View source for WIAT

{{Short description|Television station in Birmingham, Alabama}}
{{About|the television station in Birmingham, Alabama|the achievement test|Wechsler Individual Achievement Test|other uses|IAT (disambiguation){{!}}IAT}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|WBMG|WBNG-TV}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WIAT
| city = Birmingham, Alabama
| logo = WIAT 1.svg
| logo_alt = A white box with a blue CBS eye and the letters C B S next to a blue box containing a wide, sans serif numeral 42 in white
| logo_upright = 1
| branding = CBS 42
| digital = 30 ([[UHF]])
| virtual = 42
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''42.1:''' [[CBS]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[Nexstar Media Group]]
| licensee = Nexstar Media Inc.
| location = {{ubl|[[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]–[[Tuscaloosa]]–|[[Anniston, Alabama]]}}
| country = United States
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1965|10|17|p=y|br=y}}
| callsign_meaning = "It's About Time", station slogan at 1998 relaunch
| former_callsigns = WBMG (1965–1998)
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:''' 42 (UHF, 1965–2009)
| former_affiliations = [[NBC]] (secondary, 1965–1970)
| erp = 1,000 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|426|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 5360
| coordinates = {{Coord|33|29|4.5|N|86|48|25.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.cbs42.com/}}
}}

'''WIAT''' (channel 42) is a [[television station]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], United States, affiliated with [[CBS]] and owned by [[Nexstar Media Group]]. The station's studios are on Golden Crest Drive atop [[Red Mountain (Birmingham)|Red Mountain]], where its tower is also located.

Channel 42 in Birmingham went on the air as WBMG on October 17, 1965, nearly nine years after its construction was approved. It was the city's third commercial station after channels 6 and 13 (now [[WBRC]] and [[WVTM-TV]]), whose [[very high frequency]] (VHF) signals carried further than WBMG's [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) signal; the Birmingham Television Corporation, which built channel 42, had been unsuccessful in efforts to allocate a third VHF TV channel to Birmingham. The station initially aired the CBS and [[NBC]] programs not aired by channel 13 until the two stations each took full-time network affiliations in 1970. It was hemmed in by its weaker signal, the existence of CBS affiliates in [[Tuscaloosa]] and [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]], and the dominance of the VHF stations in the ratings. [[Roy H. Park]] Broadcasting acquired WBMG in 1973, but WBMG never moved above third in the market. In response to low ratings, the station dropped local news in 1982 and restored it in 1987; the newscasts, titled ''Action News Birmingham'', became known for a combative style and emphasis on metro-area news, but they were never highly viewed. By 1997, syndicated reruns of ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' attracted more viewers than WBMG's evening news, and [[WBMA-LD|a new Birmingham TV station]] pushed channel 42 into fourth place in news.

When [[Media General]] acquired the Park group in 1997, it planned a major overhaul of the long-struggling station. General manager Eric Land fired all of WBMG's on-air presenters as well as other news employees in December 1997. For a month, channel 42 aired a countdown clock at 5 and 10{{nbsp}}p.m. while the news department was rebuilt from scratch, a tactic that attracted national attention. On February 5, 1998, the station changed its call letters to WIAT—for its new slogan, "It's About Time"—and relaunched its newscasts as ''42 Daily News''. The news programs featured short stories, no on-camera reporters, and a high story count; while still in fourth place, they were a marked improvement in quality and ratings over their predecessors. After ratings plateaued in the early 2000s, the station moved to a more conventional format and brought in veteran Birmingham news personalities, which made channel 42 more competitive in the market.

Media General acquired WVTM-TV in 2006 and sold WIAT to [[New Vision Television]] to make the purchase. [[LIN Media]] acquired New Vision in 2012, and Media General acquired LIN in 2014—this time, keeping WIAT and selling WVTM. Nexstar purchased Media General in 2017.

==Pre-launch==
In March 1956, the Birmingham Television Corporation—formed by Harry and [[Elmer Balaban]]—was incorporated in Alabama and proceeded to file for Birmingham's unused [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) channel 42.<ref name="Alab560201">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/alabama-journal-video-station-incorporat/136776512/|date=February 1, 1956|page=11-A|title=Video Station Incorporated|newspaper=Alabama Journal|location=Montgomery, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055233/https://www.newspapers.com/article/alabama-journal-video-station-incorporat/136776512/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --><ref name="Birm560306">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-tv-concern-applies-f/136776547/|date=March 6, 1956|page=1|title=TV concern applies for Channel 42|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055236/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-tv-concern-applies-f/136776547/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> That same month, Birmingham radio station [[WAGG|WSGN]] filed for channel 42 as well. It was the second application for television made by WSGN, which had previously sought channel 48 and was an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate in radio.<ref name="Birm560319">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-the-thames-linewsgn/136776577/|date=March 19, 1956|page=24|first=Roger|last=Thames|title=The Thames line—WSGN seeks TV channel|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055235/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-the-thames-linewsgn/136776577/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> The fact that two applicants were seeking a UHF channel was of note given that UHF television had proved mostly an economic failure due to lack of transmitter power and the inability of many sets to tune UHF stations.<ref name="Birm560327">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-the-thames-lineuhf/136776621/|date=March 27, 1956|page=19|first=Roger|last=Thames|title=The Thames line—UHF battle indicates something brewing in TV|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055243/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-the-thames-lineuhf/136776621/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

WSGN's owners, the Winston-Salem Broadcasting Company, withdrew their application for channel 42 on November 28, 1956.<ref name="Birm561129">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wsgn-withdraws-tv/136776644/|date=November 29, 1956|page=37|title=WSGN Withdraws TV Application|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055232/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wsgn-withdraws-tv/136776644/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The withdrawal was part of a consolidation with the Balaban application, which was approved. Of the prospects for a new station, which would likely have been an ABC affiliate at that point in time, Roger Thames of ''[[The Birmingham News]]'' wrote,<ref name="Birm561130">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-new-station-here-nea/136776666/|date=November 30, 1956|page=50|first=Roger|last=Thames|title=New station here near? Well, something's up|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055230/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-new-station-here-nea/136776666/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri -->

{{bq|Personally, I don't believe anybody's going to establish a UHF station in Birmingham. I don't believe there are very many sets in use here which will bring in the UHF signal. And UHF operators elsewhere have had little luck in persuading folks to spend money to gear their sets to get UHF. But ... it costs money to keep an application alive, and something must be in the air.}}

The Birmingham Television Corporation spent years trying to move a third commercial channel in the more established [[very high frequency]] (VHF) band to Birmingham. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the FCC considered adding such a channel to Birmingham on multiple occasions. In 1959, it considered moving channel 8 into Birmingham; WBMG favored a proposal to relocate channel 4 from [[Columbus, Mississippi]], which was also denied.<ref>{{cite news|page=115|title=Reply comments made in tv channel shifts|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|963319274}}|date=September 28, 1959}}</ref><ref name="Birm590710">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-fcc-rejects-proposal/136776731/|date=July 10, 1959|page=15|agency=Associated Press|title=FCC rejects proposal—Local TV station is denied permit to use Channel 4|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055240/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-fcc-rejects-proposal/136776731/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> In 1963, it opted to deny the addition of channel 3.<ref>{{Cite news|title=No answer yet on VHF drop-ins|pages=61–62|date=March 4, 1963|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014456387}} }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=FCC urged to reconsider drop-ins: Huddleston calls Birmingham VHF 'ill advised'|page=78|date=April 22, 1963|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014459790}} }}</ref> The pending proceedings spared the unbuilt station, with the call sign WBMG, from deletion. In 1960, the FCC sent letters to the permittees of 54 unused or unbuilt UHF stations, including WBMG, ordering them to resume or lose the permit.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|title=Build or quit, 54 uhf permittees are told|pages=9–10|date=February 22, 1960|id={{ProQuest|962842128}} }}</ref> WBMG and a permit in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]], were spared due to the pending proposals.<ref>{{Cite news|id={{ProQuest|962868984}}|title=FCC deletes 26 uhf construction permits|work=Broadcasting|date=November 28, 1960|page=62}}</ref> In 1963, Winston-Salem Broadcasting became the sole owner of the Birmingham Television Corporation when it bought out the Balabans' stake.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=85884|title=FCC History Cards for WIAT|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref>

==Construction and early years==
In November 1964, Winston-Salem Broadcasting filed to sell a two-thirds stake to four investors: William P. Dubois, Enterprise Funds Inc., Northwest Growth Fund Inc., and Exchange Capitol Corporation. The FCC approved this transaction in March 1965.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|page=115|title=For the Record|id={{ProQuest|1014482898}}|date=December 14, 1964}}</ref> With the new ownership, plans were set in motion to construct WBMG, with Dubois as general manager.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/another-tv-channel-city-approved/tlohcfcuhrldeyspdkppdprfvozjvaap_ip-10-166-46-71_1702515001010|title=Another TV channel for city approved|pages=1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/tv/ydjcvjlcbojpcsegdqzpykidezxytqxx_ip-10-166-46-113_1702514927843 4]|work=The Birmingham News|first=Turner|last=Jordan|date=March 11, 1965|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217062240/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/another-tv-channel-city-approved/tlohcfcuhrldeyspdkppdprfvozjvaap_ip-10-166-46-71_1702515001010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Birm650311">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-way-cleared-for-n/122096642/|date=March 11, 1965|page=28|title=Way Cleared For New TV Station Here: FCC Approves Ownership Change Of UHF Channel|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055237/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-way-cleared-for-n/122096642/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Even at this juncture, the station attempted to improve its position by filing for the lower channel 21.<ref name="Birm650624">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-uhf-tv-statio/99779912/|date=June 24, 1965|page=26|first=Emmett|last=Weaver|title=New UHF TV Station Aims At Fall Opening|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055242/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-uhf-tv-statio/99779912/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> 

WBMG began broadcasting on October 17, 1965.<ref name="Birm651016">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-heres-lineup-of/136777003/|date=October 16, 1965|page=Week-Ender 1|title=Here's Lineup Of Channel 42|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055242/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-heres-lineup-of/136777003/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The quarters it occupied on [[Red Mountain (Birmingham)|Red Mountain]] had belonged to radio station WJLD and were designed to accommodate a television operation.{{r|Birm650624}} WBMG did not hold a primary network affiliation at launch. [[WAPI-TV]] (channel 13) held the primary affiliations with [[CBS]] and [[NBC]] in central Alabama, and not all of their programming was seen in Birmingham as a result; channel 42 filled this gap by airing the network shows not aired on channel 13.{{r|Birm650624}} This was illustrated in its first day of programming: the inaugural program was an [[NBC News]] special, but later in the evening the station aired ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' from CBS. Likewise, WBMG aired the ''[[CBS Evening News]] with [[Walter Cronkite]]'' and NBC's ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' on weeknights.{{r|Birm651016}} Carson had gone unseen in Birmingham in several years.<ref name="Birm651019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebookchann/136777059/|date=October 19, 1965|page=6|first=Emmett|last=Weaver|title=TV Notebook—Channel 42, Color Pep Up Programs|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055234/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebookchann/136777059/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> Because WAPI-TV had first-call rights on the networks' programs, series moved between the stations, sometimes in the middle of the television season.<ref name="Birm660113">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebookchang/136777188/|date=January 13, 1966|page=16|first=Emmett|last=Weaver|title=TV Notebook—Changes Continue On TV Picture|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219012025/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebookchang/136777188/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --><ref name="Birm670819">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-season-previewwb/136777282/|date=August 19, 1967|page=11|title=Season Preview—WBMG-TV Gives Viewing Line-Up|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055240/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-season-previewwb/136777282/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat -->

The station broadcast with an [[effective radiated power]] of 479,000 watts until 1969, when it activated a new, {{convert|894|ft|m|adj=on}} tower and increased its power to over a million watts.{{r|hc}} The new tower was boasted to increase the station's signal in areas from [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]] and [[Gadsden, Alabama|Gadsden]] in the east to [[Tuscaloosa]] in the west.<ref name="Birm690807">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-for-channel-42-h/98944503/|date=August 7, 1969|page=26|title=For Channel 42: Higher Tower Ups Coverage|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219012223/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-for-channel-42-h/98944503/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> By this time, Tuscaloosa and Anniston each had their own stations: Tuscaloosa's [[WSES|WCFT]] (channel 33) debuted in October 1965, while Anniston's [[WGWW|WHMA-TV]] (channel 40) started in October 1969.<ref name="Anni691005">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-tv-test-pattern-s/136947196/|date=October 5, 1969|page=3D|title=WHMA-TV Test Pattern Slated For Showing Soon|newspaper=The Anniston Star|location=Anniston, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219011847/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-tv-test-pattern-s/136947196/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun --><ref name="Anni691026">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-tv-makes-debut-on/136947208/|date=October 26, 1969|page=2A|title=WHMA-TV Makes Debut On Air Today|newspaper=The Anniston Star|location=Anniston, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219011921/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-tv-makes-debut-on/136947208/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun --> This situation persisted until May 31, 1970, when WAPI-TV became the sole NBC affiliate under a new agreement with NBC and WBMG the sole CBS affiliate.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|date=December 15, 1969|page=51|title=WAPI-TV to become full-time NBC-TV|id={{ProQuest|1014526329}} }}</ref><ref name="Birm700530">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebook-13-g/136777367/|date=May 30, 1970|page=Week-Ender 1|title=TV notebook: 13 going all-NBC and 42 to all-CBS|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219011808/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-notebook-13-g/136777367/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Likewise, WCFT and WHMA-TV became full-time CBS affiliates.<ref name="Anni700324">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-joins-cbs-network/136947546/|date=March 24, 1970|page=10|title=WHMA Joins CBS Network|newspaper=The Anniston Star|location=Anniston, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219011806/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-whma-joins-cbs-network/136947546/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --><ref>{{Cite news|title=CBS-TV's New Links|work=Variety|id={{ProQuest|962913177}}|date=August 18, 1971|page=31}}</ref>

In 1971, WBMG moved into larger studios on Red Mountain.<ref name="Birm711129">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmc-tv-sic-ope/137049570/|date=November 29, 1971|page=10|title=WBMC-TV [sic] opens new facility|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219023345/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmc-tv-sic-ope/137049570/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon -->

==Park Broadcasting ownership==
Park Broadcasting, the radio and television enterprise of [[Roy H. Park]], acquired WBMG in 1973, bringing its station group up to the then-limit of seven outlets.<ref name="Birm721018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-york-firm-to/136777442/|date=October 18, 1972|page=1|title=New York firm to buy WBMG-tv for $5.5 million|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --><ref name="Birm730615">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-tv-transfer/136777464/|date=June 15, 1973|page=A9|title=WBMG-tv transfer approved|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 17, 2023|archive-date=December 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217055239/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-tv-transfer/136777464/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Park continued to make capital investments in channel 42 in spite of its reduced coverage area, including new video tape equipment, [[electronic news gathering]], and a new antenna. However, these changes did not fully help WBMG, whose signal could not fully penetrate the hilly Central Alabama terrain.{{r|BirmN770617}}

The station produced a number of local programs; these included a public affairs series (''Spectrum''), live studio wrestling,<ref name="Birm710426">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-big-bad-john-to-t/137047497/|date=April 26, 1971|page=10|title=Big Bad John to team with Young Atlas|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015434/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-big-bad-john-to-t/137047497/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> a weekly church service, and annual coverage of Birmingham's Veterans Day parade.{{r|BirmN770617}} In the late 1960s and 1970s, channel 42 offered ''Sgt. Jack'', a children's show hosted by Birmingham disc jockey Neal Miller.<ref name="Birm020706">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-sgt-jack-star/137046366/|date=July 6, 2002|pages=11A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-miller-also-know/137046385/ 12A]|title='Sgt. Jack' star dies at hospital|newspaper=The Birmingham News|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015436/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-sgt-jack-star/137046366/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Its studios were the home to the first programs produced by [[Mother Angelica]], founder of the [[Eternal Word Television Network]] (EWTN); she severed her relationship with WBMG in 1981 when it aired a CBS miniseries based on the 1972 novel ''[[The Word (novel)|The Word]]'', which she believed presented Jesus as a fake.<ref name="Birm860809">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-mother-angelicaf/137048993/|date=August 9, 1986|page=A3|title=Mother Angelica: Five years ago, she put aside the peanuts and started a successful television network|first=Carol Ann|last=Campbell|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219021839/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-mother-angelicaf/137048993/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat -->

While WBMG debuted a local newscast when it signed on in 1965,{{r|Birm651016}} its news efforts were generally minimal. One of its first employees was Bill Bolen, who had worked at WSGN radio and later left to spend 41 years at WBRC; he recalled channel 42 as "primitive".<ref>{{Cite news|page=2-A|title=Fox 6 luminary Bill Bolen to retire|first=Bob|last=Carlton|work=The Birmingham News|date=January 17, 2010}}</ref> By 1977, the news staff numbered four people, while WBRC and WAPI-TV each had 20 or more employees in their news departments.<ref name="BirmN770617">{{Cite news|page=Punch 6|work=The Birmingham News|date=June 17, 1977|first=Julie|last=Held|title=Third station in three-station town acts like No. 1}}</ref> Few people watched. In 1981, WBMG's 6{{nbsp}}p.m. newscast attracted six percent of the audience at that hour to 49 percent for WBRC and 33 percent for the recently renamed WVTM-TV, and the station had no newscast at 10{{nbsp}}p.m. General manager Hoyle Broome touted the straightforward format of his newscast as an alternative.<ref name="Birm810403">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wvtm-takes-late-l/136777933/|date=April 3, 1981|page=Kudzu 6|first=Thomas|last=Hargrove|title=WVTM takes late lead, but WBRC early king|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015412/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wvtm-takes-late-l/136777933/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> The newscast, known as ''Metro News'', was then moved to 5{{nbsp}}p.m. in hopes of attracting an audience as the first newscast of the evening; WVTM dashed those hopes by debuting a 5{{nbsp}}p.m. newscast of its own, prompting station officials to reevaluate.<ref name="Birm820227">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-42-consid/100515762/|date=February 27, 1982|page=A5|title=Channel 42 considers different news format|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 19, 2023|archive-date=December 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015349/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-42-consid/100515762/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> In March 1982, the newscast was replaced with short news updates during daytime and evening programming, and the news staff was reduced from five employees to two.<ref>{{Cite news|page=21D|work=The Birmingham News|first=Garland|last=Reeves|date=March 12, 1982|title=WBMG changes its news format|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/wbmg-changes-its-news-format/wanlmtycjkhisyncflklprdorkaiqwld_ip-10-166-46-91_1711093495800}}</ref> The station did not air local newscasts for the next several years;<ref name="Birm840518">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-network-programmi/136948221/|date=May 18, 1984|pages=Kudzu 4, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-television/136948229/ 5]|first=Sam|last=Hodges|title=Network programming takes beating in city: Advertising revenue calls the tune when decisions are|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220062659/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-network-programmi/136948221/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Park instead invested in a new, taller tower and higher-power transmitter facility for WBMG, which were activated in 1983 and 1984, respectively.<ref name="Birm840614">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-planning-to/136777980/|date=June 14, 1984|page=A8|title=WBMG planning to power up|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220062659/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-planning-to/136777980/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

===''Action News Birmingham''===
In late 1986, WBMG began readying a return to local news production, prompting Tuscaloosa-based [[WDBB]] to cancel its low-rated 9{{nbsp}}p.m. local newscast.<ref name="Birm860910">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-17-dumps/99827924/|date=September 10, 1986|page=E6|first=Grace|last=Fiorella Chandler|title=Channel 17 dumps 9 o'clock newscast: Channel 42 to resume local news operation at end of October|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220062700/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-17-dumps/99827924/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Park invested $1.5 million to start ''WBMG Action News Birmingham'', which debuted on January 12, 1987. The news department, with weeknight 5 and 10{{nbsp}}p.m. newscasts as well as weekend editions, focused on news in the five-county Birmingham metro area, rather than the much larger news coverage areas of WBRC and WVTM; the goal was not to be number one but merely to occupy a niche.<ref name="Birm861223">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-readies-re-e/100515825/|date=December 23, 1986|page=C6|first=Siona|last=Carpenter|title=WBMG readies re-entry into newscast atmosphere|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue --> News director Frank Morock believed the expanding focuses of the other stations left Birmingham and its environs relatively underserved.<ref name="Birm870109">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-prepares-to/136777533/|date=January 9, 1987|page=Kudzu 6|first=Mitch|last=Mendelson|title=WBMG prepares to sign on with new news program|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063217/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-prepares-to/136777533/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> News viewership for ''Action News Birmingham'' hovered between five and nine percent of the audience, a far cry from the shares of 30 percent or above commanded by each of WBRC and WVTM.<ref name="Birm870620">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-television-statio/100515912/|date=June 20, 1987|page=B8|first=Susan|last=Keith|title=Television stations tote up wins, losses|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063217/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-television-statio/100515912/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The newscasts were losing in the ratings to syndicated reruns on Birmingham's [[independent station]], [[WTTO]], though station management contended and a coincidental telephone survey found that viewership was higher than reflected in ratings diaries.<ref name="Birm890321">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-13-rated/136948272/|date=March 21, 1989|page=C1|first=Michaelle|last=Chapman|title=Channel 13 rated the newscast king of Red Mountain, for now|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063218/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-channel-13-rated/136948272/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

John Herrod left [[KTXS-TV]] in [[Sweetwater, Texas]], to become WBMG's news director in 1990. He sought to give the station a defined news image by airing longer, more in-depth stories.<ref name="Birm900627">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-brings-on-ne/100516043/|date=June 27, 1990|page=D10|first=Cherry|last=Rich|title=WBMG brings on new golden boy: Channel 42 news director has plans to pull station from cellar|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063221/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-brings-on-ne/100516043/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Channel 42 also became known for aggressive reporting. When WBRC anchor Janet Hall became a spokeswoman for the [[Birmingham Zoo]], WBMG produced a news special openly asking whether WBRC could be considered a reliable source for reporting on the troubled facility.<ref name="Birm921001">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-zoo-pact-has-tv-s/136778090/|date=October 1, 1992|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv/136778107/ C3]|first=Elaine|last=Witt|title=Zoo pact has TV stations snapping|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063221/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-zoo-pact-has-tv-s/136778090/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Doors being slammed in WBMG reporters' faces became a common sight on channel 42's newscasts, and the station did a series of reports on why Birmingham city officials were not talking to WBMG.<ref name="Birm940726">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-the-bad-news-ai/136948323/|date=July 26, 1994|pages=D1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-herrod/136948331/ D4]|title=The 'bad' news airs: John Herrod: An underdog with attitude|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063220/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-the-bad-news-ai/136948323/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> Even though WBMG's news audience consisted of one to two percent of the market,<ref name="Birm930701">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbrc-6-evening-ne/100516353/|date=July 1, 1993|page=C2|first=Gail|last=Short|title=WBRC-6 evening news beats WVTM-13 in ratings|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063222/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbrc-6-evening-ne/100516353/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> a study by researchers at the [[University of Alabama at Birmingham]] found that WBMG's ''Action News'' aired more local news stories and longer stories than its higher-rated competitors in one week in April 1994, concluding, "Channel 42 was guilty of some editorializing but clearly offered more substance than the other two stations."<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Birmingham News|date=March 31, 1995|first=Alec|last=Harvey|page=3F|title=Researchers claim Channel 42 offers more local coverage}}</ref>

===Shifting affiliations elsewhere, shifting ownership at Park===
In 1994, Park Communications{{efn|Park Broadcasting renamed itself by 1983.<ref name="Rich830928">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-park-communicati/150121898/|date=September 28, 1983|page=A-9|agency=UPI|title=Park Communications names Byrd to board|newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch|location=Richmond, Virginia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 26, 2024}}</ref><!-- Wed -->}} sold itself to Donald R. Tomlin and Gary B. Knapp in a deal backed by the [[Retirement Systems of Alabama]] pension fund.<ref name="Birm941027">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-rsa-backs-big-tv/136778229/|date=October 27, 1994|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg/136778239/ A9]|first=David|last=Rynecki|title=RSA backs big TV deal: WBMG parent firm is sold|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063224/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-rsa-backs-big-tv/136778229/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The sale of Park led to the end of Herrod's ''Action News'' format and combative approach in favor of a more mainstream news presentation with the same amount of crime news as other local stations. A new news director was hired in late 1995; the station initiated new weekend, morning, and 5{{nbsp}}p.m. newscasts in 1996; and the newsroom was expanded from {{convert|1500|ft2|m2}} to {{convert|3900|ft2|m2}}.<ref name="Birm960603">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-mainstreams/136948370/|date=June 3, 1996|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg/136948376/ B4]|first=Nick|last=Patterson|title=WBMG mainstreams news: Facilities, coverage expanding|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063727/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-mainstreams/136948370/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon -->

Meanwhile, a major realignment of television station affiliations and ownership was brewing in the market. In May 1994, [[New World Communications]] agreed to affiliate 12 stations with [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], including ABC affiliate WBRC-TV, which it had just agreed to buy from [[Citicasters]]. At the same time, New World agreed to buy Argyle Television, owner of NBC affiliate WVTM-TV; to resolve the conflict, WBRC-TV was sold directly to the Fox network. This deal set off a slow-motion affiliation shuffle in Birmingham as ABC sought a replacement affiliate.<ref name="Birm950920">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-foxs-hunting-cha/99837474/|date=September 20, 1995|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-fox/99837531/ A8]|first=Jed|last=Graham|title=Fox's hunting changes plans|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063728/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-foxs-hunting-cha/99837474/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> ABC negotiated with WBMG and was even reported to be near a deal.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Birmingham Business Journal|page=1|first=Michael|last=Tomberlin|title=ABC poised to scramble local TV affiliations|date=August 14, 1995}}</ref> Instead, Park Communications signed a long-term renewal with CBS, owing to its upcoming deal to carry [[Southeastern Conference]] college sports and the company's lengthy relationship with the network.<ref name="Birm951012">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-42-will-stay/136778266/|date=October 12, 1995|page=B4|first=Jed|last=Graham|title=WBMG-42 will stay an affiliate of CBS|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063730/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg-42-will-stay/136778266/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

As a replacement, ABC persuaded the CBS affiliates in Tuscaloosa and Anniston, WCFT and WJSU, to switch affiliations. They would act as full-power satellites of a low-power station in Birmingham, [[WBMA-LD|WBMA-LP]], with a new combined news operation in Birmingham. The new station, which debuted in September 1996 under the moniker "ABC 33/40", featured veteran Alabama news personalities including WBRC's [[James Spann]] and Brenda Ladun,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joynt |first=Steve |date=July 12, 1996 |title=Spann gets hot; TV future cloudy |pages=B1–[https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-spann-gets-hot-t/124162320/ B2] |work=Birmingham Post-Herald |location=Birmingham, Alabama |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-spann-gets-hot-t/124162286/ |access-date=May 6, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063731/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-spann-gets-hot-t/124162286/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Joynt |first=Steve |date=December 28, 1996 |title=Year of visions, sights: The top 10 events had us cheering or groaning |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-year-of-visions/124163028/ C1], C3 |work=Birmingham Post-Herald |location=Birmingham, Alabama |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-year-of-visions/124163051/ |access-date=May 6, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=December 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063732/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-year-of-visions/124163051/ |url-status=live }}</ref> later poaching anchor Pam Huff from WVTM. The newscasts on WBMA immediately rose to third place in the Birmingham ratings, pushing channel 42 to fourth place.<ref name="Birm970808">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-switching-channel/99840537/|date=August 8, 1997|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv/99840519/ A9]|title=Switching channels: Changes still have television market in turmoil|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063732/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-switching-channel/99840537/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> [[Nielsen Media Research]], which measures television ratings, proceeded to announce that it would fold Tuscaloosa and Anniston into the Birmingham [[Designated Market Area]] as a result of their local stations being merged with WBMA; in addition, it would introduce meters instead of diaries to the enlarged market.<ref>{{Cite news|pages=14–15|title=Nielsen mulling expansion of market|work=Mediaweek|first=Claude|last=Brodesser|date=September 1, 1997|id={{ProQuest|213626577}} }}</ref><ref name="em121597">{{Cite magazine|title=Birmingham's WBMG-TV cleans house with news staff| first=Jon|last=Lafayette|periodical=[[Electronic Media]]|page=2|date=December 18, 1997|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1997-12-18_16_50/mode/2up?q=WBMG}}</ref>

=="It's About Time": Media General acquisition and relaunch as WIAT==
===New ownership and management===
[[Media General]], a broadcaster and publisher based in [[Richmond, Virginia]], announced it would purchase Park Communications in July 1996, creating a company focused on media holdings in the Southeast.<ref name="Birm960723">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-media-general-pla/136778293/|date=July 23, 1996|page=F1|first=Jed|last=Graham|title=Media General plans to buy WBMG-42|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063732/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-media-general-pla/136778293/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> The company assumed ownership of WBMG in January 1997 and fired 17-year general manager Hoyle Broome in March. His replacement was Eric Land, who arrived from [[WGRZ]] in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref name="Birm970326">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-broom-sweeps/98923014/|date=March 26, 1997|page=B3|first=Amy|last=Hetzner|title=New broom sweeps GM at WBMG|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220063732/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-broom-sweeps/98923014/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Among Land's first moves was simulcasting WBMG's newscasts on [[WPXH-TV|WNAL]] in [[Gadsden, Alabama|Gadsden]], which had replaced WJSU as the CBS affiliate in the eastern portion of the state.<ref name="Anni970405">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-viewers-to-get-another/36882452/|date=April 5, 1997|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-viewers-to-get-to-choo/99837929/ 2A]|first=Richard|last=Coe|title=Viewers to get another choice of local news|newspaper=The Anniston Star|location=Anniston, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The station also ended its longtime relationship with UAB athletics; Broome, a noted booster, was known for preempting CBS prime time programming for sports.<ref name="Birm970522">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-uab-tells-wbmg-by/136778378/|date=May 22, 1997|page=A1|first=Cary|last=Estes|title=UAB tells WBMG bye: 16-year marriage ends|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

Land's priority was to fix the news department; he had previously overseen major overhauls at WGRZ and at [[WEYI-TV]] in [[Saginaw, Michigan]]. The station's newscasts had sunk below ''The Andy Griffith Show'' on WTTO and ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' on [[WABM]] in the ratings,<ref name="Birm970523">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-newscasters-l/100537187/|date=May 23, 1997|pages=B8, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv/100537165/ B4]|first=Wade|last=Kwon|title=New newscasters litter TV landscape|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri -->{{r|Birm970808}} and they were so poor that not even the anchors' parents watched, Land later recalled.<ref name="BC121001">{{Cite web |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=October 1, 2012 |title=High-Flying Gannett Exec Lands on His Feet |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/high-flying-gannett-exec-lands-his-feet-113604 |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Broadcasting Cable |language=en |archive-date=August 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813073824/https://www.nexttv.com/news/high-flying-gannett-exec-lands-his-feet-113604 |url-status=live }}</ref> Speculation of a major shakeup was fed by a major research project as well as the resignations of several senior managers over the course of 1997.<ref name="Birm971111">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-another-manager-a/98923196/|date=November 11, 1997|page=D1|first=Patrick|last=Rupinski|title=Another manager at WBMG-42 leaves|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064300/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-another-manager-a/98923196/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

[[File:WIAT countdown clock.png|right|thumb|upright=1|alt=A television screenshot. On a black screen, from top: 1. The words IT'S COMING IN in a bold, white sans serif. 2. Inside a white box, a countdown showing days, hours, minutes and seconds. 3. In the lower right, a blue 3D circle with red elements suggesting the dial faces on a clock and, on top in white, the words "It's about time."|The countdown clock that WBMG aired instead of local news from January 1 to February 5, 1998]]

On December 11, 1997, WBMG fired all of its on-air anchors and reporters as well as other news staffers, a total of 21 people, effective December 31. Land declared, "We just cannot continue to offer a traditional newscast. That's already being done in this market." The station's employees had expected Land to make significant changes. While lead weeknight anchorman Chris Schauble told the ''[[Birmingham Post-Herald]]'' that he had known as early as Thanksgiving that he was going to be fired, many other staffers did not know exactly what would take place until the firings were announced.{{r|ajr-birminghamtotheworld}}<ref name="Birm971212">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-snowy-picture-for/98923222/|date=December 12, 1997|pages=C10, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg/98923337/ C8]|first=Patrick|last=Rupinski|title=Snowy picture for WBMG-42: Struggling station fires roster of newscasters|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064301/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-snowy-picture-for/98923222/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref>{{cite news |last=Archibald |first=John |title=Channel 42 fires all on-air staff |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-channel-42-fires-all/176586559/ |access-date=July 13, 2025 |newspaper=The Birmingham News |date=December 12, 1997 |location=Birmingham, Alabama |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-channel-42/176586696/ 11A] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A day before the final newscast, on December 31, Land announced that it would be replaced with a clock counting down to the debut of a new newscast on February 5, coinciding with the start of the [[1998 Winter Olympics]], which aired on CBS; he joked, "More people will probably watch the clock than watched the news broadcast anyway."<ref>{{cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Russell |title=Time for change: Countdown clock subs for 42 news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-time-for-change-cou/176582950/ |access-date=July 13, 2025 |newspaper=The Birmingham News |date=December 31, 1997 |location=Birmingham, Alabama |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-wbmg/176586315/ 7A] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The story attracted attention well beyond Birmingham; Mark Lorando in the New Orleans ''[[Times-Picayune]]'' compared Land's mass firing to [[The Last Show (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)|the series finale]] of ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'', in which nearly every news staffer was fired.<ref name="Time980107">{{Cite news|work=The Times-Picayune|title=Tuning into the future? A Birmingham station pulls the plug on its entire news department|page=E1|date=January 7, 1998}}</ref> During this time, the news department was reconstructed with input from focus groups and market research.<ref name="ajr-birminghamtotheworld">{{cite web|title=From Birmingham to the World—in a Minute|url=http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=2317|first1=Patrick|last1=Rogers|first2=Debra|last2=Durocher|periodical=[[American Journalism Review]]|publisher=[[Philip Merrill College of Journalism]]|date=April 1998|access-date=December 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222114746/http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=2317|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The newsroom also kept functioning; the station sent coverage of the January 29 bombing of the New Woman All Women Clinic in Birmingham's Southside neighborhood by [[Eric Rudolph]] to [[CBS Newspath]], [[CNN]], and stations in neighboring markets, even though it was not airing a newscast.<ref name="em020998">{{cite news|title=Alabama CBS affiliate tries spartan newscast| first=Jon|last=Lafayette|periodical=Electronic Media|page=49|date=February 9, 1998|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1998-02-09_17_7/mode/2up?q=WBMG}}</ref>

===Launch of ''42 Daily News''===
{{Quote box
| quote = The reason we did [the call sign change] was because the perception of WBMG was so bad and the news produced was so bad. We had to make a clear break. ... That included changing the call letters.
| author = Micah Johnson, WIAT news manager<ref name="Birm980612">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-news-team-gets/137108790/|date=June 12, 1998|page=D1|first=Carrie|last=James|title=TV news team gets two new members|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064302/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-news-team-gets/137108790/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri -->
| align = right
| width = 220px
| salign = right
}}

On that date, at 5{{nbsp}}p.m., viewers saw Land push a plunger to blow up the WBMG logo before an audience of Birmingham community leaders.{{r|BC121001}} The station changed its call sign to WIAT,{{efn|While announced on February 5, the change was made in FCC databases on February 1.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=5360&Callsign=WIAT5360|title=Call sign history for WIAT|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|website=Consolidated Database System}}</ref>}} for It's About Time, the slogan of the station's new ''42 Daily News'' newscasts, which aired at 5 and 10{{nbsp}}p.m. The ''Daily News'' format eschewed on-camera reporters; stories were packaged into topical minute segments such as "Alabama Minute" and "Education Minute". The format earned comparisons to [[CNN Headline News]] from [[Keith Cate]], who came from [[WMAR-TV]] in [[Baltimore]] to serve as lead co-anchor, and an article in the ''Birmingham Post-Herald''.{{r|ajr-birminghamtotheworld}}<ref name="Birm980206">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-42-has-slick/98938959/|date=February 6, 1998|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-tv-wiat/98938984/ B2]|first=Darin|last=Powell|title=New 42 has slick, quick newscast|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064302/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-new-42-has-slick/98938959/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> One anchor occupied the news desk, while the other read stories from various places on the new set. The ''2-Minute Drill'' sportscast was provided by [[Paul Finebaum]], a ''Post-Herald'' columnist and radio show host on [[WERC (AM)|WERC]]; the sportscast in the 5{{nbsp}}p.m. newscast aired live on TV and radio.<ref name="Birm980131">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-post-herald-colum/98923431/|date=January 31, 1998|pages=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wbmg/98923473/ E2]|first=Steve|last=Joynt|title=Post-Herald columnist Finebaum adds WBMG anchor post to duties|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064303/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-post-herald-colum/98923431/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The other weeknight news presenters, like Cate, came from out of the market: Sherri Jackson was hired from [[WSAZ-TV]] in [[Huntington, West Virginia]],<ref name="Birm971230">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-anchorwoman-sher/98938813/|date=December 30, 1997|page=D1|first=Elizabeth|last=Wine|title=Anchorwoman, Sherri Jackson joins WBMG-42|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064304/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-anchorwoman-sher/98938813/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> while Declan Cannon had worked at [[The Weather Channel]]. [[Al Primo]], who created the [[Eyewitness News]] format at [[KYW-TV]] in [[Philadelphia]] in 1965, delivered sharp criticism of what he felt was "a product that was generated solely by research and implemented by people who don't know anything about the news business" and "the most disjointed presentation [of a newscast] that I have ever seen in my life".<ref name="em021698">{{Cite magazine|title=News guru whacks WIAT-TV| first=Jon|last=Lafayette|periodical=Electronic Media|pages=32–33|date=February 16, 1998|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1998-02-16_17_8/page/n31/mode/2up?q=WBMG}}</ref> Land responded to Primo's scathing remarks by comparing the format to the ''[[Al Schottelkotte]] News'', a longtime staple of [[WCPO-TV]] in [[Cincinnati]] from the 1960s until 1990, for which he had been a reporter: "[The Al Schottelkotte News] was very nontraditional, but jam-packed with information."<ref name="em021698"/>

''42 Daily News'' represented an immediate ratings improvement over its predecessor; the 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast, in particular, had increased from a paltry 3% share in February 1997 to a 7% share in February 1998, partly due to having the Winter Olympics as a lead-in.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Birmingham newscast gains from re-start| first=Jon|last=Lafayette|periodical=Electronic Media|page=4|date=April 6, 1998|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1998-04-06_17_15?q=WBMG}}</ref> This was not enough to overtake any competitors, but it was higher than the last newscasts as WBMG.<ref name="Birm980423">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-some-good-news-fo/98923604/|date=April 23, 1998|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-ratings/137104839/ A3]|first=Darin|last=Powell|title=Some good news for fledgling WIAT-42|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064343/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-some-good-news-fo/98923604/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Ratings also increased once Birmingham became a metered market, moving to 3 and 4 shares on most nights early in the fall of 1998,<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=CBS affiliate's ratings grow by meters| first=Jon|last=Lafayette|periodical=Electronic Media|pages=3–4|date=November 9, 1998|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1998-11-09_17_46?q=WBMG}}</ref> and continued their steady climb in early 1999.<ref name="Birm990311">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiats-redesigned/98923694/|date=March 11, 1999|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiat/98923725/ A6]|first=Darin|last=Powell|title=WIAT's redesigned news attracts viewers|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064304/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiats-redesigned/98923694/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

Some of the firings resulted in legal action against channel 42. Seven Black former employees sued the station for racial discrimination in 1999, alleging they had been fired for their race and that White employees had been treated better;<ref>{{cite news|first1=Michael|last1=Tomberlin|first2=Peggy|last2=Sanford|title=Ex-workers accuse WIAT of race bias|pages=1C, 6C|work=The Birmingham News|date=May 21, 1999}}</ref> Media General prevailed in multiple state and federal cases.<ref>{{Cite news|page=1D|first=Michael|last=Tomberlin|work=The Birmingham News|date=June 22, 2001|title=WIAT ex-employees lose racial bias suit}}</ref> [[Doug Bell (sportscaster)|Doug Bell]], the station's sports director since 1988,<ref name="Birm970703">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-staying-on-course/100516495/|date=July 3, 1997|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-bell/100516470/ B2]|first=Tim|last=Stephens|title=Staying on course: WBMG's Bell aims at national exposure|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064305/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-staying-on-course/100516495/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> and former general manager Broome each sued Media General for breach of contract.<ref>{{cite news|title=Legal woes plague CBS42|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/1999/04/12/story3.html|first=Gilbert|last=Nicholson|newspaper=[[Birmingham Business Journal]]|date=April 12, 1999|access-date=December 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040617200220/http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/1999/04/12/story3.html|archive-date=June 17, 2004|url-status=live}}</ref>

The WIAT relaunch did not include a morning newscast, which WBMG had debuted prior to 1997. The station did not begin airing a local morning show until 2000, when it began simulcasting an hour of the morning show hosted by Russ and Dee Fine on WYDE radio.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Birmingham News|page=1D|title=WIAT to put Fines on tube: Morning show to air from radio studio|date=September 21, 2000}}</ref> The station added a 6{{nbsp}}p.m. evening newscast the next year.<ref name="Birm010901">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-vying-for-viewers/136948593/|date=September 1, 2001|page=C1|first=Robin|last=Clemow|title=Vying for viewers: After '96 switch, TV market more competitive than ever|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064305/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-vying-for-viewers/136948593/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Land departed in 2001 when Media General tapped him to run [[WFLA-TV]] in [[Tampa, Florida]], the company's flagship television property; he reunited with Cate, who had joined the WFLA news staff the year before.<ref name="Tamp010712">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-wfla-channel-8-welco/137107446/|date=July 12, 2001|page=Business and Finance 2|first=Walt|last=Belcher|title=WFLA, Channel 8, welcomes new general manager|newspaper=The Tampa Tribune|location=Tampa, Florida|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064306/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-wfla-channel-8-welco/137107446/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Finebaum left in May 2002 after a run of more than four years with channel 42;<ref>{{cite news|page=7-D|first=Michael|last=Tomberlin|title=Finebaum gives up sports gig on WIAT|date=April 10, 2002|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> WIAT began broadcasting a digital signal, including high-definition programming, on November 20 of that year.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=WIAT-DT|title=Television & Cable Factbook|date=2006|page=A-26}}</ref>

Ratings growth leveled off after several years of the ''42 Daily News'' format, and viewing figures remained flat between 2000 and 2003. While the reporter-less format cost the station less—the WIAT news department had 25 employees in 2003, compared to 70 at WBRC—it was not prospering against more traditional news competition and with a lack of recognizable faces.<ref name="Birm030510">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiat-42-still-lag/136948600/|date=May 10, 2003|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiat/136948607/ C3]|title=WIAT-42 still lags in viewers: Station's fast-paced format lacks familiar personalities|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064307/https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-wiat-42-still-lag/136948600/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat -->

Beginning in 2005, WIAT produced a 9{{nbsp}}p.m. newscast for WTTO, at that time the market's affiliate of [[The WB]]. The new WIAT production replaced WTTO's [[News Central (American TV program)|News Central]] hybrid newscast and required the expansion of channel 42's news staff.<ref>{{Cite news|title=CBS 42 takes over WB 21's newscast|first=Bob|last=Carlton|work=The Birmingham News|date=September 2, 2005|page=4C}}</ref>

==Since 2006==
===Sale to New Vision Television===
In 2006, Media General announced it would acquire a package of four smaller-market NBC affiliates owned by the NBC network, which included WVTM. Media General opted to keep WVTM because its signal reached more households;<ref>{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|page=1B|title=NBC 13 bought; CBS 42 for sale: Media General deal covers other stations|date=April 7, 2006|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> it also was third in the market in revenue compared to WIAT in fourth.<ref name="BC070622">{{Cite news|first=Michael|last=Malone|work=Broadcasting & Cable|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/sweet-home-alabama-83068|date=June 22, 2007|title=Sweet Home Alabama|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=September 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922015151/https://www.nexttv.com/news/sweet-home-alabama-83068|url-status=live}}</ref> The company put four of its stations up for the sale, including WIAT, to finance the purchase and meet ownership limits in the Birmingham market.<ref>{{cite news|title=Media General to Buy NBC Affiliates for $600 Million|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/media-general-to-buy-nbc-affiliates-for-600-million/?_r=0|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911205221/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/media-general-to-buy-nbc-affiliates-for-600-million/?_r=0|archive-date=September 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Media General buying WVTM-NBC13, selling WIAT-CBS|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/04/03/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl|newspaper=Birmingham Business Journal|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912055527/https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/04/03/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl|archive-date=September 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> WIAT and [[KIMT]] in [[Mason City, Iowa]], were sold to Atlanta-based [[New Vision Television]] in a deal announced in August and completed in October 2006.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Media General Completes Sale of Iowa, Alabama Stations to New Vision|url=http://www.media-general.com/press/2006/oct12_Iowa_Ala.html|website=Media General|date=June 26, 2006|access-date=September 10, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910091927/http://www.media-general.com/press/2006/oct12_Iowa_Ala.html|archive-date=September 10, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the sale, WIAT cemented itself as the number-three station in ratings.{{r|BC070622}} It debuted a full-fledged morning newscast in September 2007,<ref>{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting & Cable|title=Station Cooperation|first=Michael|last=Malone|date=February 2, 2009|id={{ProQuest|225345712}} }}</ref> and it began attracting noted news personalities under general manager Bill Ballard, who ran the station from 2003 to 2013.{{r|Birm131014}} Herb Winches, a veteran Birmingham sportscaster for WBRC and WVTM, worked at channel 42 from 2007 to 2008<ref>{{cite news|date=September 7, 2008|first=Jimmy|last=DeButts|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2008/09/08/story9.html|title=Sportscaster Winches sues Channel 42 over contract|work=Birmingham Business Journal|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529155943/http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2008/09/08/story9.html|url-status=live}}</ref> before being replaced by Jim Dunaway, a 15-year veteran of WVTM and sports talk radio host.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 11, 2015|title=Birmingham sportscaster Jim Dunaway moves to the news desk at CBS 42|first=Bob|last=Carlton|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> The station also hired other longtime news presenters in Birmingham, including Ken Lass, Mark Prater, and David Neal.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 30, 2008|title=Weatherman David Neal returns to TV on CBS 42|first=Jimmy|last=DeButts|work=Birmingham Business Journal}}</ref><ref name="Birm131014">{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|date=October 14, 2013|title=CBS 42 executive Bill Ballard is out after station's owner elects not to renew his contract |work=The Birmingham News}}</ref>

WIAT shut down its analog signal, over [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 42, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30, using [[virtual channel]] 42.<ref>{{cite web|title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=March 24, 2012|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150520010356/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|archive-date=May 20, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===LIN, Media General, and Nexstar ownership===
On May 7, 2012, [[LIN Media]] announced that it would purchase the New Vision Television stations, including WIAT, for $330.4 million and the assumption of $12 million in New Vision corporate debt.<ref>{{cite web|title=LIN Acquiring New Vision Stations for $330 Million|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/484100-LIN_Acquiring_New_Vision_Stations_for_330_Million.php|first=Michael|last=Malone|periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=May 7, 2012|access-date=May 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002174205/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/484100-LIN_Acquiring_New_Vision_Stations_for_330_Million.php|archive-date=October 2, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> LIN was acquired two years later by Media General, which opted to keep WIAT and divest WVTM, along with [[WJCL (TV)|WJCL]] in [[Savannah, Georgia]], to [[Hearst Television]].<ref name=tvnc-saletohearst>{{cite web|title=Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78615/media-general-lin-sell-stations-in-5-markets|website=TVNewsCheck|date=August 20, 2014|access-date=August 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821105448/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78615/media-general-lin-sell-stations-in-5-markets|archive-date=August 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=b&c-saletohearst>{{cite web|title=Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/media-general-lin-divest-stations-five-markets/133323|first=Michael|last= Malone|periodical=Broadcasting & Cable|date=August 20, 2014|access-date=August 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821043302/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/media-general-lin-divest-stations-five-markets/133323|archive-date=August 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media|url=http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2014/dec19_14_merger.html|publisher=[[Media General]]|date=December 19, 2014|access-date=December 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219194453/http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2014/dec19_14_merger.html|archive-date=December 19, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> After purchasing LIN, Media General initially agreed to merge with the [[Meredith Corporation]]<ref>{{cite web|title=TV Station Mega Merger: Media General Sets $2.4 Billion Acquisition of Meredith Corp.|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|first=Cynthia|last=Littleton|periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=September 8, 2015|access-date=September 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909115306/http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|archive-date=September 9, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> but faced a shareholder revolt in the wake of an unsolicited offer from [[Nexstar Broadcasting Group]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Meredith, Media General stand by deal despite report|url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2015/10/07/report-meredith-media-general-deal-jeopardy/73510926/|first=Matthew|last=Patane|newspaper=[[The Des Moines Register]]|date=October 8, 2015|access-date=October 8, 2015}}</ref> which agreed to acquire the company in 2016.<ref name=nyt-mgnex>{{cite news|title=Nexstar Clinches Deal to Acquire Media General|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/business/dealbook/nexstar-clinches-deal-to-acquire-media-general.html?_r=0|first=Leslie|last= Picker|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 27, 2016|access-date=January 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009125934/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/business/dealbook/nexstar-clinches-deal-to-acquire-media-general.html?_r=0|archive-date=October 9, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Luther Strange with Art Franklin on WIAT DBEldjlUwAA3tqf.jpg-large.jpg|thumb|[[Luther Strange]] being interviewed in May 2017 by WIAT's Art Franklin|alt=Refer to caption]]

Several of the veteran personalities hired under Ballard departed in the late 2010s. Prater abruptly left WIAT in April 2018,<ref>{{Cite news|first=Jeremy|last=Gray|title=Mark Prater, CBS 42 chief meteorologist, no longer with station|date=April 12, 2018|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> later pleading guilty to harassing a woman he had dated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Carol |date=August 30, 2019 |title=Meteorologist Mark Prater pleads guilty to misdemeanor |language=en |work=AL.com |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/08/former-birmingham-meteorologist-mark-prater-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor.html |access-date=December 20, 2023 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107233637/https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/08/former-birmingham-meteorologist-mark-prater-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Dunaway moved to the news desk in 2015, co-anchoring the evening newscasts with Jackson,<ref>{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|title=Birmingham sportscaster Jim Dunaway moves to the news desk at CBS 42 |date=May 11, 2015|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> before leaving in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 23, 2018|first=Jeremy|last=Gray|title=Jim Dunaway leaving CBS 42 anchor desk on Wednesday |work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> He was replaced by Jack Royer, one of the youngest evening anchors in America at the time.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Birmingham News|first=Anna|last=Beahm|date=July 9, 2018|url=https://www.al.com/news/2018/07/jack_royer_named_co-anchor_at.html|title=Jack Royer named co-anchor at CBS 42}}</ref> Royer moved to mornings in 2020 as part of a switch with Art Franklin,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/cbs-42-news-announces-new-anchor-team-for-evening-morning-newscasts.html|first=Shauna|last=Stuart|date=October 27, 2020|title=CBS 42 News announces new anchor team for evening, morning newscasts|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> who had been the first Black man to anchor an evening newscast in Birmingham at WBRC in the 1990s;<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 27, 2016|title=Veteran newscaster back in Birmingham|work=The Birmingham News|page=A2}}</ref> Franklin departed in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2022/03/16/franklin-to-pursue-business-interests.html|date=March 16, 2022|first=A.J.|last=O'Leary|title=Broadcast journalist, entrepreneur to leave CBS 42, focusing on new business venture|work=Birmingham Business Journal|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=March 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316224018/https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2022/03/16/franklin-to-pursue-business-interests.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notable former on-air staff==
* [[Catherine Callaway]] – anchor, 1989–1993 (known as Catherine Gee at WBMG)<ref name="Birm930527">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-moving-to-cnn/100516281/|date=May 27, 1993|page=B1|title=Moving to CNN|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu -->
* [[Dale Cardwell]] – investigative reporter<ref name="Birm880520">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-teen-killer-holds/137111248/|date=May 20, 1988|page=C1|title=Teen killer holds up his life as bad example to follow|newspaper=Birmingham Post-Herald|location=Birmingham, Alabama|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri -->
* [[Alex Chappell]] – sports reporter<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/02/22/alex-chappell-will-make-her-masn-debut-nats-on-field-reporter-saturday/|date=February 22, 2019|title=Alex Chappell will make her MASN debut as Nats' on-field reporter Saturday|first=Scott|last=Allen|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=March 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302003758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/02/22/alex-chappell-will-make-her-masn-debut-nats-on-field-reporter-saturday/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Hank Erwin]] – anchor, early 1980s<ref>{{Cite news|title=Henry To Serve New Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-JbAAAAIBAJ&dq=WBMG+Erwin&pg=PA8&article_id=2249,123354|page=8|work=The Daily Times|date=June 29, 1984|location=Portsmouth, Ohio|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220064841/https://books.google.com/books?id=d-JbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=WBMG+Erwin&article_id=2249,123354&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjswe3wpp2DAxVmI0QIHaqXDUcQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=WBMG%20Erwin&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Subchannels==
The WIAT transmitter is atop [[Red Mountain (Birmingham)|Red Mountain]].{{r|FCC-LMS-5360}} The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WIAT<ref>{{cite web|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WIAT|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WIAT#station|website=[[RabbitEars]]|access-date=December 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103352/http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WIAT#station|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 42.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=4|[[16:9]] || WIAT-HD || [[CBS]] 
|-
! scope = "row" | 42.2 
| rowspan=3|[[480i]] || Mystery || [[Ion Mystery]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 42.3 
| Grit || [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 42.4 
| IONPlus || [[Ion Plus]]
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6; border-top: 2px solid #003399;"
! scope = "row" | [[WTTO|21.1]] 
| 720p || 16:9 || CW || [[The CW]] ([[WTTO]])
|}
{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Birmingham TV}}
{{CBS Alabama}}
{{NXST TV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiat}}
[[Category:1965 establishments in Alabama]]
[[Category:CBS affiliates]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Plus affiliates]]
[[Category:Nexstar Media Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1965]]
[[Category:Television stations in Birmingham, Alabama|IAT]]