There’s a mini-thread going on over at the Atlanta radio board that’s getting lost, so I thought I’d post it here.
I'm working on a documentary for GPB about the first decade of Georgia television...so if anyone has ideas of people I should interview, email me. [email protected]
> Art Sutton write: The Atlanta Constitution had WCON Radio and TV. When Cox bought the Constitution, WCON 550 went dark, WSB TV took Channel 2 of WCON-TV and Channel 8 which WSB TV had used when to Georgia Public TV.
You missed a step, Art!
When WSB moved down the dial to channel 2 in 1951, it opened up channel 8 for Atlanta's third TV station.
A group of local investors launched WLTV on channel 8 in 1951 and operated it for nearly two years. Low budget...not much local stuff (although they had a Saturday night "negro" variety program that attracted many prominent local advertisers).
1953: WROM AM Rome signs on their own TV station, WROM TV channel 9, which immediately begins causing interference with channel 8 for those who live halfway between Atlanta and Rome.
Around that time, WLTV was sold to Crosley (WLW/Cincinnati), channel 8 changed calls to WLW-A and moved up the dial to the vacant channel 11, eliminating interference with channel 9 (which later moves to Chattanooga, allowing Columbus's co-owned channel 28 to move to channel 9 there.)
Channel 8 gets reassigned as a non-commercial frequency and remains dark until the University of Georgia launches WGTV in 1960.
Prior to White Columns, WSB radio was on the top floor of the Biltmore Hotel and WSB TV was in a small brick building behind White Columns, with the WSB TV Channel 8 transmitter next door. For the move to channel 2, Cox built the south's tallest tower near what is now the Carter Center.
WLTV took up residence in a Quonset hut behind WSB TV. I haven't yet found the real story: my contacts from early WSB say it's a coincidence. Land there was cheap; there was no I-85, and engineers for the two stations were always swapping equipment and helping each other out.
I theorized that WLTV took over the channel 8 tower, and the location of the building made that very inexpensive to do. But WSB says no...and there's no one left from WLTV that I know of. If anyone out there does, I'd love to interview them.
I'm working on a documentary for GPB about the first decade of Georgia television...so if anyone has ideas of people I should interview, email me. [email protected]
> Art Sutton write: The Atlanta Constitution had WCON Radio and TV. When Cox bought the Constitution, WCON 550 went dark, WSB TV took Channel 2 of WCON-TV and Channel 8 which WSB TV had used when to Georgia Public TV.
You missed a step, Art!
When WSB moved down the dial to channel 2 in 1951, it opened up channel 8 for Atlanta's third TV station.
A group of local investors launched WLTV on channel 8 in 1951 and operated it for nearly two years. Low budget...not much local stuff (although they had a Saturday night "negro" variety program that attracted many prominent local advertisers).
1953: WROM AM Rome signs on their own TV station, WROM TV channel 9, which immediately begins causing interference with channel 8 for those who live halfway between Atlanta and Rome.
Around that time, WLTV was sold to Crosley (WLW/Cincinnati), channel 8 changed calls to WLW-A and moved up the dial to the vacant channel 11, eliminating interference with channel 9 (which later moves to Chattanooga, allowing Columbus's co-owned channel 28 to move to channel 9 there.)
Channel 8 gets reassigned as a non-commercial frequency and remains dark until the University of Georgia launches WGTV in 1960.
Prior to White Columns, WSB radio was on the top floor of the Biltmore Hotel and WSB TV was in a small brick building behind White Columns, with the WSB TV Channel 8 transmitter next door. For the move to channel 2, Cox built the south's tallest tower near what is now the Carter Center.
WLTV took up residence in a Quonset hut behind WSB TV. I haven't yet found the real story: my contacts from early WSB say it's a coincidence. Land there was cheap; there was no I-85, and engineers for the two stations were always swapping equipment and helping each other out.
I theorized that WLTV took over the channel 8 tower, and the location of the building made that very inexpensive to do. But WSB says no...and there's no one left from WLTV that I know of. If anyone out there does, I'd love to interview them.