WLTZ
WLTZ, virtual channel 38, is a dual NBC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Columbus, Georgia, United States and serving the Chattahoochee Valley of west-central Georgia and east-central Alabama. The station is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. WLTZ's studios and transmitter are located on NBC 38 Drive in the Vista Terrace section of East Columbus.
History
The station began broadcasting on October 29, 1970 as WYEA and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 38. It was branded on-air as "YAY-TV" and featured promotions showing a cheerleader with pompoms. WYEA was originally owned by Huntsville, Alabama broadcaster Charles Grisham and his company, Gala Broadcasting. It brought a full NBC affiliate to Columbus after a full decade in which NBC was mostly limited to off-hours clearances on CBS outlet WRBL and ABC affiliate WTVM.Like most UHF start-ups during this time, WYEA began with several handicaps. First, like almost all other television markets with one or two dominant VHF stations, the Columbus area had long-established preferences for either WRBL or WTVM. It also had to deal with established NBC outlets WSB-TV in Atlanta, WALB in Albany, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama's WSFA, all of which provided at least Grade B coverage of the outlying areas of the viewing area. In fact, Grisham attempted unsuccessfully to legally block WSFA's plans to build a new tower, fearing it would cut into WYEA's market share. A fire tore through the studios in 1975, requiring the top floor of the facility to be rebuilt.
Later in the 1970s, Grisham sold WYEA to locally based insurer AFLAC, making channel 38 the flagship of AFLAC's broadcast division. The outlet added the -TV suffix to its call sign on January 23, 1979. The station continued to be hamstrung as the third station in the market; years later, Leroy Paul, who presided over AFLAC's broadcast division, quipped, "We learned we could never become the city's news leader on a UHF station." In 1981, AFLAC sold the station to J. Curtis Lewis, owner of WJCL-TV-FM in Savannah, Georgia, WLTX and WNOK-FM in Columbia, South Carolina, and WSTZ-FM-AM in Jackson, Mississippi; on August 31 of that year, the station changed its calls to the current WLTZ and adopted the branding "Z 38". AFLAC would not re-enter Columbus television until it bought WTVM in 1989.
A 1995 attempt to sell WLTZ to Piney Creek Broadcasting, headed by Ruth Allen Ollison, fell through when a tax certificate program that allowed minorities to buy broadcast stations was ended by Congress; under this deal, Jack Pezold, owner of Fox affiliate WXTX, would have run WLTZ under a local marketing agreement. Lewis kept WLTZ until 2007, when it was sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting.
WLTZ has been digital-only since February 17, 2009.
Subchannels
WLTZ-DT2
WLTZ-DT2 is the CW+-affiliated second digital subchannel of WLTZ, broadcasting in 720p high definition on UHF channel 35.2. On cable, the subchannel is available on Charter Spectrum channel 6, WOW! channel 9, and Mediacom channel 12. A high-definition feed is offered on Mediacom digital channel 812 and WOW! digital channel 907.History
Origins of WLTZ-DT2 began on April 2, 2009 when it was announced The CW would discontinue its relationship with Pappas Telecasting-owned WLGA. After losing the network, that station became an independent and added syndicated television shows. It eventually left the air for good in June 2010. WLTZ gained The CW effective April 27 after SagamoreHill made a long term deal with the television network to carry it as a digital subchannel in several markets. In Summer 2012, it upgraded its broadcasting level to 720p high definition.WLTZ-DT3
WLTZ-DT3 is the primary Antenna TV and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliated third digital subchannel of WLTZ, broadcasting in standard definition on UHF channel 35.3.In addition to NBC and CW programming, WLTZ operates the Columbus market's Antenna TV affiliate on its DT3 subchannel. On weeknights, WLTZ-DT3 also carries shows from the MyNetworkTV programming service, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV schedule with the Antenna TV schedule.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
| 38.1 | 720p | WLTZ-DT | Main WLTZ programming / NBC | |
| 38.2 | 720p | WLTZ-D2 | The CW Ga-Bama | |
| 38.3 | 480i | WLTZ-D3 | Antenna TV & MyNetworkTV | |
| 38.4 | 480i | 16:9 | WLTZ-D4 | Court TV |
Programming
programming on WLTZ includes Steve, Family Feud, and The Wendy Williams Show among others. The former two shows are hosted by Steve Harvey himself.News operation
Main channel
The station's first attempt at a news department lasted from its inception in 1970 until 1993. Despite a credible effort, WLTZ's newscasts were never competitive enough against WTVM and WRBL to gain enough viewership and consistent ratings. Columbus broadcast veteran and former nightclub owner Al Fleming was once news anchor of these newscasts as was Richard Elliot. After shutting down its news operation, WLTZ offered syndicated shows with brief news updates taped in advance that ran for three minutes in length.In November 2007, the station brought back weeknight newscasts in partnership with the Independent News Network of Davenport, Iowa. Originally, the early evening shows aired in traditional half-hour formats while the late newscast was shown in an update version. The news anchor, meteorologist, and sports personality were based at INN's studios on Tremont Avenue in Davenport and other personnel would fill-in when needed. WLTZ maintained two reporters locally in Columbus that contributed local content to the shows which were taped in advance and then transmitted back to the station to air.
On May 29, 2008, WLTZ became the first station in Columbus and third in Georgia to upgrade local news to high definition. The change came after INN added HD capabilities to its centralized production studios. In a report in the Macon, Georgia Telegraph, it was announced the centralized news service filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on December 31, 2008 and would end all productions by January 9, 2009. However, a later report in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer on January 6 indicated this station's newscasts would not be affected by the bankruptcy filing.
In April 2010, WLTZ replaced the 7 O'Clock Report with Alabama First News. Unlike the other two weeknight broadcasts, this reformatted show now focused on Eastern Alabama because that state, which is in the Central Time Zone, is an hour behind Georgia. Therefore, this was the only local newscast catering to viewers on the Alabama side of the market airing at 6 Central. Viewers in those areas also have access to stations from Dothan and Montgomery offering local news geared for their time zone. The format change for WLTZ's show was also made in conjunction with sister station WNCF in Montgomery after that outlet expanded its news department and outsourcing agreement with the Independent News Network. Newscasts would regularly feature WLTZ's reporters covering Eastern Alabama since Montgomery and Columbus have market areas that border each other. After a change in WNCF's operational ownership took effect in July 2011, personnel from WLTZ were dropped from the Montgomery station.
At some point in Fall 2011, WLTZ's weeknight show at 7 was moved to 11 but retained the Alabama First News branding. NBC 38 News at 6 now solely focused on Columbus and other areas in Georgia while the late news offered coverage specifically from the greater Auburn, Phenix City, and Opelika areas in Alabama. Also at this point, there began to be local news and weather cut-ins on weekday mornings during Today from 7 until 11. Under this arrangement, the news anchor was normally live in Columbus while the weather forecast was still taped and originated from INN's headquarters.
On February 5, 2012, WLTZ introduced an expanded news operation based out of its Columbus studios complete with news anchors and a sports personality. However, weather was still produced by INN meteorologists and featured segments recorded in advance. Corresponding with the change, NBC 38 News at 6 was renamed Georgia First News on February 6. In December 2012, WLTZ launched a new weekday morning show known as Starting Today with anchor Kirsten Delgado and weather forecaster Miller Robson. It originally aired for an hour beginning at 6 and then for an additional half-hour at 7 on WLTZ-DT2. In Fall 2013, WLTZ's morning show was expanded further to two hours while retaining the half-hour portion on WLTZ-DT2. The Independent News Network only provided taped weather segments on weeknights.
In July 2014, WLTZ built an in-house weather department with Meteorologists Matt Wintz and Miller Robson, severing its last links to INN.
The station introduced Sunday evening newscasts in August 2015 that aired at 6 PM and 11 PM ET each Sunday. WLTZ further expanded their news programming the following year with a midday 30-minute newscast at 12:00 ET as well as another half-hour news show at 5 PM ET. In December 2018, the station scaled back its news programming and no longer aired the midday, 5:00, or Sunday evening shows.
WLTZ-DT2
In December 2012, WLTZ launched a weekday morning show on this second digital subchannel called WLTZ First News Today on the CW Ga-Bama. It aired for 30 minutes beginning at 7 AM ET, but like the midday, 5:00, and Sunday evening shows, was nixed in December 2018.A separate 10 PM ET newscast was also launched on the DT2 channel in 2016 and still airs today.