He hinted at an upcoming brand evolution at the CBS affiliate serving Atlanta owned by Gray Television in a recent InFOCUS Podcast. Now, VP/GM Erik Schrader can share all of the details.
WGCL-TV, known today as “CBS46,” is disappearing. New call letters and branding are on the way — along with a positioning away from its network affiliation.
Starting in October, WGCL and unaffiliated sibling WPCH-17, branded as “Peachtree TV,” will begin airing co-produced newscasts under the new brand “Atlanta News First.”
To punctuate that newscast nomenclature, WGCL will change its call letters to WANF.
The move for the Gray Television flagship properties comes just 10 months after the Atlanta-headquartered publicly traded broadcast television company completed a merger with Meredith Corporation in which it immediately spun off all of the assets not tied to Meredith Local Media. “CBS46” and “Peachtree TV” were Meredith stations, with WGCL coming from Tribune Broadcasting in 1999. It had been WGNX and a CBS affiliate since 1994.
In a statement, Schrader said, “The people of Northern Georgia deserve a better, community-focused local news service on all platforms. This is the start of something new that will benefit Atlanta and its surrounding communities for years to come.”
Schrader added that taking a local approach to the station’s branding is part of bringing the greater Atlanta region dependable news, traffic, weather and sports — something perhaps far more important today than CBS affiliation, given its availability on the Paramount+ app.
“Weather must be a priority in Northern Georgia,” Schrader said. “Breaking News must be a priority. Investigative journalism that leads to change must be a priority. We’re the hometown station owned by a company located in Atlanta as well. Viewers trust local news to deliver stories that matter to them; stories the national news outlets won’t deliver. We’re committed to telling the story of our area. In 2022, we can’t be reducing the size of our news teams – we must keep growing and keep telling more stories that matter to Atlanta.”
For News Director Kim Saxon, viewers to Peachtree TV and the future WANF can expect to see more local news.
“Atlanta News First is a commitment to Atlanta and the people who make this such an incredible place to live,” Saxon said. “We aim to empower our audience every day through impactful local journalism, reliable weather and traffic, and a connection to our community. We believe in celebrating what is great about our city, and we are invested in doing our part to make it better.”
For viewers, a bigger news team is in place, with investigative journalists Brendan Keefe and Andy Pierotti joining the team this year. “Overall, the station has added more than 50 new jobs in news, marketing, technology, and sales in the past year and is still hiring,” Gray Television notes.
In Atlanta, Gray competes against FOX-owned WAGA-5; Cox Media Group flagship WSB-2, the ABC affiliate; and “11Alive” WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate owned by TEGNA.
