WYEA-TV: Early years
In late 1966 and early 1967, three groups applied for television stations in Columbus, which at the time had two VHF outlets.[2] One—Coastal Television—amended its application to specify channel 54 and received a construction permit, but it was never built. The other two, the Inland Broadcasting Company (a consortium of Georgia and Alabama residents) and Gala Broadcasting Company (led by Charles F. Grisham, owner of WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama), merged their bids on the latter's application in July, opening the door for a construction permit to be issued in mid-August[3] to what became known as the Eagle Broadcasting Company.[4] It was obvious what the likely programming would be for the station. WTVM was a primary ABC affiliate and had first call rights on NBC programs, though CBS affiliate WRBL-TV (channel 3) also aired some NBC programming on a secondary basis.
A building permit was issued in December 1969 for a site on Buena Vista Road,[5] and ground was broken in early May.[6] While it was intended for the station to start in time for the 1970 World Series, and WTVM had already discontinued airing NBC programs with the start of the new season, the new station, under the call letters WYEA-TV, was not completed on time. The transmitter was not finished by that fall due to a strike at RCA, which was fabricating the antenna; as a result, WTVM had to petition to carry the World Series.[7]
WYEA-TV began broadcasting on October 29, 1970.[8] The station's second-floor offices suffered heavy damage in a January 1975 fire; the newsroom took water damage, and unprocessed news film was lost, but the station was back on the air within a day.[9]
The first newscast aired by the station was a 5:30 p.m. newscast, 1st Edition News, chosen specifically to avoid the 6 p.m. broadcasts from WRBL and WTVM and counterprogram their offerings.[10][11] Over the years, the station focused on counterprogramming the two larger stations and also attempted to lure viewers with personalities that left those stations. In one extreme instance, the same four-person team presenting WYEA's evening newscast in 1976 had presented WTVM's News Hour in 1969.[12]
American Family ownership
The locally based American Family Corporation, the parent of insurer AFLAC, announced in July 1977 that it would buy Eagle Broadcasting for $1.5 million and another $1.7 million in assumption of debts, making WYEA-TV its first broadcasting property with intentions to add more.[13] Under the subsidiary of American Eagle Broadcasting, American Family took ownership on March 1, 1978.[14]
John B. Amos, president of American Family, had been looking into a media buy for some time, having analyzed a possible purchase of WRBL-TV and narrowly missing out on purchasing the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network. WYEA-TV, a station that was a distant third place in the market, would prove a challenge as the company's first television property. It had only five full-time news staffers; anchorman Al Fleming and sportscaster Jim Koger only worked part-time. It also only produced one newscast a day and no newscasts at all on weekends. It also faced the prospect of audience erosion from fellow NBC affiliate WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama, which activated a new tower whose footprint penetrated well into channel 38's viewing area.[15] Under American Family, WYEA-TV opposed a proposed television station licensed to Albany, WJFT-TV (channel 19).
Lewis ownership
By the start of 1981, American Family owned six stations—WYEA-TV and five outlets in larger markets. Citing its audience share, market size, and signal strength, as well as its status as the least profitable station in the group,[18] American Family opted to sell WYEA to former Savannah mayor Julius Curtis Lewis Jr., whose Lewis Broadcasting owned WJCL-TV in Savannah and WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina.[19] 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."[20] AFLAC would return to the Columbus market in 1989 with the purchase of WTVM.
Lewis took control on July 1, 1981; the station's 11 p.m. newscast was immediately cut,[21] along with several staff dismissals in the news department.[22]
SagamoreHill ownership
Lewis kept WLTZ until 2007, when it was sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting; it was the last television property owned by Lewis.[38] In November 2007, the station brought back weeknight newscasts (seen at 6, 7, and 11 p.m., or 5, 6, and 10 Central) in partnership with the Independent News Network (INN) of Davenport, Iowa. Originally, the early evening shows aired in traditional half-hour formats, while the late newscast ran for 11 minutes. The Iowa-based news presenters read stories prepared by local reporters in Columbus; WLTZ also partnered with the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper for local coverage.[39]
WLTZ converted to digital-only broadcasting February 17, 2009.[40] That same year, the station added The CW to a subchannel after the network discontinued its relationship with Pappas Telecasting, owner of WLGA (channel 66), then the region's CW affiliate.[41]
