WSB-TV

WSB-TV
Brand	WSB-TV 2
City of License	Atlanta, Georgia
Market	Atlanta, Georgia
Channel	32.1 digital (ATSC1.0) 31.8 (ATSC 3.0) 2 virtual Subcarriers: 2.2 (Bounce TV) 2.3 (Dabl) 2.4 (Comet TV) 2.5 (Ion) Formerly: 8 analog (1948-51) 2 analog (1951-2009) 39 digital (1999-2019)
Network Affiliation	Current: ABC Formerly: NBC (1948–80), ABC (secondary,1948–51)
Founded	September 29, 1948
Company	Cox Media Group (Apollo Management Group subsidiary)
President
Current Popular Non-Network Shows	Live with Kelly and Ryan The Doctors Entertainment Tonight Tamron Hall

WSB-TV is the ABC affiliate for the Atlanta, Georgia TV market, broadcasting a digital signal on channel 32.1. It is mapped to virtual channel 2 (their original analog channel). Their subcarriers are Bounce TV on channel 32.2, Dabl on 32.3, Comet TV on 32.4, and Ion on 32.5. They are also transmitted in standard definition to a repeater on RF channel 20 in Gainesville and RF 17 in Newnan and Athens.

WSB-TV first signed on in 1948 on channel 8 as an NBC affiliate, with ABC as secondary. It was the television counterpart to its WSB radio (750 khz) and was Georgia's first station. In 1951, it was moved to channel 2 when its parent company, Cox, had its newspaper the Atlanta Journal merge with rival the Atlanta Constitution. The latter entity was to start up a new station on channel 2, WCON, but when the merger of the two newspapers took place, the start-up of WCON was voided. WCON would eventually see the light of the cathode tube as WLTV on channel 8--today it's WXIA/channel 11.

WSB logo up to 1969.

WSB-TV would drop the secondary ABC affiliation and be solely an NBC station. It would not clear all of NBC's shows--it blacked out the 12 Noon, 12:30 and 1:30 weekday NBC shows in favor of local news and early on a movie, then the Mike Douglas Show. Primetime shows would be pre-empted for either a movie or Atlanta Braves baseball at the drop of a hat. On Labor Day, 1980, WSB switched to the ABC network, with NBC going to outgoing ABC affiliate WXIA. During that summer prior to the switch, WSB aired ABC daytime shows in the morning and NBC shows in the afternoon. In turn, WXIA aired NBC shows in the morning and ABC shows in the afternoon.

WSB is rebroadcasting its digital signal on a repeater in Gainesville on channel 46; they have a construction permit in Newnan for channel 17 and an application pending in Rome for channel 14. All use virtual 2 via PSIP. They had an Athens repeater on RF channel 31 but the channel allocation was surrendered to WPCH/channel 17 which now broadcasts on RF 31.

WSB had Retro Television Network on its subcarrier from 2008 to the present. On June 1, 2011, WSB-DT2 replaced Retro with MeTV. Retro is now seen on low-powered WANN-LD on subcarrier channel 32. On March 27, 2017, Me-TV moved to WGTA-TV/channel 32 (which is simulcast on a subcarrier of WUPA/channel 69). Its spot on 2.2 was filled with Escape TV, moving from WUVG/channel 34. This was temporary as Bounce TV moved from WATL's 36.2 channel to WSB's 2.2.

As a result of the spectrum auction, WSB moved their physical digital transmissions in Atlanta proper from channel 39 to 32 on September 6, 2019, during phase 5 of the digital repack. Their repeater on 46 will not be affected. It would retain 2 as their display channel. Cox had been reportedly looking to consolidate their TV station holdings with other companies. Apollo Management Group LLC has acquired Cox's TV stations for around $3 billion. The union formed by Apollo and Cox operates out of Atlanta using Cox's existing staff and retains Cox Media Group as its brand.

On October 17, 2019, WSB installed a new transmitter atop its tower in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward district to accommodate the increase in wavelength coming from their digital relocation. Since September 6, they were transmitting at 309 kw of power; it increased back up to 869 kw after all connections were affected to the transmitter. WSB now transmits an ATSC 3.0 signal on the subchannel tier of lighthouse station host WPCH.

Digital programming

Virtual	Physical	Name	Programming
2.1	32.1 ATSC 1.0	WSB-DT	Main WSB (ABC, HD)
	31.8 ATSC 3.0
2.2	32.2	WSB-DT2	Bounce TV
2.3	32.3	WSB-DT3	Dabl
17.2	32.5	WPCH-DT2	Circle
2.4	32.6	WSB-DT4	Comet TV
2.5	32.7	WSB-DT5	Ion

External Links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSB
• Official website for WSB-TV