WUVG-DT (channel 34) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
and
UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which is ...
networks to the
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
area.
Owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by
TelevisaUnivision
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American mass media, media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is ...
, the station maintains studios on Peachtree Road NE in the
Buckhead
Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...
section of Atlanta, and a transmitter in
North Druid Hills
North Druid Hills, also known as Briarcliff or Toco Hills, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (North Druid Hills CDP) in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,947 at the 2010 census. The commercial cen ...
. Despite Athens being WUVG-DT's
city of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broa ...
, the station maintains no physical presence there.
WUVG-DT was established as WNGM-TV, a station serving the Athens area, in 1989. Its focus broadened to Atlanta in the 1990s as the station was sold several times, airing home shopping, music videos, and then an independent format. It switched to Univision in January 2002, making it the first Spanish-language station in the market.
History
WNGM-TV
The station went on air on April 18, 1989, as WNGM-TV,
with the
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
standing for "
North Georgia Mountains
The Georgia Mountains Region or North Georgia mountains or Northeast Georgia is an area that starts in the northeast corner of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, and spreads in a westerly direction. The mountains in this region are in ...
". Initially the station ran a general entertainment format with
cartoons
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
, classic and recent
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s, blocks of
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
programming, old movies and
syndicated first-run shows; it also aired a local newscast and magazine program focusing on north Georgia.
WNGM-TV was owned by a company including the final two applicants for the channel: Georgia Mountain Corporation and Sunbelt Television, Inc., which merged their bids in 1985 and won the construction permit.
Its transmitter was located away from Atlanta, reaching Athens with a grade A signal while sending a very weak signal into eastern
metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
. As a result, many syndicators sold the rights for shows that were already on the Atlanta stations to WNGM. The station provided an alternative to viewers in areas which had moderate
VHF reception and poor UHF reception from Atlanta;
Clarke County Clarke County may refer to:
;Places
*One of five counties in the United States:
**Clarke County, Alabama
**Clarke County, Georgia
**Clarke County, Iowa
**Clarke County, Mississippi
**Clarke County, Virginia
Clarke County is a county in the Com ...
had a cable penetration rate of 83 percent, 30 points above the national average.
NGM Television Partners, the licensee, sold the station for $10 million in 1996 to Whitehead Media, which the next year formalized a time brokerage agreement under which
Paxson Communications Corporation began operating channel 34. However, Paxson opted the next year to divest itself of extra stations in markets where it controlled more than one, such as Atlanta, where it owned
WPXA-TV
WPXA-TV (channel 14) is a television station licensed to Rome, Georgia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Atlanta area. The station is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, an ...
. However, the $73.5 million sale by Paxson of the operating rights and by Whitehead of the licenses for WNGM-TV and
WOAC
WRLM, virtual channel 47 (UHF digital channel 24), is a Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) owned-and-operated station licensed to Canton, Ohio, United States, and serving the Cleveland– Akron television market. The station's transmitter ...
in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...
, to Global Broadcasting Systems, Inc., was terminated a month later when the buyer failed to post an escrow deposit.
From 1996 until September 1, 1997, WNGM-TV aired Paxson's Infomall TV
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
network, then switching to separate but similar home shopping programming, which was an issue at play in a major cable carriage dispute with
MediaOne
MediaOne Group, Inc. (Comcast MO Group, Inc.) was created by US WEST Inc, one of the original Baby Bells Regional Bell Operating Companies, acquisition of Boston-based Continental Cable and combined with its previously acquired Atlanta-based Wom ...
over whether it had to be placed on a series of major Atlanta cable systems.
"Hotlanta 34"
In 1998,
USA Broadcasting
USA Broadcasting was an United States of America, American television broadcasting company owned by the veteran entertainment industry executive Barry Diller. This company was the over-the-air broadcasting arm of USA Networks. Before founding US ...
acquired WNGM for $50 million. It was part of a larger deal between Paxson and USA that allowed Paxson-owned stations in
and
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
to make early exits from affiliation contracts with the
Home Shopping Network
HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flor ...
, gave Paxson a station serving
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, and put USA Broadcasting in every top 10 market but
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. After the USA acquisition, the home shopping programming was dropped and replaced with music videos from
The Box—which led the FCC to greenlight the station's push for must-carry in the Atlanta area that August.
In November 1999, WNGM was the third of four USAB stations after
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
's
WAMI-TV
WAMI-DT (channel 69) is a television station licensed to Hollywood, Florida, United States, serving the Miami area with programming from the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision outle ...
to convert to USAB's new "CityVision" general entertainment format and became "Hotlanta 34" under new WHOT-TV call letters. The centerpiece of the plan was a three-year contract for the rights to telecast
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
basketball. The move was made after
WATL
WATL (channel 36) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end ...
(channel 36) opted not to renew its deal because of the expanding program offerings of
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
. However, after the format failed to take off where it was introduced and the company registered operating losses of $62 million in 2000, Diller opted to sell the stations to Univision in 2001.
Univision Georgia
While some of the stations were used to start
Telefutura, a second network, the purchase gave Univision its first ever broadcast outlet in Atlanta, where the Latino population had grown by 362 percent during the 1990s. Under new WUVG call letters, channel 34 changed to Spanish-language programming on January 14, 2002.
While local news was not immediately added, WUVG began producing a public affairs program in Spanish, ''Nuestra Georgia'' (Our Georgia), the first such program on Atlanta television since 1997.
News operation
WUVG launched its news department in April 2011, with two daily half-hour evening newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.—branded as ''Noticias 34 Atlanta'' (''News 34 Atlanta'')—anchored by Amanda Ramirez (now at
WLII-DT
WLII-DT (channel 11), branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the Territories of the United States#Permanently inhabited territories, U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. ...
) and Gianncarlo Cifuentes. The station also maintains a partnership with
WANF
WANF (channel 46) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of locally based Gray Television and is co-owned with independent station WPCH-TV (channel 17) and low-power, Class ...
for news coverage.
The station's other local program is a weekend newsmagazine, ''Conexión Fin de Semana''.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Translator
WUVG-DT maintains a digital replacement translator, which supplements channel 34's coverage in the city of license, Athens.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WUVG shut down its analog signal, over
UHF channel 34, on June 12, 2009, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.
The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48; it was later repacked to channel 18.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wuvg-Dt
Univision network affiliates
GetTV affiliates
Ion Mystery affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1989
1989 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
UVG-DT
UniMás network affiliates
Spanish-language television stations in Georgia (U.S. state)
Low-power television stations in the United States
Athens, Georgia