Call letters' meaning see WMAZ-TV | ||
Branding Central Georgia's CW (general)
13WMAZ Eyewitness News on Central Georgia's CW (newscasts) Channels Digital: WMAZ-DT 13.2 (VHF)
Virtual: 13.2 (PSIP) Affiliations The CW (via The CW Plus) Owner Tegna, Inc.
(Pacific and Southern, LLC) First air date September 21, 1998 (1998-09-21)
(as cable-only "WBMN")
October 14, 2013 (2013-10-14)
(as a digital subchannel of WMAZ-TV) | ||
WMAZ-DT2 is a CW-affiliated television station located in Macon, Georgia, United States. It operates as a second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WMAZ-TV (channel 13), which is owned by TEGNA. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13.2. Its parent station maintains studio facilities located on Gray Highway on the northeast side of Macon, and its transmitter is located on GA 87/U.S. 23/U.S. 129 Alternate (Golden Isles Highway) along the Twiggs-Bibb County line. The subchannel, Branded as Central Georgia's CW, is affiliated with The CW Plus.
Contents
History
The subchannel's history traces back to the September 21, 1998 launch of "WBMN," a cable-only affiliate of The WB Television Network that was originally managed and promoted by Cox Communications alongside the launch of The WB 100+ Station Group, a similar service to The CW Plus that was created to expand national coverage of The WB via primarily local origination channels managed by cable providers in markets ranked above #100 by Nielsen Media Research. Since it was a cable-exclusive outlet and therefore not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the channel used the "WBMN" callsign in a fictional manner. Prior to the launch of the cable channel, residents in the Macon market were only able to receive WB network programming on cable via the network's Atlanta affiliate WATL or via Chicago-based superstation WGN on both cable and satellite.
On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW. The CW Plus was created by the network as a replacement for The WB 100+ Station Group to allow the existing cable outlets as well as low-power analog stations and digital subchannels of major network affiliates in smaller markets that joined The WB 100+ in the years following its launch to maintain a network affiliation; "WBMN" affiliated with The CW Plus on September 18, 2006 upon the launch of the CW network.
On October 3, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that WMAZ-TV will carry The CW on a new second digital subchannel, retaining the "Central Georgia's CW" branding used by "WBMN'". On October 11, WMAZ began transmitting a test pattern on digital subchannel 13.2. The subchannel officially debuted at midnight on October 14, 2013, with Gannett assuming promotional and advertising control of "WBMN" from Cox Communications with the subsequent sign-on of WMAZ-TV digital subchannel 13.2. It remained available on Cox cable channel 3 (a high definition feed of the channel was also provided to Cox subscribers). The subchannel broadcasts in the 720p resolution format for high definition programming, rather than The CW's native 1080i format.
Newscasts
WMAZ-TV produces five hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour on weekdays) for WMAZ-DT2; the subchannel does not broadcast news programming on Saturdays and Sundays. With the launch of "Central Georgia's CW" over its second digital subchannel, WMAZ began producing local newscast for the channel. On October 14, 2013, the station launched two half-hour newscasts for the subchannel airing Monday through Fridays: an extension of the station's morning newscast 13WMAZ Eyewitness News Mornin', airing at 7:00 a.m., and a primetime newscast at 10:00 p.m. (both programs compete against local newscasts airing on Fox affiliate WGXA (channel 24), as well as a morning news rebroadcast and a live primetime newscast on the MyNetworkTV-affiliated subchannel of WMGT-TV (channel 41)).