WXIA-TV

WXIA-TV
Brand	11 Alive
City of License	Atlanta, Georgia
Market	Atlanta, Georgia
Channel	Digital 10.3 ATSC 1.0 31.9 ATSC 3.0 Virtual 11 (Retransmitted on 25.6 digital/11.11 virtual) Subcarrier: 11.2 (Twist) 11.3 (Justice Network) 11.4 (Quest TV) Formerly: 8 analog (1951-53) 11 analog (1953-2009)
Network Affiliation	Current: NBC Formerly: ABC (1951-80)
Founded	September 30, 1951
Company	Tegna Media (Pacific & Southern Broadcasting licensee; duopoly with WATL.)
President
Current Popular Non-Network Shows	Wheel Of Fortune Jeopardy! 11 Alive News Tonight Kathy The Ellen DeGeneres Show

WXIA-TV is the callsign for 11 Alive, a station in Atlanta, Georgia which is owned by Tegna Media. It is the city's NBC affiliate. It broadcasts on digital channel 10, displayed as virtual 11. Its subcarriers are 11.2 which is the diginet Twist , 11.3 which is the Justice Network, and 11.4 which is Quest TV. It had NBC Universal Sports/World Championship Sports on 10.3 (virtual 11.3) but that has since vacated the channel to become a pay channel on cable and satellite. WXIA's sister station is WATL/channel 36, the city's My Network TV affiliate.

The station was first slated to sign on in 1951 on channel 2 as WCON, owned by the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. However, the Constitution merged with rival the Atlanta Journal, owned by Cox. As Cox already owned WSB/channel 8, this would have created a duopoly that was against FCC regulations. WSB was eventually moved to channel 2, and WCON was sold to Crosley Broadcasting. It was allocated to channel 8 and signed on as WLTV as an ABC affiliate. It was the last licensed station to sign on before the FCC imposed a freeze on new television licenses at the time. The station's offices and studios were right in back of WSB, so WLTV merely took over control of the channel 8 transmitter. In 1953, WLTV changed calls to WLWA and was moved to channel 11 due to interference issues with WROM, an NBC station broadcasting from Rome, Georgia on channel 9. (WROM would move to Chattanooga six years later and be that market's ABC affiliate, WTVC.) Channel 8 was re-allocated for educational purposes and would sign on in 1960 as such.

The station would change ownership and calls throughout the years, and for a brief time in the early 1960s as WAII, the station carried the Tonight Show from NBC (which WSB passed up) and some CBS daytime shows (passed up by regular CBS affiliate WAGA/channel 5). From 1969 to 1974, the station's call was WQXI, which apart from call letters was unrelated to WQXI radio, then a top 40 station. (WQXI was also the first call sign of channel 36 in 1954.)

Channel 11's logo during its WQXI days.

It became WXIA in 1974. In 1980, it became an NBC affiliate after ABC switched to WSB. WXIA was bought by Gannett (owner of other TV stations and newspapers such as USA Today), which also owns WATL/channel 36 in Atlanta. In June 2015, Gannett split off its broadcasting division and renamed it TEGNA (a scrambling of each letter used in the name Gannett). The WXIA/WATL duopoly operates from the same headquarters south of the Buckhead community. WATL will step in to carry NBC shows in case WXIA bumps them for special programming or news event interruptions. WXIA is also rebroadcast on the third subcarrier of WATL (digital 25.6, virtual 11.11) for viewers who cannot get WXIA adequately over the air.

Apollo, which now owns Cox (owners of WSB), made an $8 billion bid--or $22 a share--for Tegna through a partnership with Standard General. Allen Media, who owns the Weather Channel among others, is making a bid of $23 a share (or roughly $8.4 billion). The sale completed a monetary hurdle for Standard General/Apollo and the FCC would still allow the situation provided that Cox and Standard General are considered separate entities. On February 22, 2022, Standard General announced it is acquiring Tegna. The deal has been in flux because of issues regarding transmission fees, rate hikes and layoffs. The deal was terminated on May 22, 2023.

Station's logo from 1986.

Previous logo used since 1993.

Previous Call Signs

Call	From	To	Notes
WCON	-	-	Discarded prior to sign-on
WLTV	1951	1953	on channel 8 as ABC
WLWA	1953	1962	moved to ch. 11 in 1953
WAII	1962	1968
WQXI	1968	1973
WXIA	1973	present	switched to NBC 1980

Digital programming

Virtual	Physical	Name	Programming
11.1	10.3 ATSC 1.0	WXIA-DT	Main WXIA (NBC)
	31.9 ATSC 3.0
17.2	10.4	WPCH-DT3	Peachtree Sports
11.3	10.5	WXIA-DT3	True Crime
11.4	10.6	WXIA-DT4	The Nest
11.5	10.7	WXIA-DT5	Shop LC
11.7	10.9	WXIA-DT7	Get TV

External Links

• Official Site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WXIA-TV