please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message wgtv athens atlanta georgia united states branding gpb slogan television worth sharing channels digital 8 vhf virtual 8 psip subchannels 8.1 gpb pbs hd 1080i 8.2 gpb create tv 480i 8.3 gpb knowledge 480i translators w13dj d 13 carrollton w08eg d 8 toccoa affiliations pbs owner georgia public broadcasting georgia public telecommunications commission first air date may 23 1960 ; 56 years ago 1960 05 23 call letters meaning we re georgia television former channel number s analog 8 vhf 1960 2009 digital 12 vhf 2007 2009 former affiliations net 1960 1970 transmitter power 21 kw digital height 330 meters 1 083 ft digital facility id 23948 transmitter coordinates 33 48 18.7 n 84 8 39.4 w 33.805194 n 84.144278 w 33.805194 ; 84.144278 coordinates 33 48 18.7 n 84 8 39.4 w 33.805194 n 84.144278 w 33.805194 ; 84.144278 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.gpb.org wgtv channel 8 is the metro atlanta station and flagship for georgia public broadcasting formerly georgia public television georgia s public broadcasting service pbs state network . the station transmits from the top of stone mountain in state owned stone mountain park located just east of atlanta in stone mountain georgia . it shares this short broadcast tower with noaa weather radio station kec80 and formerly with wabe fm 90.1 . the city of license is athens georgia a legacy of its early years as a service of the university of georgia . it is considered the primary parent station for one originally two low power television lptv broadcast translator in the north georgia mountains . eight other full power stations also simulcast the network across the state originally relayed via microwave radio towers and now via communications satellite . there is no local insertion instead all station identification is done on a single screen for all stations . wgtv s analog signal was the strongest of the gpb tv network covering most of the northern part of georgia extending in about a 75 mile 120 km radius from the transmitter site . wgtv s digital hdtv facility started broadcasting on december 20 2007 on channel 12 . however it was at very low power unable to be received through much if not most of metro atlanta . it moved from channel 12 to full power on channel 8 after the analog shutdown in february 2009 using the same digital transmitter re tuned to use the channel 8 antenna . this selection made without conflict in the first round digital channel election is due to wdef tv in chattanooga opting to stay digital on channel 12 . wgtv was originally assigned channel 22 for dtv operations but requested the frequency allotment change to channel 12 by the federal communications commission fcc also allowing a change to 22 from 59 by wskc cd . distant viewers can receive two other gpb digital tv stations wngh tv 33 18.x in the northwest metro area and wjsp tv 23 28.x in the southwest . the analog station was 316 kilowatts effective radiated power erp the maximum for high vhf at 326 meters 1 070 ft haat . the temporary digital station was only 16 kw at 304 meters 997 ft . the current 21 kw is still well below the limit of 63 kw for digital stations on high vhf channels 7 to 13 which would also be legally equivalent to what it had on analog . because of this reception is still difficult in much of metro atlanta . unfortunately for over the air pbs viewers the same situation also exists at wpba though wgtv is still available on most analog cable tv systems unlike wpba which was cut off by comcast . contents 1 history 2 programming 3 broadcast translators 4 digital television 1 4.1 analog to digital conversion 5 references 6 external links history edit wgtv began broadcasting on may 23 1960 . it was licensed to the university of georgia and operated out of the georgia center for continuing education . the station s vhf allocation was originally occupied by wsb tv which at that time was owned by the atlanta journal . the journal s competitor in atlanta the atlanta constitution had applied for and received from the fcc a construction permit for channel 2 which was to be called wcon tv . when the journal and constitution merged media ownership rules of the day did not permit one entity to own two television stations in the same market . plans for wcon tv were scrapped and wsb tv moved to channel 2 from channel 8 in 1951 . the abc tv affiliate wltv broadcast on channel 8 from 1951 to 1953 when the station moved to channel 11 now wxia tv to avoid radio interference with newly launched wrom tv rome operating on adjacent channel 9 . cox enterprises owner of the journal and constitution donated the channel 8 license to uga for an educational television station but it took seven more years to get the station on the air . in 1965 wgtv merged with a group of four stations owned by the state board of education to form georgia educational television later known as georgia public television and the forerunner of today s gpb television network . in 1982 ownership of the license was transferred from the university of georgia to the georgia public telecommunications commission . from 1965 to 1982 wgtv often broke from the main getv gptv signal to broadcast programs of local interest to the atlanta area . however since all of the gptv licenses were consolidated with the gptc network programming airs on wgtv at all times . programming edit programming on wgtv and atlanta s other pbs member station wpba is basically the same with some important differences . programs shown in prime time on one station such as live from lincoln center will often not be shown at all on the other station or be shunted to sunday afternoons which in some quarters is considered viewing limbo since many people are either at church at sporting events or at the movies . very often gpb has its own programs such as georgia outdoors while wpba has its own as well . often these programs are telecast on prime time relegating programs such as live from lincoln center to obscure hours . occasionally wgtv will not broadcast a lincoln center or a great performances concert or special at all especially during pledge drives preferring to telecast such self help programs as those of suze orman or dr. wayne dyer or perhaps a reunion of a 1950s rock group . in 2011 this resulted in wgtv s not showing a live from lincoln center telecast of the nutcracker . 1 sometimes but not always the fine arts programs are made available for viewing online on the pbs website . since wgtv is reckoned as atlanta s flagship pbs station it has priority for most pbs programming in prime time . partly because of this after the analog shutdown wgtv became the sole pbs station available on analog cable on comcast s systems in the atlanta area . prior to 2001 both stations went off the air at midnight ; wpba still goes off the air on sunday nights . gpb used to sign off with ray charles s version of georgia on my mind which is the official state song while showing scenes from the north georgia mountains to the georgia coast . broadcast translators edit both original broadcast translators are or were located near the state s border with south carolina in areas where coverage from a full powered gpb transmitter is insufficient due to the distance from the main transmitters and the hilly or mountainous terrain in northeast georgia . a third translator this time digital replaced an analog one previously assigned to wjsp tv . w08eg d toccoa former analog w68af which originally applied for digital on 10 w52aa carnesville applied for digital on 12 dismissed october 2006 cancelled august 2007 w13dj d carrollton replaces analog w49ad which had its license cancelled after this station went on two originally several other translators are nominally assigned to other gpb tv stations both remaining ones to wngh tv though all stations simulcast . digital television 1 edit wgtv broadcasts the following digital subchannels channel video aspect psip short name programming 8.1 1080i 16 9 gpb hd main gpb programming pbs 8.2 480i 4 3 kids create tv 8.3 4 3 know gpb knowledge analog to digital conversion edit wgtv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 8 on february 17 2009 at 11 59 p.m. as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television which congress had moved the previous month to june 12 . 2 the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition vhf channel 12 to channel 8 . playing a farewell video of outdoor scenes around georgia set to the tune of georgia on my mind by ray charles the official state song before permanently ceasing transmission . a final message at the end of the video read in fond remembrance of the era of analog television broadcasting on georgia public television . the transition to digital ended nearly 49 years of analog broadcasting by wgtv . references edit rabbitears tv query for wgtv list of digital full power stations external links edit gpb website gpb stations map includes wgtv coverage area query the fcc s tv station database for wgtv query the fcc s tv station database for w08eg d query the fcc s tv station database for dw52aa query the fcc s tv station database for w13dj d biafn s media web database information on wgtv tv tv fool map of digital signal strength on a google map v t e georgia public broadcasting television wgtv wjsp wmum wabw wacs wces wngh wvan wxga radio wgpb wuwg wjsp wwio wngu wsvh wuga wunv wwet wxvs wppr wjwv wacg wabr wngh wwio am wwio fm waty wbtb v t e broadcast television in north georgia including atlanta and athens reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television metro atlanta wsb tv 2.1 abc 2.2 metv 2.3 laff waga tv 5.1 fox 5.2 movies 5.3 buzzr wxia tv 11.1 nbc 11.2 wn 11.3 justice network wpxa tv 14.1 ion 14.2 qubo 14.3 ion life 47.1 simulcast of wktb cd1 tmd wpch tv 17.1 ind. wuvg dt 34.3 gettv 34.4 escape watl 36.1 mntv 36.2 bounce 36.3 ant . wire cd 40.3 video mix tv wgcl tv 46.1 cbs 46.2 cozi 46.3 grit watc dt 57.2 ind. family wupa 69.1 cw 69.2 decades spanish language stations wuvg dt 34.1 univision 34.2 unim s wuvm lp 4 aza wyga cd 16.1 6 mex . 16.2 sbn wtbs ld lp 26 26.1 mmax 26.2 lwn 26.5 tuff 26.6 lmm wann cd 32.1 zap2it biz 32.2 this tv 32.4 moxie 32.5 oldie 32.6 myfam . 32.7 la mega 32.8 latv 32.9 retro 32.10 estrella tv wthc ld 42.1 tourist wktb cd 47.1 telemundo 47.3 telexitos wagc ld 50.1 ind. bnn religious stations wdta ld 53.1 ds watc dt 57.1 ind. relg . wire cd 40.4 3abn wktb cd 47.4 mc tv whsg tv 63.1 tbn 63.2 church 63.3 juce 63.4 enlace 63.5 smile wggd ld 15 ds public television wciq 7.1 pbs apt 7.2 apt world 7.3 create wgtv 8 wngh 18 wjsp 28 .1 pbs gpb .2 create .3 knowledge wpba 30.1 pbs home shopping stations w45dx d 45.1 hsn wann cd 32.3 ads wtbs ld 26.3 jtv wire cd 40.1 2 ads wpxa tv 14.4 shop 14.5 qvc ethnic stations wktb cd 47.2 ktn kbs 47.3 mbc d wskc cd 22.1 mbc wtbs ld 26.4