As of 2011, metro Atlanta was the ninth-largest media market in the United States. Due to apparent over-estimates of population growth in the 2000s by the U.S. Census Bureau, this rank is a decrease from two years prior as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census.
In 2009, metro Atlanta was the eighth- or seventh-largest market, with over 2.3 million TV households and 4.3 million people aged 12+. According to the 2016 Nielsen Media Research, it ranked ninth in television broadcasting, behind the [Boston, Ma. metropolitan area]. According to 2016 Arbitron, it ranked eighth in radio broadcasting, now just ahead of the Philadelphia metropolitan area and not far behind the greater Washington, D.C.metropolitan area.
Cox Enterprises, a privately held company controlled by siblings Barbara Cox Anthony and Anne Cox Chambers, has substantial media holdings in and beyond Atlanta. Its Cox Communications division is the nation's third largest cable television service provider; the company also publishes over a dozen daily newspapers in the United States, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. WSB AM, the flagship station of Cox Radio, was the first broadcast station in the South.
The Atlanta metro area is served by many local television stations, and is the eighth-largest Nielsen designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,310,490 homes (2.0% of the total U.S.).
Atlanta is a major cable television programming center. Ted Turner began the Turner Broadcasting System (now merged with Time Warner media empire) in Atlanta, where he bought a UHF station that eventually became TBS. Turner established the headquarters of the Cable News Network at CNN Center, adjacent today to Centennial Olympic Park. As his company grew, its other channels – the Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT, Turner South, Turner Classic Movies, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Headline News, and CNN Airport Network – centered their operations in Atlanta as well (Turner South has since been sold). Also now fully part of Turner is truTV. The Weather Channel, owned by Landmark Communications until it was purchased by NBCUniversal, Bain Capital, and The Blackstone Group in September 2008, has its offices in the nearby Cumberland/Galleria edge city. The first nationwide music video programming on cable television, Video Concert Hall, a precursor to MTV, was created in Atlanta.
The Atlanta area has 13 full-power TV stations, running a total of 27 TV channels from 27 TV networks and local sources. Over-the-air digital subchannels are shown as subitems, the main channel is always on the x.1 subchannel and is or was simulcast on analog (over-the-air and cable). Cable listings are shown for Comcast, the dominant local broadband TV provider. For digital cable, three-digit whole numbers are for set-top box users, while decimal numbers are in-the-clear (non-encrypted) QAM for cable-ready ATSC tuners, and have occasionally been changed. These numbers are the physical RF TV channels and the transport stream identifier (TSID) as they are transmitted from the headend, however some are mapped with PSIP to have the same number as over the air. For HDTV stations, an SDTV version (often a separate feed) is mapped on set-top boxes to the original analog cable channel number. Since March 16, 2009, all Atlanta TV stations that air local news are now in HD, with WXIA 11 first, then WSB 2, followed by WGCL 46, and WAGA 5 last.
As of April 2013, the following stations and channels are seen in the area (network O&O's are indicated in bold):
Several LPTV stations cover smaller parts of the metro area:
WUVM-LP 4 Atlanta (digital cable 249, 532, 99.532), Azteca America, Una Vez Mas Atlanta License, LLC, carried on DirecTV and xFinity
WYGA-CD 16 Atlanta (replaced WYGA-CA 45, which carried Retro Jams), Mako Communications, from WUPA tower
16.1 WYGA-CD - Mexicanal (480i)
16.2 WYGA-CD - SonLife Broadcasting Network (formerly AMGTV) (480i)
16.3 WYGA-CD - color bars (formerly Retro Television) (480i)
16.4 WYGA-CD - color bars (480i)
16.5 WYGA-CD - color bars (480i)
16.6 WYGA-CD - Mexicanal (480i)
WSKC-CD 22 Atlanta, KM Communications
22.1 WSKC DT - Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (Korean; 704×480i)
WTBS-LP 26 Atlanta / WTBS-LD 30 Atlanta (on-air DTV permit), unknown, Prism Broadcasting
26.1 MMAX - MundoMax (720p)
26.2 LWN - Live Well Network (480i)
26.3 Weather - WeatherNation TV (480i)
26.4 JTV - Jewelry TV (480i)
26.5 F24news - France 24 (480i)
26.8 TUFF TV - Tuff TV (480i)
WDWW-LD 28 Atlanta, digital construction permit for WDWW-LP 28 Cleveland (previously briefly on-air on digital 7 from Sweat Mountain)
WANN-CD 29 Atlanta (silent analog WANN-LP 32 Atlanta), Prism Broadcasting, from Bank of America Plaza (analog) and North Druid Hills (digital)
32.1 APG - Zap2it Atlanta Program Guide (480i), Biz TV (windowed above guide)
32.2 RTV - Retro Television (480i)
32.3 Shop TV - infomercials (480i)
32.4 MOXiE - Moxie (formerly called Prism TV) (480i)
32.5 Oldie - Oldie Goldie: movies (480i)
32.6 Family - My Family TV (480i)
32.7 Diya TV - Diya TV (480i)
32.8 LATV - LATV (480i)
32.9 THIS TV - this TV (480i)
32.10 Estrell - Estrella TV (480i)
32.21 COMEDY - W222AF FM 92.3, "Comedy 92-3", via WUBL FM 94.9 HD-3 (audio only)
32.22 949BULL - WUBL FM 94.9, "94-9 the Bull" (audio only)
32.23 Project - WWPW FM 96.1 HD-2, "Project 9-6-1" (audio only)
32.24 PWR 961 - WWPW FM 96.1, "Power 96-1" (audio only)
32.25 WiLD - WRDG FM 96.7, "WiLD 105-7 & 96-7" (audio only)
32.26 PATRON - WBZY FM 105.3 "El Patrón" (audio only)
32.27 TBA - duplicate of 32.28 (audio only)
32.28 1310 AM - WPBC AM 1310, Spanish talk (audio only)
32.29 TBA 1 - duplicate of 32.21 (audio only)
32.30 TBA 2 - duplicate of 32.22 (audio only)
WIRE-CD 40 Atlanta (flash-cut, licensed), D.T.V. LLC, WUPA tower
40.1 WIRE-D1 - infomercials (480i)
40.2 WIRE-D2 - infomercials (480i)
40.3 WIRE-D3 - infomercials (480i)
40.4 WIRE-D4 - Three Angels Broadcasting Network (480i)
WTHC-LD 42 Atlanta, DTV-only, Beach TV Properties, from Westin Peachtree Plaza
42.1 ATLC-DT - The Atlanta Channel (tourism info) (480i)
42.2 - blank
42.3 - blank
W45DX-D 45 Atlanta (former W23DN), Ventana Television
45.1 W45DX-D - Home Shopping Network (480i)
WKTB-CD 47 Norcross (former W38CU 38 Atlanta, Telemundo), Korean American TV Broadcasting
47.1 KTNDT - Telemundo (Spanish; 480i)
47.2 KTND2 - Korean Television Network (local), KBS World (Korean; 480i)
47.3 KTND3 - TeleXitos (Spanish; 480i)
47.4 KTND4 - Midwest Christian Television (MC-TV), openly captioned in English (formerly Arirang, then infomercials) (480i)
WXID-LP 49− Atlanta, off-air (assigned to rebroadcast KTBN-TV), Word of God Fellowship, Sweat Mountain
WDTA-LD 35 Atlanta (digital cable 263, 100.63), Word of God Fellowship
53.1 WDTA-LD - Daystar (480i)
Surprisingly, LPTV channels 4, 47.1, 47.2, 47.3, and 53.1 are also carried on Comcast digital cable (on 249, 18 [1018 HD], 389, 390, and 263 for former Wometco systems), even in the most limited basic service tier, even though must-carry does not apply to LPTV stations. Charter carres 4, 32.10, 47.1, and 47.2 on 210, 85/224, 102, and 24. Even more unusually, channel 4 is also carried on DirecTV.
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters
People TV (Atlanta)
DeKalb County Television (DCTV) (DeKalb)
Roswell CitiTV (Roswell)
TV23 (Cobb)
Cobb edTV (Cobb)
There are also numerous local radio stations serving every genre of music, sports, and talk radio. The nationally syndicated Neal Boortz and Clark Howard shows are broadcast from Atlanta radio station WSB AM 750. Atlanta is also where Sean Hannity and Ryan Seacrest got their starts—Hannity filling Boortz's seat at WGST AM 640, and Seacrest as a radio personality at WSTR FM 94.1. Other notable radio personalities have included Leslie Fram and Elvis Duran (both now in New York), Rhubarb Jones, and voice talent George Lowe. Familiar Atlanta Braves announcers have included Skip Caray, Larry Munson, Don Sutton, and Pete van Wieren.
Cox Enterprises, which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV/FM/AM, is headquartered in Atlanta. Cumulus Media engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of commercial radio stations in mid-size radio markets in the United States and is also headquartered in Atlanta. As of the end of 2005, it owned and operated 307 radio stations in 61 mid-sized U.S. media markets and a multimarket network of five radio stations in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Stations in grey are considered "rimshots", normally reaching only part of the metro area clearly.
WDWD AM 590 Atlanta, Radio Disney
WPLO AM 610 Grayson (Mexican "RadioMex 610")
WGST AM 640 Atlanta (news/Talk "640 WGST")
WCNN AM 680 Atlanta (sports/talk "680 The Fan", formerly CNN simulcast)
WSB AM 750 Atlanta (news/Talk "News/Talk 750 WSB")
WQXI AM 790 Atlanta (sports/talk "790 The Zone", Sporting News Radio)
WFGM AM 830 Sandy Springs (new station construction permit)
WAEC AM 860 Atlanta (religious)
WJTP AM 890 Lithia Springs (Spanish Christian, moved-in from South Carolina in 2009)
WGKA AM 920 Atlanta (conservative talk, "Talk 920")
WNIV AM 970 Atlanta (Christian talk and teaching)
WTZA AM 1010 Atlanta (brokered)
WWWE AM 1100 Hapeville (religious)
WCFO AM 1160 East Point (business talk)
WAFS AM 1190 Atlanta
WFOM AM 1230 Marietta (sports/talk, "1230 The Fan 2", ESPN Radio)
WPBC AM 1310 Decatur
WIFN AM 1340 Atlanta (sports/talk, "1340 The Fan 3", Fox Sports Radio)
WAOK AM 1380 Atlanta (African American talk)
WATB AM 1420 Decatur
WYZE AM 1480 Atlanta (Gospel)
WAZX AM 1550 Smyrna (Spanish)
WIGO AM 1570 Morrow
WAOS AM 1600 Austell (Spanish)
WMLB AM 1690 Avondale Estates (variety)
In addition, several other smaller stations serve the suburbs.
WRAS FM 88.5 Atlanta (college radio "Album 88", daytime takeover by GPB/NPR duplication), Georgia State University students
WBCX FM 89.1 Gainesville (variety), Brenau University students
WRFG FM 89.3 Atlanta (indie radio "Radio Free Georgia"), self-supporting
WABE FM 90.1 Atlanta (NPR/classical), Atlanta Board of Education
WUWG FM 90.5 Carrollton (GPB/NPR), University of West Georgia
WUOG FM 90.7 Athens (college radio) University of Georgia students
WREK FM 91.1 Atlanta (diverse "Wreck"), Georgia Tech students
WWEV-FM 91.5 Cumming (Christian "Victory 91.5"), Curriculum Development Foundation
WUGA FM 91.7 Athens (GPB/NPR), University of Georgia
WCCV FM 91.7 Cartersville (Christian), Immanuel Broadcasting Network
W265AV 100.9 Woodstock, W221AW 92.1 North Canton, W223BP 92.5 Lithia Springs, W261BG 100.1 Morrow
WCLK FM 91.9 Atlanta (jazz/NPR), Clark Atlanta University
WZGC FM 92.9 Atlanta, sports talk radio (previously "92-9 Dave FM" from 2004-2012; AAA), CBS Radio
WVFJ-FM 93.3 Manchester (Christian contemporary "J93.3"), Provident Broadcasting Company
WSTR FM 94.1 Smyrna (top 40 "Star 94.1"), Entercom Communications
W233BF FM 94.5 Atlanta (local hip-hop "Streetz 94-5"), Edgewater Broadcasting
WUBL FM 94.9 Atlanta (country "94.9 The Bull"), iHeartMedia, Inc.
WSBB-FM 95.5 Doraville (news/Talk, simulcast of "News/Talk 750/95.5 WSB"), Cox Radio
WWPW FM 96.1 Atlanta (top 40 "Power 96.1" ("Project 9-6-1" now on HD-2), iHeartMedia
WRDG FM 96.7 Peachtree City (alternative rock "Radio 105.7 and 96.7" (repeats WRDA), iHeartMedia
WSRV FM 97.1 Gainesville (classic hits "97.1 The River"), Cox Radio
WUMJ FM 97.5 Fayetteville (classic hip hop "Boom 97-5 / 102-9"), Radio One
W250BC FM 97.9 Atlanta (classic hiphop "OG 97-9"), Cumulus Media
WSB-FM 98.5 Atlanta (adult contemporary "B98.5"), Cox Radio
W255CJ FM 98.9 Atlanta (alternative rock "99X"), Cumulus Media
WIEH-LP 99.1 Marietta (Christian music and talk mostly in Brazilian Portuguese), Ministério Semeadores de Boas Novas
WCON-FM 99.3 Cornelia (country music), now heard in northeast metro
WWWQ FM 99.7 Atlanta (top 40 "Q100"), Cumulus Media
WNSY FM 100.1 Talking Rock (regional Mexican "La Raza" simulcast with WLKQ), Davis Broadcasting
WNNX FM 100.5 College Park (mainstream and classic rock "Rock 100.5"), Cumulus Media
WKHX-FM 101.5 Marietta (country "Kicks 101.5"), Cumulus Media
WLKQ-FM 102.3 Buford (regional Mexican "La Raza" simulcast with WNSY), Davis Broadcasting
WPZE FM 102.5 Mableton (gospel music "Praise 102.5"), Radio One
W275BK FM 102.9 Decatur (WUMJ "repeater" (Boom 97-5/102-9), Extreme Media Group
WVEE FM 103.3 Atlanta (urban music "V103"), CBS Radio
WPCG-LP 103.7 Canton (Christian radio), Cherokee FM Radio
WALR-FM 104.1 Greenville (urban AC/oldies "Kiss 104.1"), Cox Radio
W228CA 93.5 Suwanee (northeast)
WFSH-FM 104.7 Athens (Christian "104.7 The Fish"; Christmas), Salem Communications
WBZY FM 105.3 Bowdon (regional Mexican & Spanish AC "105.3 El Patron"), iHeartMedia
WRDA 105.7 Canton (alternative rock "Radio 105.7 and 96.7"), iHeartMedia
WYAY FM 106.7 Gainesville (news/Talk "Newsradio 106.7"), Cumulus Media
WTSH-FM 107.1 Rockmart and W296BB Jonesboro (country "South 107"), Woman's World Broadcasting
WAMJ FM 107.5 Roswell (urban AC "Majic 107.5"), Radio One
WHTA FM 107.9 Hampton (urban "Hot 107.9"), Radio One
WUBL FM 94.9 and WSB-FM 98.5 are the primary entry points to the state of Georgia Emergency Alert System, taking emergency messages from the governor of Georgia, GEMA, or U.S. president, and relaying them to all other stations across the state.
WFSH-FM carries a Christmas music format from just before Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. Since 2011, WVFJ-FM also does so, with WSB-FM dropping it a couple of years later. In adjacent areas, WSRM 94.5 Coosa does the same in northwest Georgia.
Four local college radio stations operate on Internet radio and other means of distribution:
WGHR at Southern Polytechnic State University (CC AM 1969-1981; FM 1981-2001)
WMRE at Emory University (on-campus cable TV audio on bulletin board channel)
Owl Radio at Kennesaw State University since 2007
The WOLF Internet Radio at University of West Georgia since 2010
The major daily paper in Atlanta is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Several alternative weekly publications are also distributed, including Creative Loafing, The Sunday Paper and the Atlanta Nation. A monthly newsprint publication Stomp and Stammer features local music news, indie rock record reviews, and cultural commentary.
As of November 2010, the following newspapers are published in Atlanta:
Atlanta Business Chronicle (1978–present), weekly
Atlanta Inquirer (1960–present)
Atlanta Intown (1996–present), free monthly
The Atlanta Jewish Times (1925–present), weekly
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2001–present), Metro Atlanta's leading daily, circulation daily 174,251 (2012)
Atlanta Story (2002–present), formerly the Intown Story, Buckhead Story, and Central Dekalb Story, now an online-only newspaper [2]
Atlanta Voice (1966–present), daily, news reporting for the Atlanta African American community
Barbershop Digest (2008–present), free monthly
Creative Loafing (1972–present), the area's leading free weekly, circulation 96,654 (September 2009)
Fulton County Daily Report (1890–present), daily
The Maroon Tiger (1925-present), bi-weekly, the critically acclaimed student newspaper of Morehouse College.
The Emory Wheel (1919-present), weekly, award-winning student newspaper of Emory University.
The Nooze (current), north-northeast metro area and adjacent counties extending into northeast Georgia
The Signal (1933–present), the independent student newspaper of Georgia State University
The Southerner (1947-present), the nationally recognized student newspaper of Henry W. Grady High School
The Sunday Paper (2004–present)
Suburban newspapers include:
Acción Deportes (Spanish)
The Champion Newspaper, Inc.
The Cherokee Ledger-News
Cherokee Tribune
Clayton News Daily
CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Dunwoody Crier
Gwinnett Daily Post
Henry Herald
Marietta Daily Journal
El Nuevo Georgia (Spanish)
The Sentinel, the independent student newspaper of Kennesaw State University
In its history, Atlanta has had many other daily and weekly newspapers, starting with its first weekly, The Luminary (1846), and its first daily, the Daily Intelligencer (1849).
Atlanta Constitution (1868–2001), daily
Atlanta Daily World (1977–1988), daily
Atlanta Georgian (1906–1939), afternoon daily
Atlanta Journal (1883–2001), afternoon daily
Atlanta Press (1996?–2002?), free weekly
Atlanta Southern Confederacy (1861–1864)
Atlanta Telegram (1877)
Atlanta Times (1876)
City Guardian (1861)
Daily Evening Commonwealth (1874–1875)
Daily Examiner (1850?–1857), daily (merged with Intelligencer)
Daily Herald (1872–1876), daily
Daily Intelligencer (1849–1871), daily
Daily New Era (1866–1869), daily
Daily News (1874), daily
Daily Sun (1872–1874)
Daily True Georgian (1870)
Evening Capitol (1885)
The Great Speckled Bird (1968–1976), underground weekly
The Luminary (July 14, 1846 – 1848), weekly (1848 published as The Tribune)
Poets, Artists & Madmen (1993?–1998?), free weekly
Post Appeal (1882)
Southern Voice (1988–2009), free weekly
Southern World (1882–1885)
Sunday American, Sundays; together with the Georgian is sometimes called the Georgian-American
The Sunny South (1875–1907), literary weekly
Atlanta Daily World - news reporting for the Atlanta African American community
Atlanta Progressive News - news stories tailored for the working class
Atlanta Sun Times - Atlanta edition of Sun Times media
Express Telegraph - covering business and politics from a Georgia perspective
GlobalAtlanta - covering international business, education and culture in Atlanta from a global perspective
Patch - neighborhood news; there are editions for East Atlanta, Virginia-Highland/Druid Hills, Midtown, Buckhead and Cascade, as well as other editions across Metro Atlanta
Saporta Report - features articles chiefly about Atlanta; lead reporter Maria Saporta also writes for the Atlanta Business Chronicle
Art Papers, founded in 1977
Atlanta , founded in 1961
Atlanta Historical Bulletin, founded by the Atlanta Historical Society in 1927
Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, founded in the mid-1980s
Atlanta Now, official Atlanta visitors' guide of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau
Atlanta Tribune, aimed at black Atlantans
AtlantaGrapevine.com, the local interactive city magazine
The Atlantan, founded in 2006 by Modern Luxury
City Builder, published by the Chamber of Commerce
David Atlanta, LGBT magazine, founded in October 1998
Encore Atlanta, show program for the Fox Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera and Alliance Theatre; founded in 2002
Fenuxe Magazine, LGBT lifestyle magazine, founded February 2010
Flavors, Atlanta's dining scene
Jezebel
Russian Town, Atlanta Russian community magazine
Stomp and Stammer, music magazine founded in 1996
Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine, founded in 2001 by Atlanta Best Media
