WABM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WABM | |
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| Birmingham, Alabama | |
| Branding | My 68 |
| Channels | 68 (UHF) analog, 36 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | My Network TV |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Call letters meaning | We've Got Alabama's Best Movies (or, Alabama BirMingham or AlaBaMa |
| Former affiliations | UPN (1995-2006) |
| Website | www.wabm68.com |
WABM, channel 68, is the My Network TV affiliate of the Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa television market. WABM is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which also owns WTTO and WDBB.
[edit] History
It started in 1986 as an independent television station known with the call letters WCAJ, first carrying religious programming, some of which were Catholic shows from the nearby Eternal Word Television Network, as well as programming from the Southern Baptist Convention's ACTS Network. The original studios were located on the campus of Samford University. Due to poor ratings, it began airing home shopping programming and infomericals with religious shows part of the day.
In 1990 the station was sold to Krypton Broadcasting, who changed the call letters to WABM and switched the station to a general entertainment format with old movies, dramas, and westerns. In 1991, WDBB and WNAL ended their own programming schedule, and began simulcasting WTTO, combining assets at the same time. This resulted in WTTO owning more shows than it could air, so it sold to WABM some classic sitcoms and cartoons that WTTO would have no room to keep. At that point WABM had become a traditional independent station.
Despite a strong format, WABM trailed WTTO in the ratings. WABM had a disadvantage when it came to signal coverage: WTTO covered Birmingham as well as Gadsden and Tuscaloosa with Grade A signals, largely through its satellite stations, while WABM covered only Birmingham with a good signal, Tuscaloosa and Gadsden received a grade B signal, and WTTO had the Fox affiliation.
WABM also suffered because its owners Krypton were going through financial problems. Krypton sold WABM's sister stations in West Palm Beach (WTVX, channel 34) and Jacksonville (WNFT, channel 47, now WTEV-TV), then in 1993 WABM itself was sold to a small ownership group which would begin a local marketing agreement with WTTO, which was then owned by Abry. Under this local marketing agreement, WTTO and WABM pooled shows, the stations ran separate schedules, and WTTO sold ad time on WABM.
In early 1995, WABM became one of the charter affiliates of the UPN television network. By that time, the Sinclair Broadcast Group had bought out Abry, and they continued the LMA. They remained a UPN affiliate even through the Big Switch of '96, which saw longtime ABC affiliate WBRC switch over to Fox. In March 1998, Sinclair and UPN had a fallout, and as a result, WABM dropped UPN for nearly 6 months, airing syndicated movies instead. Sinclair and UPN would eventually come to an agreement, and WABM once again became a UPN affiliate. Sinclair would buy WABM outright in 2001.
Over the years, the station moved away from classic sitcoms, movies, and syndicated cartoons and aired more recent sitcoms as well as talk shows, reality shows, and court shows. They still continued to air cartoons on weekday mornings until the fall of 2003 when UPN ended its cartoon block nationally.
On March 1, 2006, Sinclair and Fox announced that WABM would become an affiliate of Fox's second network, My Network TV, in the fall of 2006, when UPN and the WB merged to form the CW Television Network, which is seen on WTTO. WABM is also considering taking Fox's 4Kids TV Saturday Morning kids block. WTTO had aired Fox Kids after losing the main Fox affiliation from 1996 until 2000, after that, it did not even air on WBRC, a situation that continues as 4Kids TV. This took effect on September 5, 2006.
[edit] External links
| Broadcast television in the Central Alabama (Birmingham / Anniston / Tuscaloosa) market (Nielsen DMA #40) |
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WBXA-CA 2 (MTV2) - WBRC 6 (Fox) - WVUA-CA 7 (i/A1/ShopNBC) - WCIQ 7 / WBIQ 10 (PBS/APT) - WVTM 13 (NBC) - WOTM-LP 19 (Ind) - WTTO 21 / WDBB 17 (The CW) - WUOA 23 (i/A1) - WJXS 24 (FamNet) - WBUN-CA 28 (Daystar) - WCFT 33 (ABC) - W34BI 34 (HSC) - WJSU 40 (ABC) - WIAT 42 (CBS) - WPXH 44 (i) - W49AY 47 (Ind/Rel.) - WOIL-LP 47 (Daystar)- W55BJ 55 (LeSea/GEB)- WBMA 58 (ABC) - WTJP 60 (TBN) - WABM 68 (MNTV) |
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WTVY-DT 4.2 (Dothan) - WZDX-DT 54.2 ("WAMY") (Huntsville) - WRJM 67 (Troy) - WABM 68 (Birmingham) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Alabama | |
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Corporate Staff: David D. Smith (COB and President & CEO) | Frederick G. Smith | J. Duncan Smith | Robert E. Smnith | Daniel C. Keith | Martin R. Leader | Lawrence E. McCanna | Basil A. Thomas | David B. Amy | Lucy A. Rutishauser | Barry M. Faber | David R. Bochenek | Nat S. Ostroff | Donald H. Thompson | Thomas I. Waters III | Darren Shapiro | Gregg Siegel | Jeff Sleete | M. William Butler | Steven M. Marks | Delbert R. Parks III | Joe DeFeo |
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ABC Network Affiliates: KDNL | WCHS | WEAR | WGGB | WICD | WICS | WKEF | WLOS | WSYX | WXLV |
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The CW Network Affiliates: KOCB | KVCW7 | WLFL8 | WNAB1 | WNUV2 | WTTO / WDBB | WUCW | WVTV |
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Fox Network Affiliates: KABB | KBSI | KDSM | KOKH | WBFF | WDKY | WMSN | WPGH3 | WRGT2 | WRLH | WSMH6 | WSYT | WTAT2 | WTTE2 | WUHF4 | WUTV | WVAH2 | WYZZ4 | WZTV |
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MyNetworkTV Affiliates: KMYS | KVMY | WABM | WCGV | WDKA5 | WFGX5 | WMMP | WMYA2 | WMYV | WNYO9 | WNYS5 | WPMY | WRDC | WRLH | WSTR | WSYX | WTTA5 | WTVZ | WUXP |
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1Sinclair operates this station owned by Tennessee Broadcasting under an outsourcing agreement. Sinclair is looking to acquire the station outright. |
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2These stations are nominally owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and operated by Sinclair under local marketing agreements. However, Sinclair effectively owns Cunningham because it controls nearly all of Cunningham's stock. |
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3This station is involved in a "news-share" agreement with Cox Enterprises-owned WPXI. |
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4Sinclair has ownership interests in these stations, but management capabilities belong to Nexstar Broadcasting Group. |
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5Sinclair operates these stations, which are owned by local independent or private companies, with the execption of WTTA where Sinclair CEO David Smith is the station's majority owner. |
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6This station is involved in a "news share" with Meredith Corporation-owned WNEM-TV |
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7This station is involved in a "news share" with Sunbelt Communications Company-owned KVBC |
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8This station is involved in a "news share" with Disney/ABC-owned WTVD. |
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9This station is involved in a "news share" with Gannett-owned WGRZ. |
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Annual Revenue: $1.24 billion USD (2004) | Employees: Unknown at this time. | Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: SBGI | Website: www.sbgi.net |
