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ABC 33/40
ABC 33/40 is a television station serving as the ABC affiliate for the Birmingham, Alabama television market. It is broadcast by WBMA-LD (channel 58), a low-power station, in the immediate Birmingham area, as well as on subchannels of WABM (68.2) in Birmingham, WDBB (17.2) in Tuscaloosa, and WGWW (40.2) in Anniston. ABC 33/40 is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside WABM and WTTO (channel 21) and originates from studios in the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover.
In 1994, a major realignment of television station affiliations was slated to affect Birmingham, with Birmingham's existing ABC affiliate, WBRC, tabbed to switch to Fox. As a result, ABC needed a new affiliate in the market. A number of stations were available, including in Birmingham itself. The network instead opted to partner with Allbritton Communications to buy WCFT-TV (channel 33) in Tuscaloosa and WJSU-TV (channel 40) in Anniston. Since 1970, these stations had served as CBS affiliates for western and eastern Alabama, respectively. On September 1, 1996, they became the ABC affiliate for the entire Birmingham market, branded ABC 33/40. At the same time, the station opened its Birmingham-area studio in Hoover. ABC 33/40 made national headlines in 1997 as the only ABC affiliate not to air "The Puppy Episode", in which Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian.
ABC 33/40 was an instant competitor in local television news, bolstered by the defections of popular on-air talent such as meteorologist James Spann and anchor Brenda Ladun from Birmingham's top-rated WBRC. It generally placed second among the four Birmingham-market stations, on occasion finishing in first place, in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2014, Sinclair acquired Allbritton. The companies together owned too many television station licenses in the Birmingham area, resulting in the sale of the WCFT and WJSU facilities to Howard Stirk Holdings. This triggered a change to the present transmission setup, though the 33/40 name remained.
Birmingham, Alabama, only had two commercial TV channels in the very high frequency (VHF) band, whose existence predated the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s 1948–1952 freeze on new station grants. After the freeze, these stations occupied channel 6 (WBRC) and 13 (WAFM-TV, today's WVTM-TV). Though efforts were made to move a third commercial VHF channel to Birmingham, the commission denied proposals in 1961 and 1963. As a result, Birmingham continued to only have two commercial stations until WBMG, operating on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 42, began on October 17, 1965. WAPI-TV at the time was a dual affiliate of CBS and NBC, and WBMG lacked exclusive network affiliation, airing the shows of those two networks not seen on channel 13. This was the situation until May 31, 1970, when WAPI-TV became a sole NBC affiliate and WBMG a sole CBS affiliate.
WBMG, as a UHF station with a smaller coverage area, left a gap in Alabama broadcasting. It could not reach areas to the west or east of Birmingham that the VHF stations could, and outlets sprang up to provide this service. In Tuscaloosa, to the west, WCFT began broadcasting on channel 33 in 1965; in eastern Alabama, WHMA-TV (later WJSU-TV) started on channel 40 from Anniston in October 1969. At the same time that WBMG became a sole CBS affiliate, WCFT and WHMA-TV became full-time CBS affiliates. The effect was that WBRC and WVTM-TV, the VHF stations, served three television markets for ABC and NBC programming, while CBS had three affiliates, one each for Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Anniston–Gadsden. WBRC and WVTM-TV also expanded their newsgathering operations to Tuscaloosa and Anniston by opening news bureaus in the late 1980s.
Two additional commercial stations started in Birmingham after WBMG. WTTO (channel 21) was the market's first independent station when it began in April 1982 and became an affiliate of Fox on September 1, 1990. WCAJ began broadcasting on channel 68 in 1986 and changed call signs to WABM in 1991.
On May 23, 1994, Fox announced a deal with New World Communications to switch the affiliations of 12 stations New World owned or was buying from various Big Three networks to Fox. One of these was WBRC, which New World had agreed to purchase along with three other stations owned by Great American Communications earlier that month. The result was that ABC needed a new affiliate in the Birmingham television market and WTTO no longer had a network affiliation. Fox also maintained affiliates in western Alabama (WDBB, channel 17 in Tuscaloosa) and eastern Alabama (WNAL, channel 44 in Gadsden).
At the time of the switch, experts predicted one of two outcomes: WTTO would become an ABC affiliate, or ABC, concerned about moving to a UHF station, would sign WVTM-TV, leaving WTTO to affiliate with NBC. In Birmingham, the acquisition of WBRC had another consequence. New World had an option to buy WVTM-TV as part of its purchase of Argyle Television but could not own both stations at once and, in January 1995, prepared to exercise the WVTM option by placing WBRC and WGHP in High Point, North Carolina, into a blind trust. Three months later, Fox Television Stations acquired WBRC-TV and WGHP.
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ABC 33/40
ABC 33/40 is a television station serving as the ABC affiliate for the Birmingham, Alabama television market. It is broadcast by WBMA-LD (channel 58), a low-power station, in the immediate Birmingham area, as well as on subchannels of WABM (68.2) in Birmingham, WDBB (17.2) in Tuscaloosa, and WGWW (40.2) in Anniston. ABC 33/40 is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside WABM and WTTO (channel 21) and originates from studios in the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover.
In 1994, a major realignment of television station affiliations was slated to affect Birmingham, with Birmingham's existing ABC affiliate, WBRC, tabbed to switch to Fox. As a result, ABC needed a new affiliate in the market. A number of stations were available, including in Birmingham itself. The network instead opted to partner with Allbritton Communications to buy WCFT-TV (channel 33) in Tuscaloosa and WJSU-TV (channel 40) in Anniston. Since 1970, these stations had served as CBS affiliates for western and eastern Alabama, respectively. On September 1, 1996, they became the ABC affiliate for the entire Birmingham market, branded ABC 33/40. At the same time, the station opened its Birmingham-area studio in Hoover. ABC 33/40 made national headlines in 1997 as the only ABC affiliate not to air "The Puppy Episode", in which Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian.
ABC 33/40 was an instant competitor in local television news, bolstered by the defections of popular on-air talent such as meteorologist James Spann and anchor Brenda Ladun from Birmingham's top-rated WBRC. It generally placed second among the four Birmingham-market stations, on occasion finishing in first place, in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2014, Sinclair acquired Allbritton. The companies together owned too many television station licenses in the Birmingham area, resulting in the sale of the WCFT and WJSU facilities to Howard Stirk Holdings. This triggered a change to the present transmission setup, though the 33/40 name remained.
Birmingham, Alabama, only had two commercial TV channels in the very high frequency (VHF) band, whose existence predated the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s 1948–1952 freeze on new station grants. After the freeze, these stations occupied channel 6 (WBRC) and 13 (WAFM-TV, today's WVTM-TV). Though efforts were made to move a third commercial VHF channel to Birmingham, the commission denied proposals in 1961 and 1963. As a result, Birmingham continued to only have two commercial stations until WBMG, operating on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 42, began on October 17, 1965. WAPI-TV at the time was a dual affiliate of CBS and NBC, and WBMG lacked exclusive network affiliation, airing the shows of those two networks not seen on channel 13. This was the situation until May 31, 1970, when WAPI-TV became a sole NBC affiliate and WBMG a sole CBS affiliate.
WBMG, as a UHF station with a smaller coverage area, left a gap in Alabama broadcasting. It could not reach areas to the west or east of Birmingham that the VHF stations could, and outlets sprang up to provide this service. In Tuscaloosa, to the west, WCFT began broadcasting on channel 33 in 1965; in eastern Alabama, WHMA-TV (later WJSU-TV) started on channel 40 from Anniston in October 1969. At the same time that WBMG became a sole CBS affiliate, WCFT and WHMA-TV became full-time CBS affiliates. The effect was that WBRC and WVTM-TV, the VHF stations, served three television markets for ABC and NBC programming, while CBS had three affiliates, one each for Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Anniston–Gadsden. WBRC and WVTM-TV also expanded their newsgathering operations to Tuscaloosa and Anniston by opening news bureaus in the late 1980s.
Two additional commercial stations started in Birmingham after WBMG. WTTO (channel 21) was the market's first independent station when it began in April 1982 and became an affiliate of Fox on September 1, 1990. WCAJ began broadcasting on channel 68 in 1986 and changed call signs to WABM in 1991.
On May 23, 1994, Fox announced a deal with New World Communications to switch the affiliations of 12 stations New World owned or was buying from various Big Three networks to Fox. One of these was WBRC, which New World had agreed to purchase along with three other stations owned by Great American Communications earlier that month. The result was that ABC needed a new affiliate in the Birmingham television market and WTTO no longer had a network affiliation. Fox also maintained affiliates in western Alabama (WDBB, channel 17 in Tuscaloosa) and eastern Alabama (WNAL, channel 44 in Gadsden).
At the time of the switch, experts predicted one of two outcomes: WTTO would become an ABC affiliate, or ABC, concerned about moving to a UHF station, would sign WVTM-TV, leaving WTTO to affiliate with NBC. In Birmingham, the acquisition of WBRC had another consequence. New World had an option to buy WVTM-TV as part of its purchase of Argyle Television but could not own both stations at once and, in January 1995, prepared to exercise the WVTM option by placing WBRC and WGHP in High Point, North Carolina, into a blind trust. Three months later, Fox Television Stations acquired WBRC-TV and WGHP.
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