. for the achievement test see wechsler individual achievement test . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wiat birmingham tuscaloosa anniston alabama united states city birmingham alabama branding wiat cbs 42 general wiat cbs 42 news newscasts slogan coverage you can count on channels digital 30 uhf virtual 42 psip subchannels 42.1 cbs 42.2 untamed sports tv 42.3 justice network translators 42 uhf tuscaloosa construction permit affiliations cbs owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending lin license company llc first air date october 17 1965 1965 10 17 call letters meaning it s about time former station slogan 1 former callsigns wbmg 1965 1998 former channel number s analog 42 uhf 1965 2009 former affiliations secondary nbc 1965 1970 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 426 m facility id 5360 transmitter coordinates 33 29 4.5 n 86 48 25.4 w 33.484583 n 86.807056 w 33.484583 ; 86.807056 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wiat.com wiat virtual channel 42 uhf digital channel 30 is a cbs affiliated television station located in birmingham alabama united states . the station is owned by media general . 2 wiat maintains studio facilities located on golden crest drive near valley avenue in southeastern birmingham ; and its transmitter is located atop red mountain next to the american general candelabra tower near the southern edge of birmingham . contents 1 history 1.1 early history of uhf channel 42 in birmingham 1.2 as wbmg 1.3 sale to media general and callsign change to wiat 1.4 new vision television ownership 1.5 lin media ownership 1.6 second stint under media general 1.7 sale to nexstar 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 sports programming 4 news operation 4.1 on air staff 4.1.1 notable former on air staff 5 transmitter 6 references 7 external links history edit early history of uhf channel 42 in birmingham edit the history of the uhf channel 42 allocation in the birmingham market traces back to 1949 when the birmingham news company owners of the birmingham news and birmingham age herald newspapers filed a construction permit application with the federal communications commission fcc for a television station license under the call letters wsgn tv for the south s greatest newspaper which would have served as a sister station to radio station wsgn 610 am now wagg ; and 93.7 fm now wdjc owned by the news s southern broadcasting subsidiary . the station partnered with the voice of alabama inc. owners of wafm tv channel 13 later wabt and wapi tv and now wvtm tv to construct a broadcast tower next to its newly completed studio facility on red mountain adjcent to vulcan park ; plans called for wsgn tv to operate from the radio stations radio park building . 3 the application however faced multiple delays on its approval . the first such moratorium on the license approval resulted from a freeze on broadcast licenses that imposed by the fcc the previous summer ; however bascom hopson president and general manager of wsgn radio requested an extension to the agency s consideration of the license . at one point southern tried to forge a deal with the owners of wcbi tv in columbus mississippi to forfeit its vhf channel 4 assignment in order to allow the allocation to be reassigned to birmingham for use by the proposed station the fcc reassigned the channel 4 frequency to columbus in 1953 when wbrc tv moved to channel 6 to alleviate signal interference issues with wsm tv now wsmv tv in nashville . in 1954 months after the news decided to purchase wafm tv johnston broadcasting then owners of radio stations wjld 1400 am and wjln fm 104.7 now wzzk applied to launch a television station on uhf channel 48 ; after southern broadcasting s effort to acquire the channel 4 frequency failed it sold the permit to johnston in order for that group to operate its planned television station on the channel 42 frequency . 4 as wbmg edit in 1956 southern broadcasting renewed its efforts to build a third commercial television station in birmingham when it formed a partnership with chicago film salesman turned investment banker bill dubois to file for a new construction permit . although the new permit application was granted that year 5 the station s debut was delayed due to a shortage of broadcast transmission equipment as a result of the vietnam war . the station would not sign on the air until october 17 1965 as wbmg standing for birmingham ; 6 1 the first program to air on channel 42 when it debuted at 5 30 p.m. that evening was nbc s broadcast of the capitol chronicle of freedom . dubois and southern broadcasting served as co owners of the station under the licensee birmingham television corporation with southern acting as minority partner . many members of channel 42 s early staff consisted of on air personalities and other employees from wsgn radio including bill bolen who would later move to wbrc tv who served as one of wbmg s initial news anchors . as was the case at the time with most uhf television stations in markets served by at least two commercial vhf stations in birmingham s case fellow nbc cbs affiliate wapi tv ; and then abc affiliate wbrc tv wbmg experienced considerable competitive disadvantages from the outset that would plague the station for over 30 years . at the time of its sign on many households in the market did not have television sets capable of tuning into uhf broadcast signals without the aid of a converter . television set manufacturers had only begun including uhf tuners built into the sets one year earlier per a 1962 directive from the fcc . even with a converter the picture quality from uhf stations was marginal at best . the station s signal also left much to be desired . the birmingham market is a fairly large market geographically stretching across nearly the entire width of the state from near the alabama mississippi state line eastward to the alabama georgia state line . much of the terrain within this area is also hilly to mountainous particularly in the eastern part of the state which lies within the foothills of the appalachian mountains . this was a major reason as to why it took longer for birmingham to get a third television station in comparison to other cities of its size ; on paper the market s population had been large enough to support a third full network affiliate since the 1950s . the fcc had actually allocated four vhf channels to what would become the birmingham market but two of them channels 7 and 10 were acquired by alabama educational television now alabama public television for the member network s two original charter stations wbiq in birmingham and wciq in mount cheaha which both signed on in 1955 and were donated to the alabama educational television commission by storer broadcasting which owned wbrc from 1953 to 1957 both due to the company s support of educational broadcasting and as an attempt to stave off additional commercial competition . at the time most uhf stations did not get good reception in areas with rugged terrain and their signals did not travel nearly as far as their vhf counterparts usually resulting in these stations not producing sufficient enough signal coverage in those instances . as a result channel 42 s coverage area was effectively limited to birmingham itself and some inner ring suburbs over red mountain . the station originally broadcast for four hours each evening carrying a mix of prime time programming from both cbs and nbc before expanding its broadcast day from 7 00 a.m. to 12 00 a.m. two weeks later on november 1 1965 . on paper wbmg took the cbs affiliation from wapi tv . however cbs continued to allow channel 13 to air some of its more popular programs in part due to the aforementioned signal shortfalls with channel 42 . wbmg was thus left with cbs news programming and numerous lower rated cbs shows . to help fill out its schedule it also aired some nbc programs that wapi tv didn t carry . among these programs was strangely given its popularity elsewhere in the country the tonight show which wapi would not clear until 1969 albeit on a one hour tape delay ; as well as the infamous heidi game event between the american football league s oakland raiders and new york jets in november 1968 . 7 one benefit though was that wbmg cleared the cbs evening news which began airing in birmingham for the first time in over two years . after cbs and nbc expanded their evening news programs to 30 minutes in 1963 nbc s the huntley brinkley report which was carried by wapi tv was the only national network newscast seen in birmingham until channel 42 signed on wbrc did not carry abc s national newscast john charles daly and the news during that period . wbmg also carried certain locally produced and syndicated programs that aired on channel 13 such as the university of alabama football coaches program the bear bryant show which were rebroadcast on channel 42 in different time slots . both wbmg and wapi listed their affiliation as cbs nbc . one advantage that wbmg had over its rivals was that it was the first television station to be equipped for color broadcasts ; at the time the station signed on it had acquired a color film chain specialized projection equipment that allowed it to air films and slides in color although most of the station s camera consisted of monochrome equipment previously used by wbrc which channel 42 s original chief engineer worked for before being hired by wbmg . by 1970 though wapi s owners the newhouse family opted to sign an exclusive affiliation contract with nbc leaving wbmg to take a full time cbs affiliation more or less by default ; both stations became exclusive affiliates of the respective networks on may 1 of that year . with a poor signal the lack of television sets with uhf tuning capability and two of the south s oldest and most respected stations as its competitors wbmg found the going very difficult . due in part to wbmg s weak signal cbs opted to affiliate with two other central alabama stations wcft tv channel 33 now heroes & icons affiliate wses in tuscaloosa and whma tv channel 40 later wjsu tv and now heroes & icons affiliate wgww in anniston . wcft signed on ten days after wbmg made its debut whma would not sign on until october 1969 and the signals of both the tuscaloosa and anniston stations reached some households in birmingham proper that had uhf rooftop antennas installed wcft and whma carried an identical selection of prime time programming from cbs and nbc as wbmg did when all three stations were dual affiliates of the two networks . furthermore when cbs decided to cancel many of its rural oriented sitcoms and variety shows in 1971 especially the country music showcase hee haw and shows hosted by sylacauga native jim nabors in order to comply with the prime time access rule the move was a probable cause in hampering wbmg s ability to attract viewers in rural alabama where those programs were highly popular among viewers . for example when hee haw returned as a syndicated program in the fall of 1971 it aired on wapi because of that station s greater attractiveness to the distributor because of its longevity and larger audience . however many of wbmg s problems were of its own