Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
According to Erik Schrader, general manager for WANF, people now go home and watch their shows whenever they want on any streaming service. We also know that individuals don’t change the time of news. Sports are not time-shifted. We must focus on such things.
Given that Atlanta-basedWhen WANF was CBS46 (WGCL-TV), Gray Media acquired it. Since then, it has significantly expanded its news operations and changed its name to Atlanta News First. With 144 employees today, the station has more than doubled in size from when it was owned by Meredith. It employs more meteorologists than WSB-TV, the established market leader in viewers, and has the biggest investigative staff of any local TV station.
To handle the extra news shows, WANF has increased its workforce, although there are still a number of employment vacancies.
“Hiring is enjoyable,” Schrader remarked.
Former WSB-TV anchor and AJC contributor Monica Pearson, who now anchors a weekend interview show on WANF, said she likens WANF’s local news efforts to those of CNN. People will be able to view breaking local news there without management having to interrupt soap operas or other shows.
RODNE YHO is credited.
RODNE YHO is credited.
Executives also praised the station’s sports investment during a recent presentation for advertisers at Doraville’s Assembly Studios, which is also owned by Gray Media.
Selected Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta Dream games that were formerly broadcast on its sister channel Peachtree TV will now be televised by WANF. Even though there are no University of Georgia football games at WANF, former Bulldog quarterback Jake Fromm and WANF sports director Baillie Burmaster will host shows before and after the games.
Every Friday night throughout the high school football season, WANF will broadcast the game of the week at 7 p.m.
On the weekend, WANF will introduce weekly Atlanta-focused investigative program Uncovered on Sundays at 7 p.m. anchored by award-winning reporters Ciara Cummings and Brendan Keefe. Anchor Rick Folbaum and politics reporter Doug Reardon will host the politics show On the Record on Sundays at 11 a.m.
The following local shows that were previously broadcast on Peachtree TV are switching to WANF: Monica Pearson One on One on Sundays at 8 p.m. and Atlanta Eats on Saturdays at 8 p.m.
The Big Bang Theory reruns from 7:30 to 9 p.m. are the only syndicated show WANF will air throughout the day.
WANF will not be required to pay for CBS programming and will be able to keep all advertising revenue during its news programs. Even when CBS Atlanta at WUPA launches its own news department to compete, the station is still optimistic that enough Atlantans would find its news programming.
SCREENSHOT is credited.
SCREENSHOT is credited.
According to Michael Castengera, a former professor at the University of Georgia who advised local TV stations for decades, WANF confronts numerous difficulties because of the abundance of media options available to consumers today.
He claimed that although Gray is regarded as a competent broadcaster, their audience and ad income are declining.
For the first time, according to a May Nielsen analysis, more individuals were using streaming services than cable and broadcast TV.
In the meantime, Nielsen ratings for WANF s news programs, even as a CBS affiliate, regularly lag far behind those of ABC affiliate WSB and Fox affiliate WAGA-TV (Fox 5). WSB more than tripled WANF’s viewing among 25 to 54-year-olds in May at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., with an even greater disparity at 6 a.m.
However, WANF does have a lifeline in a way since its managers are involved in the community because its headquarters are located in Atlanta. Gray is wealthy as well. It currently owns the second-largest number of TV stations in the nation and is expanding its network.
Josh Azriel, a media professor at Kennesaw State University, stated, “I think it’s great they are expanding their news operation.” However, I doubt that they have the same level of viewer commitment as WSB in native Atlanta.
He noted that WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, went independent in 2002, dropping its CBS affiliation, and its news operation thrived. However, that was a different time period, and WJXT had previously held the top spot for years under the leadership of seasoned anchors.
According to Azriel, there aren’t enough iconic figures on WANF to encourage viewers to stay.
Mark Shavin, a producer at Fox 5, 11Alive (WXIA-TV), and WSB, said, “I don’t know how you build fidelity from the ground up.” When there is so much noise, how can an independent station stand out?
Schrader is optimistic that WANF will attract new followers while retaining many of its existing ones.
“I’m much less concerned about losing CBS shows than I would have been ten years ago,” he remarked. I believe that we benefited greatly from CBS’s live sports coverage. We won’t likely miss the programming they were offering after that.
