WLTZ

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WLTZ
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = NBC 38
analog = 38 (UHF)
digital = 35 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = NBC
network =
founded =
airdate = October 29, 1970
location = Columbus, Georgia
callsign_meaning = Lewis
Television
Zenith
former_callsigns = WYEA-TV (1970–1981)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = SagamoreHill Broadcasting, LLC
licensee = SagamoreHill Broadcasting of Georgia, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 1480 kW (analog)
50 kW (digital)
HAAT = 399 m (analog)
377.2 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 37179
coordinates = coord|32|27|28.4|N|84|53|8.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wltz.com/ www.wltz.com]

WLTZ is the NBC television affiliate in Columbus, Georgia, serving western Georgia and eastern Alabama. Its transmitter is located in Columbus.

History

Channel 38 began with several handicaps. First, like almost all other U.S. television markets with one or two dominant VHF stations, the Columbus area had strong-established preferences for either CBS station WRBL-TV or then-NBC affiliate WTVM. This meant that channel 38, which started with the callsign WYEA-TV, has had, as a UHF frequency, to struggle to make an impact on local viewers.

But it also has had problems in the outlying counties of Georgia and Alabama with established NBC stations WSB-TV in Atlanta (later WXIA-TV, after an affiliation change in that market), WALB in Albany, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama's WSFA, whose signals often turned up quite clearly (in pre-cable days) in many of those areas, constituting an encroachment of sorts. In fact, the original owners of WYEA, Gala Broadcasting, attempted unsuccessfully to legally block WSFA's plans to build a new tower in southeastern Alabama, fearing that it would cut into channel 38's proposed market share.

The new station went on the air anyway, on October 29, 1970, taking the NBC affiliation from WTVM, which became a full affiliate of ABC. Later in the 1970s, WYEA became the flagship station of locally-based insurance company Aflac's broadcast operations. In 1981, Aflac sold WYEA to J. Curtis Lewis, owner of WJCL-TV, WTGS, and WJCL-FM in Savannah, WLTX, WNOK FM in Columbia, South Carolina, and WSTZ-FM and AM in Jackson, Mississippi. On August 31, 1981, channel 38 changed its callsign to WLTZ.

In May 2007, Lewis sold WLTZ, his last remaining station, to SagamoreHill Broadcasting [http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6437753.html?rssid=193] .

Channel 38's newscasts were never competitive against WTVM and WRBL, despite a credible effort to make a dent in the ratings. Al Fleming, Columbus broadcast veteran and former nightclub owner, was once anchor of these newscasts, as was Richard Elliot, later of WRBL and WSB-TV. However, WLTZ had almost no success against WTVM and WRBL, and finally canceled its newscasts in 1993. For the next 14 years, while news ran on the other Columbus stations, channel 38 broadcasts syndicated shows instead, with taped news updates that ran only three minutes.

In November 2007, after a 14-year hiatus, the station relaunched news operations, utilizing local reporters and anchors from Independent News Network. The station partners with the "Columbus Ledger-Enquirer" for resources and coverage. [http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/102/story/173504.html]

On May 29, 2008, WLTZ became the first in Columbus and the third in the state of Georgia to broadcast news in high definition.

Current News Personalities

Anchors

* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/anchors/10424582.html John Beard] , Anchor
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/anchors/10549242.html Libby Allison] , Anchor
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/anchors/17230764.html Sunya Walls] , Anchor
* [http://www.wltz.com/risenshine/bios/10554777.html Calvin Floyd] , Rise N Shine Host

Reporters

* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/reporters/10550277.html Julie Bercik] ,General Assignment Reporter
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/reporters/11060366.html Maria Jones] , General Assignment Reporter
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/reporters/10550247.html Stefanie Tiso] , General Assignment Reporter

Photojournalist

* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/photojournalists/11062706.html Donyel Perry] , Photojournalist

Weather

* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/weather/28665269.html Pat Walker] , Meterologist
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/weather/15766652.html Evan Hutchinson] , Meteorologist

ports

* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/sports/11061256.html Jeremy Moss] , Sports Anchor
* [http://www.wltz.com/about/newsteam/sports/15766777.html Nathan O'Leary] , Sports Anchor

Past Personalities

*Ed Harbison, Anchor (now Georgia State Senator)
*Al Fleming, Anchor
*Richard Elliot, Anchor (now at WSB-TV)
*Susanne Hudson, Anchor
*Shep Koster, Sports Director (now, Actor based in Los Angeles)
*Penny Leigh, Meteorologist
*Kathleen Kennedy, Reporter/Anchor (now anchor at CNN Headline News)
*John Lyles, Reporter
*Denise Kaigler, Reporter (now with Reebok International)
*Borden Black, Anchor/Reporter/News Director

External links

* [http://www.wltz.com/ WLTZ website]
*TVQ|WLTZ
*BIA|WLTZ|TV|TV
* [http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/FCCOps/1970/21F2_729.htm Text of a 1970 FCC decision denying Gala Broadcasting's request to prohibit a new tower for WSFA]