairandExtra;now evening anchor atWBTVinCharlotte)

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WMAZ-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
13.1	1080i	16:9	WMAZ-TV	CBS
13.2	720p		WMAZTV2	The CW Plus
13.3	480i	4:3	Crime	True Crime Network
13.4		16:9	Twist	Quest
13.5			Quest	The Nest
13.6			ShopLC	Shop LC

External links

• Official website