Post by ATLinsider on Jun 28, 2007 11:58:10 GMT -3
(From AJC.com)
The local TV station that formed the basis for Turner Broadcasting System is getting a top-to-bottom overhaul, with a new name and a different programming lineup.
WTBS, an over-the-air channel that carries mostly the same programs as national cable giant TBS, will be revamped as Peachtree TV. Starting Oct. 1, Turner Broadcasting will use Peachtree TV to target the Atlanta market, leaving national TBS unchanged.
Atlantans should expect a few switches. Those who get TV over the air for free will get Peachtree TV but lose TBS programs. Peachtree TV will get its own programming lineup.
Cable or satellite subscribers, meanwhile, are likely to get both Peachtree TV and the national TBS, assuming Turner Broadcasting lines up the necessary business deals. The channel that currently shows national TBS programs — channel 7 on Comcast, for example — will switch to Peachtree TV. A new channel for national TBS is expected elsewhere in the cable and satellite channel lineup.
While the changes may be confusing, Turner is pitching them as viewer-friendly.
"The opportunity is to really create a local station, which is what Turner started as," said Mark Lazarus, president of Turner Entertainment Group in Atlanta.
The over-the-air WTBS has long been a relic within Turner Broadcasting, given that the Time Warner-owned company gets the vast majority of its revenue from cable networks such as CNN, TNT and, of course, TBS.
In Atlanta, many viewers don't realize that WTBS still exists as a separate over-the-air channel, because it shows mostly the same fare as the national TBS cable network.
Behind the scenes, however, there are important distinctions.
WTBS sends a signal from a giant tower in Midtown. That same feed goes to cable and satellite systems that serve metro Atlanta. So a cable watcher in Atlanta actually gets local WTBS, even though the channel looks much like national TBS.
The upcoming change will let Turner Broadcasting develop a local station to focus on Atlanta. Among other things, Peachtree TV will be home to 45 Atlanta Braves games beginning next year.
Turner already had planned to drop the Braves from national TBS next year, leaving them on WTBS. The Braves were once a cornerstone for both WTBS and for national TBS. That changed over the years as more baseball games for all teams appeared on TV.
Time Warner sold the Braves to Liberty Media this year.
Turner will use Peachtree TV for the Braves. Mostly, however, the station will carry sitcom reruns — from "Family Guy" and "Seinfeld" to "Cheers" and "The Jeffersons" — plus movies. Lazarus said Peachtree TV will carry movies in prime time to differentiate the channel from other broadcast stations.
Peachtree TV won't develop its own newscast.
The goal, Lazarus said, is to make Peachtree TV attractive to local advertisers. At the same time, Turner expects to win deals to keep national TBS on satellite and cable in Atlanta.
The call letters WTBS will likely disappear into local media lore, as Peachtree TV takes the label WPCH, assuming the Federal Communications Commission approves.
WTBS' roots date to the 1967 launch of WJRJ on broadcast channel 17. Jack Rice founded WJRJ, but he sold it to Ted Turner three years later. The call letters were then changed to WTCG, short for Turner Communications Group.
In 1976, Turner bought the then-miserable Braves, chiefly to fill airtime on WTCG. That same year, WTCG's signal started being transmitted by satellite, putting it on cable systems far from Atlanta.
Ted Turner's pioneering move into cable changed his small company. The future founder of CNN switched WTCG's call letters to WTBS in 1979 and started calling it the Superstation. In 2004, Turner Broadcasting revamped the cable operation again, using the theme "Very Funny."
The local TV station that formed the basis for Turner Broadcasting System is getting a top-to-bottom overhaul, with a new name and a different programming lineup.
WTBS, an over-the-air channel that carries mostly the same programs as national cable giant TBS, will be revamped as Peachtree TV. Starting Oct. 1, Turner Broadcasting will use Peachtree TV to target the Atlanta market, leaving national TBS unchanged.
Atlantans should expect a few switches. Those who get TV over the air for free will get Peachtree TV but lose TBS programs. Peachtree TV will get its own programming lineup.
Cable or satellite subscribers, meanwhile, are likely to get both Peachtree TV and the national TBS, assuming Turner Broadcasting lines up the necessary business deals. The channel that currently shows national TBS programs — channel 7 on Comcast, for example — will switch to Peachtree TV. A new channel for national TBS is expected elsewhere in the cable and satellite channel lineup.
While the changes may be confusing, Turner is pitching them as viewer-friendly.
"The opportunity is to really create a local station, which is what Turner started as," said Mark Lazarus, president of Turner Entertainment Group in Atlanta.
The over-the-air WTBS has long been a relic within Turner Broadcasting, given that the Time Warner-owned company gets the vast majority of its revenue from cable networks such as CNN, TNT and, of course, TBS.
In Atlanta, many viewers don't realize that WTBS still exists as a separate over-the-air channel, because it shows mostly the same fare as the national TBS cable network.
Behind the scenes, however, there are important distinctions.
WTBS sends a signal from a giant tower in Midtown. That same feed goes to cable and satellite systems that serve metro Atlanta. So a cable watcher in Atlanta actually gets local WTBS, even though the channel looks much like national TBS.
The upcoming change will let Turner Broadcasting develop a local station to focus on Atlanta. Among other things, Peachtree TV will be home to 45 Atlanta Braves games beginning next year.
Turner already had planned to drop the Braves from national TBS next year, leaving them on WTBS. The Braves were once a cornerstone for both WTBS and for national TBS. That changed over the years as more baseball games for all teams appeared on TV.
Time Warner sold the Braves to Liberty Media this year.
Turner will use Peachtree TV for the Braves. Mostly, however, the station will carry sitcom reruns — from "Family Guy" and "Seinfeld" to "Cheers" and "The Jeffersons" — plus movies. Lazarus said Peachtree TV will carry movies in prime time to differentiate the channel from other broadcast stations.
Peachtree TV won't develop its own newscast.
The goal, Lazarus said, is to make Peachtree TV attractive to local advertisers. At the same time, Turner expects to win deals to keep national TBS on satellite and cable in Atlanta.
The call letters WTBS will likely disappear into local media lore, as Peachtree TV takes the label WPCH, assuming the Federal Communications Commission approves.
WTBS' roots date to the 1967 launch of WJRJ on broadcast channel 17. Jack Rice founded WJRJ, but he sold it to Ted Turner three years later. The call letters were then changed to WTCG, short for Turner Communications Group.
In 1976, Turner bought the then-miserable Braves, chiefly to fill airtime on WTCG. That same year, WTCG's signal started being transmitted by satellite, putting it on cable systems far from Atlanta.
Ted Turner's pioneering move into cable changed his small company. The future founder of CNN switched WTCG's call letters to WTBS in 1979 and started calling it the Superstation. In 2004, Turner Broadcasting revamped the cable operation again, using the theme "Very Funny."