using the original callsign of what is now wltz see wyea . wltz columbus georgia united states branding nbc 38 general wltz first news newscasts the cw ga bama on dt2 slogan putting you first channels digital 35 uhf virtual 38 psip subchannels 38.1 nbc 38.2 the cw affiliations nbc owner sagamorehill broadcasting sagamorehill of columbus ga llc first air date october 29 1970 1970 10 29 call letters meaning lewis television sister station s wncf former callsigns wyea tv 1970 1981 former channel number s analog 38 uhf 1970 2009 transmitter power 50 kw height 377.2 m class dt facility id 37179 transmitter coordinates 32 27 28.4 n 84 53 8.2 w 32.457889 n 84.885611 w 32.457889 ; 84.885611 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.wltz.com wltz is the nbc affiliated television station for the chattahoochee valley of west central georgia and east central alabama . licensed to columbus georgia it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 35 or virtual channel 38.1 via psip from a transmitter at its studios on nbc 38 drive in the vista terrance section of east columbus postal address is actually buena vista road in columbus . contents 1 digital channels 2 history 3 programming 4 news operation 5 counties in coverage area 5.1 georgia 5.2 alabama 6 references 7 external links digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 38.1 720p 16 9 wltz dt main wltz programming nbc 38.2 the cw ga bama history edit logo used until november 2007 . the station began broadcasting on october 29 1970 as wyea and aired an analog signal on uhf channel 38 . it was branded on air as yay tv and featured promotions showing a cheerleader with pompoms . wyea was originally owned by huntsville alabama broadcaster charles grisham and his company gala broadcasting . it brought a full nbc affiliate to columbus after a full decade in which nbc was mostly limited to off hours clearances on cbs outlet wrbl and abc affiliate wtvm . like most uhf start ups during this time wyea began with several handicaps . first like almost all other television markets with one or two dominant vhf stations the columbus area had strong established preferences for either wrbl or wtvm . it also had to deal with established nbc outlets wsb tv in atlanta later wxia tv after an affiliation change in that market walb in albany georgia and montgomery alabama s wsfa all of which provided at least grade b coverage of the outlying areas of the viewing area . in fact grisham attempted unsuccessfully to legally block wsfa s plans to build a new tower fearing it would cut into wyea s market share . later in the 1970s wyea became the flagship station of aflac s broadcast operations a locally based insurance company . the outlet added the tv suffix to its call sign on january 23 1979 . in 1981 aflac sold the station to j. curtis lewis owner of wjcl tv fm in savannah georgia wltx and wnok fm in columbia south carolina and wstz fm am in jackson mississippi . on august 31 of that year the station changed its calls to the current wltz and adopted the branding z 38 . lewis kept wltz until 2007 long after selling off his other stations to sagamorehill broadcasting . 1 wltz has been digital only since february 17 2009 . 2 on april 2 2009 it was announced the cw would discontinue its relationship with pappas telecasting owned wlga and as a result wltz joined the network on april 27 adding it to a new second digital subchannel . 3 wlga then became an independent outlet and began airing syndicated shows . it eventually ceased operations in june 2010 . programming edit syndicated programming on wltz includes steve harvey family feud the ellen degeneres show who wants to be a millionaire and futurama among others . the former two shows are hosted by steve harvey himself . news operation edit the station s first attempt at a news department lasted from its inception in 1970 until 1993 . despite a credible effort wltz s newscasts were never competitive enough against wtvm and wrbl to gain enough viewership and consistent ratings . columbus broadcast veteran and former nightclub owner al fleming was once news anchor of these newscasts as was richard elliot later of wrbl and wsb tv . after shutting down its news operation wltz offered syndicated shows with brief news updates taped in advance that ran for three minutes in length . in november 2007 the station brought back weeknight newscasts seen at 6 7 and 11 ; or 5 6 and 10 central in partnership with the independent news network inn of davenport iowa . originally the early evening shows aired in traditional half hour formats while the late newscast was shown in an update version . the news anchor meteorologist and sports personality were based at inn s studios on tremont avenue in davenport where production of the broadcasts took place and other personnel would fill in when needed . wltz maintained two reporters locally in columbus that contributed local content to the shows which were taped in advance and then transmitted back to the station to air . on may 29 2008 wltz became the first station in columbus and third in georgia to upgrade local news to high definition . the change came after inn added hd capabilities to its centralized production studios . in a report in the macon georgia telegraph it was announced the centralized news service filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy on december 31 2008 and would end all productions including those for wltz by january 9 2009 . 4 however a later report in the columbus ledger enquirer on january 6 indicated this station s newscasts would not be affected by the bankruptcy filing . 5 in april 2010 wltz replaced the 7 o clock report with alabama first news . unlike the other two weeknight broadcasts this reformatted show now focused on eastern alabama because that state which is in the central time zone is an hour behind georgia . therefore this was the only local newscast catering to viewers on the alabama side of the market airing at 6 central . viewers in those areas also have access to stations from dothan and montgomery offering local news geared for their time zone . the format change for wltz s show was also made in conjunction with sister station wncf in montgomery after that outlet expanded its news department and outsourcing agreement with the independent news network . newscasts would regularly feature wltz s reporters covering eastern alabama since montgomery and columbus have market areas that border each other . after a change in wncf s operational ownership took effect in july 2011 personnel from wltz were dropped from the montgomery station . at some point in fall 2011 wltz s weeknight show at 7 was moved to 11 but retained the alabama first news branding . nbc 38 news at 6 now solely focused on columbus and other areas in georgia while the late news now expanded to 35 minutes in length offered coverage specifically from the greater auburn phenix city and opelika areas in alabama . also at this point there began to be local news and weather cut ins on weekday mornings during today from 7 until 11 seen at 25 and 55 past the hour . under this arrangement the news anchor was normally live in columbus while the weather forecast was still taped and originated from inn s headquarters . on february 5 2012 wltz introduced an expanded news operation based out of its columbus studios complete with news anchors and a sports personality . however weather was still produced by inn meteorologists and featured segments recorded in advance . corresponding with the change nbc 38 news at 6 was renamed georgia first news on february 6 . in december 2012 wltz launched a new weekday morning show known as starting today . it originally aired for an hour beginning at 6 and then for an additional half hour at 7 on wltz dt2 which currently only shows the first hour of the daily buzz from 6 until 7 . in fall 2013 wltz s morning show was expanded further to two hours running from 5 to 7 a.m. while retaining the half hour portion on wltz dt2 . the independent news network only provided taped weather segments on weeknights . in july 2014 wltz built an in house weather department with meteorologist matt wintz and weather forecaster miller robson severing its last links to inn . counties in coverage area edit georgia edit calhoun chattahoochee clay crisp dooly harris lee macon marion meriwether muscogee quitman randolph schley stewart sumter talbot taylor terrell troup upson webster alabama edit barbour chambers lee russell references edit http www.broadcastingcable.com article ca6437753.html rssid 193 wltz 38 turning off analog . wltz goes digital . february 17 2009 http www.ledger enquirer.com news story 672471.html retrieved apr. 3 2009 . macon telegraph future of macon tv station s nightly newscast uncertain 1 5 2009 . archived january 27 2009 at the wayback machine . columbus ledger enquirer bankruptcy filing doesn t impact columbus wltz 1 6 2009 . archived january 9 2009 at the wayback machine . external links edit official website cw gabama.com query the fcc s tv station database for wltz v t e television stations in the columbus ga phenix city auburn al area reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television stations wrbl 3.1 cbs 3.2 metv 3.3 ion w06bh 6.1 religious wciq 7 wgiq 43 x. 1 pbs apt x. 2 world x. 3 create wtvm 9.1 abc 9.2 bounce tv 9.3 grittv wybu cd 16.1 ctn wacs tv 25.1 pbs gpb 25.2 create 25.3 gpb knowledge wjsp tv 28.1 pbs gpb 28.2 create 28.3 gpb knowledge wltz 38.1 nbc 38.2 the cw wxtx 54.1 fox 54.2 this tv 54.3 escape wlga 66.1 antenna tv defunct wwcg lp 11 wstv georgia broadcast television areas by city albany atlanta augusta chattanooga tn columbus greenville sc jacksonville fl macon savannah tallahassee fl see also montgomery tv birmingham tv dothan tv note gpb tv subchannel x. 2 now carrying the create channel although its psip id may still display as gpb kids v t 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 ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in georgia v t e sagamorehill broadcasting kdlh cw 1 kxlt tv fox 1 kztv cbs 2 wise tv cw 1 wltz nbc cw on dt2 wncf abc 3 wvnc ld silent 1 kxlt is operated by quincy newspapers under an ssa . 2 kztv is operated by cordillera communications under an ssa . 3 wncf is operated by bahakel communications under an ssa . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wltz & oldid 730827423 categories nbc network affiliatestelevision channels and stations established in 1970television stations in columbus georgia1970 establishments in georgia u.s. state hidden categories articles with wayback machine links navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main 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