WRBL, virtual channel 3 (digital channel 15), is the CBS-affiliated television station in Columbus, Georgia. The station is owned by Media General, with studios in Columbus. Its transmitter, located in Cusseta, Georgia, once held the record as the tallest man-made structure on Earth.

Digital programming[link]

WRBL-DT broadcasts on UHF digital channel 15.

WRBL replaced RTV with Me-TV, a digital broadcast network owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, featuring sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s to the 1980s, which took the place of RTV on digital subchannel 3.2 on September 26, 2011, as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with Media General; the channel replaced RTV on some Media General-owned stations in other markets.^[2]

History[link]

WRBL first went on the air on November 15, 1953—just over a month after NBC affiliate WDAK-TV (channel 28, now WTVM on channel 9). It is Georgia's second-oldest station outside of Atlanta (after Macon's WMAZ-TV) as well as the second-oldest in Columbus. It was owned by Jim Woodruff along with WRBL radio (AM 1420, now WRCG, and FM 102.9, now WVRK). Originally on channel 4, it moved to channel 3 in 1960 as part of a three-city swap which saw WTVM move to channel 9 and WTVY in Dothan, Alabama move to channel 4.

The station has always been a CBS affiliate owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with CBS Radio, but shared ABC with WTVM until the channel switch of 1960, when WTVM switched to ABC to get in line with then co-owned WTVC, also on channel 9. At that time, WRBL began sharing NBC with WTVM. WRBL is the only major station in Columbus that has never changed its original affiliation. Columbus was one of the very few two-station markets in the 1960s without its own primary NBC affiliate, although NBC affiliates in Albany, Atlanta and Montgomery could be picked up with relative ease. WYEA (now WLTZ) took over the NBC affiliation when it opened in October 1970.

Woodruff owned the station until his death in a car crash in the 1970s. After his death, banks controlled the station until it was bought by Malcolm Glazier's Avant Corporation of Rochester, New York. He sold it to TCS Partners, who, in turn, sold it to Spartan Communications. Spartan merged with current owner Media General in 2000.

Because half of the station's viewing area is in the Central Time Zone (though much of it unofficially observes Eastern Time), programming that is normally delayed an hour in this time zone is aired live, and thus, airs an hour earlier for viewers in Alabama.

News operation[link]

Due to economic conditions from 2008 through 2009, WRBL's owner Media General enacted a series of staff reductions that noticeably affected the amount of news that WRBL offered. First, 6 p.m. weekend newscasts were eliminated in Fall 2008, and the remaining weekend newscasts were eliminated in early 2009. Soon after, the 5 p.m. and noon newscasts were dropped. However, as of August 2010, the noon newscast has been added back to the WRBL lineup. On October 17, 2010, WRBL revived the Sunday night edition of News 3 Nightwatch. Unlike the previous newscasts that were cancelled, the duties of these newscasts are spread throughout remaining staff members, including the anchor team. On September 12, 2011, the station revived News 3 First Edition weekdays at 5 p.m.

News/Station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• TV-3 News
• 3 Eyewitness News (1980s–early 1990s)
• NewsCenter 3
• Channel 3 News
• NewsChannel 3 (early 1990s–2001)
• News 3 (2001–present)

Station slogans[link]

• Complete, Concise, Comprehensive (1980s)
• Your 24-Hour News Source (early 1990s)
• On Your Side (1995–present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team[link]

Anchors

• Phil Scoggins - News 3 Evening Edition at 6 and News 3 Nightwatch, Monday-Fridays at 11 p.m.
• Tammy Terry - News 3 This Morning (5-7 am) and News 3 Midday
• Teresa Whitaker - News 3 Evening Edition at 6 and News 3 Nightwatch, Sunday-Fridays at 11pm
• Sarah Panko - News 3 First Edition, weekdays at 5 p.m.

News 3 First Alert Weather

• Bob Jeswald - Chief Meteorologist; seen on News 3 First Edition, Evening Edition and Nightwatch, weekdays
• David Reese - Meteorologist; seen on News 3 This Morning and Midday, weekdays
• Kurt Schmitz - Senior Meteorologist; News 3 Nightwatch, Sundays

3 On Your Side Sports

• Stuart Webber - Sports Director; weeknights at 6, and Sunday-Fridays at 11 p.m., also host of The PrepZone

Reporters

• Raquel Rodriguez - Digital Journalist
• Liz Buckthorpe - Digital Journalist
• Brandice Hudson - Digital Journalist
• Sydney Cameron - Digital Journalist

Former on-air staff[link]

• Rece Davis - sports director (now at ESPN)
• Janice Huff - meteorologist/science reporter (now meteorologist at WNBC-TV in New York City and Weekend Today)
• Anne Montgomery - sports reporter (early-mid 1980s; later at KTSP and then ESPN, now a teacher at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona)
• Blaine Stewart, anchor/reporter 2001-2006 (now anchor/weathercaster at WTKR-TV)
• Alison Flowers - digital journalist 2009-2011 (now research associate for the Medill Innocence Project)
• Meredith Armstrong - digital journalist 2009-2011 (now Tuscaloosa Bureau Reporter at WVTM-TV)

References[link]

External links[link]

• WRBL Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WRBL
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WRBL-TV