WSFA
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- This article is about the television station (wsfa.com). For the science fiction club (wsfa.org), see Washington Science Fiction Association.
| WSFA | |
|---|---|
| Montgomery, Alabama | |
| Branding | WSFA 12 |
| Slogan | Coverage, Community, Commitment |
| Channels | Analog: 12 (VHF) Digital: 14 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2) RTN on DT3 (Starting December 2007) |
| Owner | Raycom Media |
| Founded | December 25, 1954 |
| Call letters meaning | With the South's Finest Airport |
| Former callsigns | WSFA-TV (1954-1986) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 600 kW (digital) |
| Height | 610 m (analog) 507 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 13993 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wsfa.com |
WSFA is an NBC-affiliated television station broadcasting on VHF channel 12 in Montgomery, Alabama, owned by Raycom Media. WSFA-TV's signal is one of the strongest in the state, covering a large area extending from the geographical center of the state in Chilton County to the Florida state line and the Black Belt region of southwestern Alabama to the Chattahoochee River bordering the state of Georgia. As such, the station is the default NBC affiliate for the Dothan/southeastern Alabama market as well, as that area has no NBC station of its own. Its transmitter is located near Grady, Alabama. It offers NBC Weather Plus on its digital feed. WSFA will begin carry programs from the Retro Television Network, owned by Equity Media Holdings Corporation starting December 3, 2007.[1]
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When WSFA went on the air on Christmas Day, December 25, 1954, it was the second television station in Montgomery (after WCOV-TV). The station was owned by WSFA radio (now WLWI), famous for launching the career of country music legend Hank Williams, a native of nearby Georgiana, in the 1940s.
The station was sold to the Oklahoma Publishing Company in 1955, and to the Broadcasting Company of the South, a subsidiary of The Liberty Corporation, in 1959. During that period, WSFA gained a national reputation for its coverage (fed periodically to the NBC network) of local events in the Civil Rights Movement such as the Bus Boycott of 1955 involving Rosa Parks and the varied activities of Martin Luther King, Jr. during his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The station's news director for much of the Civil Rights era was Frank McGee, who eventually joined NBC News and hosted The Today Show until his death in 1974.
The station's reputation as a strong news station dates from its purchase by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. For example, it was one of the first stations outside a major market to own film processing equipment. Channel 12 has received much praise from critics for its thorough and straightforward coverage of state politics.
That reputation, along with its history as the area's only VHF station until 1985 and its large service territory (almost all of southeastern Alabama), has made channel 12 the far-and-away market leader for as long as records have been kept. WSFA has further cemented its hold on local audiences with programs such as the Auburn University football coach's Sunday post-game show, hosted for many years by former WSFA sports director Phil Snow. Also, its early morning Today in Alabama is reputed to be one of the highest, if not the highest, rated local morning shows in the U.S. Liberty exited the insurance business in 2002, bringing WSFA directly under the Liberty banner. Liberty merged with Raycom in 2006.
News Anchors:
- Bob Howell
- Valorie Lawson
- Kim Hendrix
- Mark Bullock
- Tonya Terry
- Judd Davis
Reporters:
- Bryan Henry
- Chris Holmes
- Cody Holyoke
- Eileen Jones
- Sally Pitts
Weather:
- Rich Thomas
- Rob Hatchell
- Dan Atkinson
- Allyson Rae
Sports:
- Jeff Shearer
- Derek Steyer
- Kyle Montgomery
- WSFA website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WSFA
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WSFA-TV
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WDIQ 2/WGIQ 43 (PBS/APT) - WTVY 4 (CBS) (MNTV on DT2 & The CW on DT3) - WJJN-LP 5 (Ind/FN) - WDHN 18 (ABC) - WDFX 34 (Fox) |
| See also: Broadcast television stations in the Pensacola-Mobile, Columbus, Albany and Tallahassee Markets |
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WSFA 12 (Montgomery) - WVTM 13 (Birmingham) - WPMI 15 (Mobile) - WAFF 48 (Huntsville) |
| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, PBS and Other stations in Alabama |
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| Corporate Staff |
Paul McTear (President & CEO) · Wayne Daugherty · Marty Edelman · Leon Long · Jeff Rosser · Anne Adkins · Clyde Baucom · Rebecca Bryan · David Folsom · Mary Carloe McDonnell · Billy McDowell · Susana Schuler · Melissa Thurber
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| Network Affiliates |
ABC Network Affiliates: KAIT · KLTV · KTRE · WLOX · WTVM 1Raycom Media owns and operates these stations through Southeastern Media Holdings. |
| Annual Revenue: Unknown at this time. · Employees: 4,200 · Stock Symbol: None, privately held. · Website: www.raycommedia.com | |