WNEG-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WNEG-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Serving Northeast Georgia
station_branding = NewsChannel 32
analog = 32 (UHF)
digital = 24 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
"(to become America One on October 15, 2008)"
network =
founded =
airdate = September 9, 1984
location = Toccoa, Georgia
callsign_meaning = NorthEast Georgia
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Media General, Inc.
"(sale to the University of Georgia pending)"
licensee = Media General Communications Holdings, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = independent (1984-1995)
effective_radiated_power = 646 kW (analog)
600 kW (digital)
HAAT = 253 m (analog)
208.8 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 63329
coordinates = coord|34|36|36|N|83|22|13.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wneg32.com/ www.wneg32.com]

WNEG-TV is the CBS television affiliate in Toccoa, Georgia, serving several counties in the northeastern portion of that state. Besides that region, the station also serves as the secondary CBS affiliate for the Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson, S.C./Asheville, N.C. television market. The signal can also be seen in the extreme eastern portions of the Atlanta, Georgia market, including northeast suburbs such as Gainesville and Braselton, as well as Athens. The station broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 32, and its digital signal on UHF channel 24. It is owned by Media General.

The station broadcasts programs from CBS, as well as syndicated children's programming, courtroom shows, and talk shows.

History

WNEG-TV signed on air as an independent station on September 9, 1984. Its first owner was the Stephens County Broadcasting Company, who also owned WNEG-AM 630.

In 1991, it was acquired by the Spartan Radiocasting Company. (WNEG-AM still exists in Toccoa today, but under different ownership from WNEG-TV.) In 1995, after Atlanta's WAGA switched to Fox, WNEG acquired the CBS affiliation (as new Atlanta CBS affiliate WGNX (now WGCL-TV) did not have the reach WAGA had in remote northeast Georgia) and started its news operation. It adopted the branding NewsChannel 32 and a logo similar to the one that sister station WSPA-TV in Spartanburg used from 1994 to 2001 (which was also used by another sister station, WJBF in Augusta, Georgia, around the same time period). WNEG, along with the rest of the Spartan company, was acquired by Media General in 2000. WNEG kept the Spartan-era logo, while WSPA and WJBF switched to a Media General-standard one.

On October 29, 2007, Media General announced that it was exploring the sale of WNEG. [cite press release |title=Media General Exploring Sale of Five Television Stations |publisher=Media General |date=2007-10-29|url=http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2007/oct29_07.html |accessdate=2007-10-30] This was followed on June 25, 2008 with an announcement that the station would be sold to the University of Georgia Research Foundation, which will use use channel 32 as a training facility for students in the University's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. [cite press release |title=Media General Announces Sale of WNEG in Toccoa, Ga., to University of Georgia Research Foundation |publisher=Media General |date=2008-06-25|url=http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2008/june25_08.html |accessdate=2008-06-25] The University will take control on October 15; at that time, CBS programming will be droppedcite news|url=http://www.wneg32.com/index.php/news/article/uga-discusses-the-sale-of-wneg-tv/1267/|title=UGA Discusses the Sale of WNEG-TV |last=Armbruster|first=Tracy|date=2008-08-19|work=News Channel 32|accessdate=2008-09-30] and replaced with America One programming.cite news|url=http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/9635/|title=College dean discusses plans for Channel 32|last=Blackwood|first=Harris|date=2008-10-07|work=The Gainesville Times|accessdate=2008-10-10] It has also indicated that more local programming will be added; additionally the station's studios will be relocated from Toccoa to its campus in Athens in the fall of 2009.cite news |first=Tracy |last=Armbruster |title=WNEG-TV Sold to UGA |url=http://www.wneg32.com/index.php/news/article/wneg-tv-sold-to-uga/1079/ |work=News Channel 32 |date=2008-06-27 |accessdate=2008-06-28 ]

Trivia

WNEG-TV is one of a few stations in the USA that still sign off, usually on early Saturday morning from 2:10 am until 6:00 am and early Sunday morning from 12:30am until 5:00am.

The show with the highest viewer ratings is The Billy Dilworth Show, which airs Saturdays live at 7 and replays at 11.

Personalities

Anchors/Reporters

* Chuck Moore, Anchor, NewsChannel 32 @ 6, 7, and 11
* Tracy Armbruster, Anchor, NewsChannel 32 @ 6, 7, and 11
* Cody Chaffins, Sports Reporter
* Zac Glover, Weather/Additional Sports Reporter
* Amelia Hines, Reporter/Producer/Anchor, NewsChannel 32 Daybreak
* Alisha Searl, Reporter

Former News Personalities
* Scott Myrick, Anchor, NewsChannel 32 Daybreak
* Jennifer Cathey (now Arbitter), Anchor/News Director now teaches at Piedmont College
* Megan Heidlberg, Anchor/Reporter
* Noah Pransky, Sports Director/Anchor
* Chris McAndrew, Reporter
* Heather Jensen, Reporter
* Alaina Anderson, Daybreak Anchor/Reporter
* Bruce Frazier, Sports Reporter
* Randy Scott, Sports Director/Anchor
* Jason Maderer, Sports Director/Anchor
* Paul Rea, Daybreak Anchor/Reporter
* Matt McClure, Daybreak Anchor/Reporter
* Keeli Davidson, Sports Director/Reporter
* Jill Schroder, Daybreak Anchor/Reporter
* Jason Mealey, Anchor/Reporter
* Susanna Haynes, Reporter
* Lisa Warner, Reporter/Anchor
* Lisa Costantino, Reporter
* Amy Cain, Reporter
* Adrian Helmick, Anchor/Reporter
* Tony Teixiera, Anchor/Reporter
* John Hart, Sports Director/Anchor
* Scott Hartman, Sports Reporter
* Tracy Lee Vreeland, Reporter/News Director
* Joy Purcell, Anchor/Reporter/News Director
* Emily Sabatino, Anchor/Reporter
* Kate Mundy, Daybreak Anchor/Reporter
* Michael Carvell, Sports Director/Anchor
* Mark Childress, Sports Director/Anchor
* Jeff Sharon, Sports Director
* Mario Boone, Reporter

References

See also

* WSPA-TV

External links

* [http://www.wneg32.com/ WNEG NewsChannel 32 Homepage]
*TVQ|WNEG-TV
*BIA|WNEG|TV|TV