![]() In late 1987, Taft was restructured into Great American Broadcasting after a hostile takeover. For a time, it lodged the ABC dot logo inside its own "6" logo (just as it had done with the CBS eye in the 1950s). WBRC was one of ABC's strongest affiliates for years. That AM radio station is now WVVB while the FM station is now WBPT. In 1972, Taft sold WBRC-AM-FM, which changed their call letters to WERC-AM-FM. at the time, but now it had the full benefit of one of the South's strongest signals, best antenna locations, and largest coverage areas. ABC had very few full-time affiliates south of Washington, D.C. Taft later bought ABC's former syndication arm, Worldvision Enterprises, in 1979 (ABC spun off this division in 1973 as a result of fin-syn laws that are now repealed).Īnother factor, though supposedly not as important as the Taft-Goldenson relationship, was CBS News' apparent strong support of the Civil Rights Movement, which did not sit well with a large segment of WBRC's audience. Also, Taft's chairman was a personal friend of the ABC president Leonard Goldenson. Most of Taft's TV stations were ABC affiliates, including its flagship station, WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, which was one of ABC's strongest affiliates. However, Taft had very good relations with ABC. Usually, one or both stations carried ABC as a secondary affiliation, since ABC would not be on anything resembling an equal footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s. This was very unusual for a market with only two commercial stations. ![]() In 1961, WBRC took the ABC affiliation full-time, leaving channel 13 (by then known as WAPI-TV) to share CBS and NBC. Storer had to sell its Birmingham cluster after it purchased WIBG in Philadelphia and WPFH in Wilmington, Delaware in order to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's ownership limits in effect at the time. In 1957, Storer sold the WBRC stations to Taft Broadcasting. ![]() Unusually for commercial broadcasters, Storer supported educational television, and the company gave two transmitters and frequencies in the general Birmingham area (channels 7 and 10) to Alabama Educational Television. The studio, like many of those built by Storer, resembled an antebellum mansion. Also in 1954, the WBRC stations moved to a new studio built by Storer, where channel 6 remains today. ![]() The NBC affiliation moved to channel 13, then known as WABT, and both stations retained a secondary affiliation with ABC. Storer may have used his leverage to secure a primary CBS affiliation for WBRC-TV in 1954. Storer, the company's founder and chairman, was a member of the CBS board of directors, and most of his stations operated as CBS affiliates. Later on in 1953, Eloise Hanna also sold the WBRC stations to Storer Broadcasting. This move was made in order for WBRC-TV to avoid interference with WSM-TV (now WSMV) in Nashville, which also operated on channel 4 the two stations' respective signals suffered from interference problems in northern Alabama. In 1953, WBRC-TV was moved to channel 6 as part of an FCC-ordered frequency realignment. The station's call letters stand for Bell Radio Company, after J.C. Hanna and her Birmingham Broadcasting Company along with WBRC radio (960 AM). Īt its outset, WBRC-TV was owned by Eloise D. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. It was Alabama's second television station, signing on a few months after WAFM-TV (channel 13, now WVTM-TV). It was a primary NBC affiliate, and also carried secondary affiliations with ABC and DuMont. WBRC-TV began operation on July 1, 1949, on channel 4. 3.3 Raycom News Network/Raycom Weather Network.WBRC also runs off-network syndicated sitcoms, talk shows, reality shows and court shows. WBRC is a more news-intensive Fox station with 45 hours a week of locally-produced newscasts, as well as first-run prime time, sports and Saturday late night programming from Fox. The station broadcasts on digital channel 50, although through the use of PSIP technology, the station's virtual channel number appears as 6.1.īell Radio Company(original owner of WBRC radio) The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham. WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area.
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