WSWG

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WSWG
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Southwest Georgia's CBS
analog =
digital = 43 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
MyNetworkTV (DT2)
network =
founded =
location = Valdosta/Albany/Moultrie, Georgia
airdate = December 24, 1980 (original incarnation)
October 28, 1995 (current incarnation)
former_callsigns = WVGA (1980-92)
WGVP (1995-2001)
WVAG (2001-05)
former_channel_numbers = Analog:
44 (1980-92, 1995-2007)
owner = Gray Television, Inc.
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ABC (1980-1992)
Silent (1992-1995)
The WB (1995-2001)
UPN (2001-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 50 kW
HAAT = 253 m
class =
facility_id = 28155
coordinates = coord|31|10|18.9|N|83|21|57.1|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wswg.tv/ www.wswg.tv]

WSWG is the CBS affiliate for Valdosta, Albany, and Moultrie, Georgia. The station is licensed to Valdosta, with studios in Moultrie. The station is owned by Gray Television. It largely serves as a semi-satellite for Tallahassee, Florida's CBS affiliate, WCTV.

Broadcasting its digital signal on UHF channel 43, WSWG transmits from facilities in Cook County near Adel, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Valdosta.

History

Channel 44 first signed on December 24, 1980 as WVGA, the ABC affiliate for Valdosta. Prior to that time, southwest Georgia was one of the few areas in eastern part of the country without a clear over-the-air signal from an ABC affiliate. The nearest ABC affiliates--in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Columbus--only provide marginal signals to the region. At the time, ABC was the top network in America. Founded by Hi Ho Broadcasting (which also owned WDHN in Dothan, Alabama), WVGA carried a typical slate of ABC and syndicated shows.

In 1986, Hi Ho sold its stations to Morris Network, a broadcasting company owned by the Morris Newspaper Corporation.

The station was unable to make any headway against long-dominant NBC affiliate WALB-TV, and by the late 1980s was in severe financial trouble. It shut down its news department, relied more on bartered and brokered programming and infomercials, and started to sign off earlier, at 12 Midnight, following "Nightline". The station's owners originally planned on selling the station to the owners of Tallahassee's WTXL-TV, which would have made WVGA a semi-satellite. However, that deal fell through.

WVGA's fate was sealed in January 1992, when a plane crashed into WVGA's transmission tower and knocked the station off the air. Not having enough funds to rebuild the tower, Morris opted to close down WVGA instead.

In 1994, Morris sold the channel 44 license to Hutchens Communications, who reopened the station on October 20, 1995 as a WB affiliate, WGVP. However, in 2001, when The WB insisted on going cable-only in most small markets (including Albany), WGVP affiliated with UPN, and renamed itself WVAG. The station moved its studio to Moultrie, where it remains today.

Hutchens sold WVAG to Padon Communications in 2004, who in turn, sold it to Gray soon afterward. Ironically, Gray had been the founder and longtime owner of WALB-TV. Under Gray, the station was re-called WSWG, and its operations were merged with those of WCTV.

In January 2006, it was announced that The WB and UPN will close down and merge to form The CW Television Network, which is seen on former WB affiliate WFXU. On September 4, WSWG dropped UPN and joined CBS as a semi-satellite of WCTV. It started a DT2 subchannel that serves as an affiliate for MyNetworkTV. Prior to the announcement of UPN's closure, the original plans were to make CBS a digital channel, with UPN staying on analog.

WSWG shares much of WCTV's programming and simulcasts WCTV Eyewitness News. However, WSWG has a separate logo and a separate news open. WCTV had been the default CBS affiliate for Albany for many years. The two stations have a strong combined signal with just under 50% overlap.

On January 30 2007, WSWG's analog signal on channel 44 went dark due to a damaged transmission line at the transmitter. Rather than incur the expense of restoring a signal that would only be temporary, the station requested permission to surrender its analog license, and broadcast in digital only on channel 43. The FCC granted the request on January 30 2008. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-173A1.pdf] However, unlike its old analog signal on channel 44, which broadcasted at 1700 kilowatts, digital channel 43 broadcasts only at 50kw, to protect Alabama Public Television station WGIQ in Louisville, Alabama.

Logos

ee also

*WCTV

External links

* [http://www.wswg.tv/ Southwestern Georgia's CBS]
*TVQ|WSWG
*BIA|WSWG|TV|TV