WSB

City of license	Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast area	Atlanta metro area (day) Southeast U.S. (night)
Branding	AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB
Slogan	"Atlanta's news, weather, and traffic station: Depend On It!"
Frequency	750 (kHz)
First air date	March 15, 1922
Format	News/Talk
Power	50,000 watts (day and night)
Class	A
Facility ID	73977
Transmitter coordinates	33°50′38″N 84°15′12″W / 33.84389°N 84.25333°W / 33.84389; -84.25333Coordinates: 33°50′38″N 84°15′12″W / 33.84389°N 84.25333°W / 33.84389; -84.25333
Callsign meaning	"Welcome South, Brother"
Former frequencies	1922-1936: 740 (kHz)
Affiliations	CBS Radio Georgia Bulldogs (IMG)
Owner	Cox Media Group
Sister stations	WALR-FM, WSBB-FM, WSB-FM, WSRV FM, WSB-TV
Webcast	Listen live
Website	wsbradio.com

WSB (750 AM) — branded AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB — is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia broadcasting a news/talk format. The station transmits with 50,000 watts of nondirectional power day and night, enjoying clear-channel status on its broadcast frequency according to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) signatories Canada and Mexico, enabling the station to be heard across a wide coverage area during nighttime hours (sometimes extending across the east coast and Midwest of the U.S.).

It uses the slogan "Atlanta's news, weather, traffic, and Georgia Bulldogs station." The station is owned by, and is the AM flagship station for Cox Radio. WSB AM is the sister station to WSBB-FM 95.5, WSB-FM (B98.5FM), WALR-FM (Kiss 104.1), WSRV FM, (97-1 the River), WSB-TV 39 (2.1/2.2), and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper in metro Atlanta, all owned by Cox.

Although WSB is licensed for using the technology, it is not currently broadcasting in HD Radio. The digital radio system has apparently been turned off due to listener complaints of RF interference.^[1] WSB programming has been simulcast on sister FM station WSBB-FM 95.5 since August 2010.

The AM transmitter and radiating tower are located northeast of the city just inside (west) of Interstate 285, where the Northlake Tower Festival shopping center now stands on the south side of LaVista Road, opposite the northeastern terminus of Briarcliff Road. The valuable land near the regional Northlake Mall was leased for the strip mall, in which every metal object used in the construction of the building had to be tied to an earth ground to prevent radio-frequency energy from energizing it like an antenna. These objects, including plumbing and ductwork, are technically part of the ground radial system. The radio tower itself is located in the middle of the parking lot, with stores to the east, west, and south.

History[link]

The call-sign "WSB" carried an infamous history before it was assigned to a land-based broadcaster in Atlanta. In very early days of radio licensing, sea-based broadcasters were included in the call-sign assignment system. The first licensee of the call-sign "WSB" was the S.S. Francis H. Leggett. After foundering off the Oregon coast on September 18, 1914, taking a toll of two of the 67 lives aboard, the call "WSB" was reassigned to the Firewood, the name of which forms a grim coincidence with its fate: the ship burned off the coast of Peru on December 18, 1919, with 28 persons on board, all of whom were saved.^[2] Because superstitious seafarers objected to being issued a call "used by that ship which went down with all hands last month," "tainted" calls like "WSB" were quietly issued to unsinkable land stations.^[3]

Originally on 740 kHz until the 1936 FCC bandplan, WSB was the first radio station in the South, and its broadcast callsign stands for "Welcome South, Brother". Founded by the Atlanta Journal newspaper (once a competitor of the Atlanta Constitution, now merged), the station began broadcasting on March 15, 1922, just a few days prior to Journal-owned WGM AM 710 (eventually swapped to WGST AM 640).^[4] The station was only authorized to broadcast weather bulletins at first, receiving its full broadcast license later that year.

WSB smoothed the way for the radio spread of southern gospel, including through regular programming hosted by Charles Davis Tillman. The Shelby Star newspaper November 1985 issue wrote that the very talented Dan Hornsby, after the national disaster crash of the stock market, found himself working no longer for Columbia Records but for radio stations like WGST, WATL, & WCON along with being the first wake-up DJ for WSB radio in Atlanta. Lambdin Kay, the first general manager, called Hornsby "90% of the local talent on WSB".

In February 1924, Lambdin Kay called Art Gillham "The Whispering Pianist" while performing on WSB, a name he used in billing on Columbia Records, radio and theatre. Gillham returned to WSB in 1937 for regular programs. In 1927, WSB became an NBC Radio affiliate;^[5] in fact, the trademark three-tone NBC chimes were first played in the WSB studios. In 1939, the Journal newspaper and WSB radio station were sold to James Middleton Cox, the founder of what would become Cox Enterprises.

Wright Bryan, a WSB news reporter as well as managing editor of the Atlanta Journal, was also a stringer for NBC during World War II. He was the first war correspondent to broadcast an eyewitness account of the D-Day invasion from London in the early hours of June 6, 1944.

Elmo Ellis, who programmed WSB in the 1950s and 1960s, is remembered fondly as an innovator among Southern broadcasters. He provided the on-air editorials for the station, and in the 1960s, consistently supported civil rights.

From 1925 to 1956, WSB radio, along with sisters WSB-FM 104.5 (now 98.5) and WSB-TV 8 (later 2), operated out of the top floor of the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel in lower Midtown. Afterward, the WSB stations broadcast from a Colonial-style mansion specially built for broadcasting, informally known as White Columns, also located in midtown, where Peachtree Street crosses West Peachtree Street near Ansley Park. In 1998, all of the Cox Radio stations located in the Atlanta radio market, as well as WSB-TV, moved into "Digital White Columns" on the same property, the original one being demolished afterward.

WSB formerly broadcast in AM stereo using the Motorola C-QUAM system during the 1980s, a period when music could still be heard on the station. The on-air talent in this era included morning hosts Russ Spooner and Dick Hamby, playing "middle of the road" music, and Skip Caray presenting morning sportscasts. However, as WSB's format progressed to a full-time news/talk radio format by the late 1980s, the AM stereo system was turned off.

On August 16, 2010, WSB programming began to be simulcast on then-WBTS 95.5 FM, replacing the former rhythmic CHR format "95.5 The Beat." On October 1, 2010, WBTS-FM changed its call letters to WSBB. The move was made to adjust its call letters to parallel its AM sister, since it did not want to infringe on moving the heritage WSB-FM calls from 98.5 to 95.5.

Current programming[link]

Weekly[link]

This is the current schedule of WSB Radio as of May 30, 2012.

Weekly programming history[link]

Neal Boortz (political talk) and Clark Howard (consumer advice and travel), became so popular in the late 1990s that they received national syndication deals through Cox Radio. Neal Boortz and Clark Howard can now be heard on talk stations across the United States with WSB as their flagship station. Both Neal Boortz and Clark Howard's shows were originally on WGST in the 1980s and very early 1990s before going to WSB.

Before national syndication, Sean Hannity appeared locally on rival WGST in Atlanta and developed a strong local following before being hired by the Fox News Channel, and later ABC Radio. Hannity had replaced Boortz on WGST when Boortz left for WSB in 1992 (although Boortz did not appear on WSB until March 1993 because of a non-compete clause he had with WGST). In 2001, when Hannity's radio show first went national, WSB would air Hannity's show during overnight hours or on nights when there were no Atlanta Braves or Atlanta Hawks games. In early 2002, WSB began airing Hannity on a one-hour tape delay.

Other on-air news and features personalities include "Captain" Herb Emory (traffic weekdays / auto-racing show weekends), Scott Slade (morning news), Kirk Mellish (weather), Walter Reeves (gardening), O'Neill Williams (hunting and fishing), and Dave Baker (home improvement). The station voice is Jeff Davis.

2011 weekly program changes[link]

On January 5, 2011 WSB decided to change its weekly line-up by cutting the syndicated Michael Savage Show which had been at the network since 1999 in the 10 PM to 1 AM time-slot. A week later he was picked up on rival station WGST from 9 PM to midnight for Atlanta listeners. For the remainder of January, Savage's time-slot had been replaced by RedState.com Conservative blogger and frequent Herman Cain substitute, Erick Erickson who broadcasts his show locally in Atlanta at WSB from 9 PM to midnight. Herman Cain's Show was cut by an hour and aired from 7 PM to 9 PM. Syndicated finance host Dave Ramsey took over from midnight to 3 AM. "Re-Boortz", a replay of the Neal Boortz Show from the previous morning was cut to two hours airing from 3 AM to 5 AM^[6] This remained WSB’s schedule for the remainder of January 2011.

The beginning of February 2011 saw changes to WSB's weekly line-up yet again, as the show hosted by Herman Cain ended, marking February 1, 2011 as Cain’s last live show on WSB. Cain was previously a candidate for the 2004 U.S. Senate election in Georgia as a Republican and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. WSB was Cain's flagship station as The Herman Cain Show was syndicated to several other stations in the southeastern U.S. by Cox Radio.^[7] On that February 1 show, Cain announced that he was leaving WSB, effective immediately, to focus on his presidential exploratory committee. He was actively running on the Republican ticket in the 2012 presidential election until suspending his campaign due to sexual harassment allegations.

With the departure of Herman Cain, Erick Erickson moved to Cain’s original time-slot from 7 PM to 10 PM. Dave Ramsey was bumped to the earlier 10 PM to 1 AM time-slot. Re-Boortz went back to its original overnight 1 AM to 5 AM slot.

Come September 2011, Andy Dean (radio host) took the late night slot from 1 AM to 4 AM as he is now nationally syndicated on America Now with Andy Dean. His show is recorded from 6 PM to 9 PM and played in the latter slot. Dean’s show, was previously only locally broadcast in Atlanta on Sunday’s from 1 – 3 PM.

On Tuesday December 15, 2011, changes happened yet again. Clark Howard’s show was cut by an hour and is now aired from 1 PM to 3 PM. A 3rd best-of "extra" hour is played during the 9 PM hour. Sean Hannity is now broadcast live from 3 PM to 6 PM. His show was previously on a one-hour tape delay. Erick Erickson’s show is now an hour earlier from 6 PM to 9 PM.

Beginning Monday, May 28, 2012, Adam Goldfein got a show Monday-Friday on WSB from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. He announced this on his last edition of his Sunday show on May 27, 2012. His Saturday show will continue. Clark Howard Extra is no longer broadcast. The 8 o'clock hour of Erick Erickson's show, The Erick Erickson Show, has been cut, so his show runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Weekend programming[link]

This is the current Saturday schedule of WSB Radio. Times of these shows with the asterisk fluctuate depending on UGA football or basketball.

This is the current Sunday schedule of WSB Radio. Times of these shows with the asterisk fluctuate depending on UGA basketball.

In April 2006, WSB began airing The Allen Hunt Show hosted by Allen Hunt on just Sunday nights from 6 - 8 p.m. In March 2007, WSB expanded his show to two nights on the weekend. The first night is on Saturdays from 9 - 11 p.m. and then Sunday nights with an extra hour. In July 2007, The Allen Hunt Show was picked up on WSB sister stations WOKV (Jacksonville) and WHIO (Dayton). Three months later in October, they signed with Jones Radio Network to syndicate Hunt's Sunday night show and can currently be heard in 16 markets.^[8] Allen Hunt is not to be confused with the network studio producer for UGA Football and men's basketball broadcast which also broadcasts on WSB. That would be Alan Hunt which is in his 12th year at WSB and at the UGA Network. Allen Hunt now in 2012 only broadcast in Atlanta on WSB on Sunday nights.

In early March 2011, Rick and Bubba were cut by WSB on their Sunday schedule. As a result, Sean Hannity Weekend Encore from 1 – 4 PM was moved to 3 – 6 PM. Taking over the 1 – 3 PM slot is a new show featuring Andy Dean. In late 2011, Andy Dean (radio host) left WSB to be on a national radio show, America Now with Andy Dean. Although it is live weekdays 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (E/P), WSB plays it 1 a.m. - 4 a.m.

Sports programming[link]

WSB AM serves as the Atlanta flagship radio station for the University of Georgia Bulldog Radio Network, carrying all UGA NCAA college football and NCAA college basketball games. WSB has also served as the flagship station for Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball, Atlanta Falcons NFL Football, and Atlanta Hawks NBA basketball. WSB carried Braves baseball coverage from 1966, when the Braves moved from Milwaukee, until 1991. In 1992, the Atlanta Braves game coverage moved to rival WGST until 1994. In 1995, the Braves coverage returned to WSB, the year the Braves won their only Atlanta World Series title to date. That same year the Atlanta Hawks game coverage was also picked up by the station. From 1995 until 2004, WSB was branded as the "Sports Voice of the South", carrying play-by-play game coverage of Braves baseball, Hawks basketball, and UGA football and basketball.

Former programming[link]

Some other former WSB radio personalities that went on to nationally syndicated radio shows include Phil Hendrie (political commentary and satirist), and Mike Malloy (political talk).

News staff[link]

Atlanta's Morning News 5:00-8:30

• Chris Camp, news director
• Scott Slade, Atlanta's Morning News host
• Bob Coxe, Atlanta's Morning News co-anchor
• Marcy Williams, Atlanta's Morning News co-anchor
• Kirk Mellish, meteorologist
• Tony Schiavone, sports/web content
• Jay Black, producer/web content

Triple Team Traffic

• Captain Herb Emory, Doug Turnbull, Mark Arum and Kim Mcrathy - mornings
• Captain Herb Emory, Kim Mcrathy,(Doug Turnbull,Andrew Spencer, Ashley Frasca, Andrew Hammond,)rotating afternoons
• Naki Frierson - sat. mornings
• Bob Kidd - fill in
• Greg McClure - overnights
• Dave Calhoun - weekend afternoons
• Ed Arnold - sat. midday

News Updates

• Sabrina Gibbons
• Chris Chandler
• Jennifer Griffies
• Mark Alewine
• Tim Bryant (news director at Fellow Athens Cox stations: WXKT, WGAU, WNGC, WPUP, WRFC, WGMG)
• Naki Frierson
• Andrew Spencer
• Charlie O'Brien
• Reg Griffin

Reporters

• Richard Sangster
• Pete Combs (also as an Atlanta correspondent for CBS Radio)
• Veronica Waters (does morning drive news on Cox sister WSB-FM)
• Jon Lewis
• Jay Black
• Sandra Parrish
• Jamie Dupree
• Amanda Moyer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WSB
• Radio-Locator Information on WSB
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WSB
• History of WSB Radio
• WSB adds FM simulcast
• RecNet query for WSB (AM)
• http://blogs.ajc.com/radio-tv-talk/2011/01/05/redstate-coms-erick-erickson-dave-ramsey-join-wsb-radio-micahel-savage-off/

WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 (digital channel 39), is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary. Its offices and TV studios are located at the WSB Television and Radio Group building in Midtown Atlanta at 1601 West Peachtree Street, along with the offices and studios of sister radio stations WSB AM 750, WSB-FM 98.5, WSBB FM 95.5, WSRV FM 97.1, and WALR-FM 104.1 (all of which transmit from other sites). It is also co-owned with the daily publisher The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which is based from a separate facility in the suburb of Dunwoody. In the Atlanta area, it is broadcast on channel 3 on local area cable systems (cable channel 2 is held by Christian independent station WATC-DT).

The WSB-TV transmission tower is located immediately adjacent to Freedom Parkway, east of downtown Atlanta and just southwest of the Carter Center. It is so close to the highway that one of its three sets of guy wires passes over the road. Because freezing rain may accumulate in winter storms (especially since the tops of towers are colder than at ground level), the road is covered by a "tunnel" to prevent heavy ice from falling into the roadway or onto cars during and after storms. The tower has carried both analog and digital for WSB, but has no other FM or TV tenants listed by the FCC. The station has also applied for three digital broadcast translators due to the poor performance of the ATSC digital TV standard, which has caused many viewers to lose the station's over-the-air signal.

The station is also the flagship of the Mega Millions multi-state lottery.

History[link]

Early history[link]

WSB-TV first began broadcasting on September 29, 1948. It is the second-oldest station south of Washington, D.C.; only Richmond, Virginia's WTVR-TV (channel 6) is older. James M. Cox, publisher of the Atlanta Journal, started the station; he also owned WSB radio (AM 750 and 104.5 FM, now on 98.5 FM). Cox owned WSB AM/FM/TV under the banner of Miami Valley Broadcasting Inc., which later on changed its name to the modern-day Cox Enterprises.

WSB-TV originally broadcast on channel 8. At that time, its present channel 2 allocation was licensed to the Journal's rival newspaper, the Atlanta Constitution, who had plans to start WCON-TV there. In 1950, the two newspapers merged. At the time, the Federal Communications Commission did not allow one entity to own two television stations in the same market. Accordingly, WCON-TV and WSB-TV merged, operating under WSB-TV's license but using the stronger channel 2. The channel 8 allocation was eventually given to WLWA as an ABC affiliate. When that station moved to channel 11 in 1953, channel 8 was reserved as non-commercial educational by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and is now WGTV, the flagship TV station of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

In 1955, the WSB stations moved into the noted "White Columns" building, designed and built according to the Colonial Revival style, a defining characteristic of Atlanta architecture. They would remain there for 43 years, until a much more modernist concrete and glass facility was built adjacent to it (on the same property) in 1998. The new building, which has been called "Digital White Columns" by some, is located just off Atlanta's famed Peachtree Street, on the dead-end northern portion of West Peachtree Street which is actually east of Peachtree Street. This is near the Brookwood Hills area, and just east of the "Brookwood split", the well-known highway interchange where the Downtown Connector splits into Interstates 75 and 85 on the north end. The older building was razed shortly after the new building was occupied. The original columns that stood on the front portico of the old building were placed in a garden area alongside the new building. Brand new white columns have been placed inside the glass-enclosed lobby of the newer building. WSB-TV is located less than one block south of the building formerly utilized by WXIA when that station moved its operations to WATL's studios in 2008.

WSB-TV was originally a primary NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with NBC Radio. It also carried some ABC programming (from 1949, shared with WAGA-TV, channel 5) until WLWA-TV (channel 8, now WXIA-TV, channel 11) signed on in 1951.

The station was the original home to the relocated Atlanta Braves baseball team, carrying the games from 1966 to 1972 until the Braves moved to their current longtime home of what is now WPCH-TV, in 1973. Its sister AM station, was the longtime radio flagship of the Braves, carrying the broadcasts for a total of 38 of the 43 years that the franchise has been in Atlanta, dating back to 1966. Ernie Johnson, Sr., a former Braves pitcher and father of his namesake Turner Sports broadcaster, with future Hall of Fame announcer Milo Hamilton (who simutaneously pulled double-duty anchoring Channel 2's sportscasts during this time) were the main announcers for what was then the largest television network in baseball.

In 1972, the station aired the name of a murdered rape victim in violation of Georgia's shield law. The station successfully overturned the law before the US Supreme Court in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn.

As an ABC affiliate[link]

This section requires expansion with: on WSB-TV's history under its current ABC affiliation..

ABC was the highest-rated network for most of the late 1970s and, at that time, was looking for stronger affiliates across the country, including Atlanta. ABC's longtime Atlanta outlet, WXIA, frequently traded second place with WAGA. However, WSB-TV was the far-and-away market leader despite being affiliated with last-place NBC. So during the summer of 1980, both stations conducted an experiment unusual for a large market: WXIA aired NBC daytime shows in the morning and ABC daytime shows in the afternoon, while WSB aired ABC shows in the morning and NBC shows in the afternoons. By the time it was over in September 1980, WSB-TV finally swapped affiliations with WXIA, and joined ABC.

On March 12, 2011, WSB-TV and WGCL-TV turned on their ATSC-M/H signals for the first time, becoming the first stations in the Atlanta area to offer Mobile DTV broadcasts.

Digital television[link]

WSB-DT went on the air on April 17, 1998, making it one of the first regular-service digital TV stations in the country. (The -DT suffix is not mandated by the FCC, thus it is WSB-TV even for digital.)

WSB-TV transmits digital TV on channel 39, but like other stations is remapped via virtual channels.

WSB-TV also has a mobile DTV feed of subchannel 2.1, labelled "WSB MH", broadcasting at 1.83 Mbit/s.^[1][2]

WSB-HD passes-through network programming featuring 5.1 surround sound. It also uses 720p60, the same high-motion HDTV used by ABC.

The over-the-air digital subchannel 2.2 started carrying the Retro Television Network on January 28, 2008.^[3] Prior to this, the channel was blank, or later with a small station ID in the lower corner. Weigel Broadcasting, the Chicago-based television group, and partner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) announced April 4, 2011 that Me-TV, the new digital classic television network, has surpassed the 45% clearance mark with the finalization of deals with 14 leading station groups nationwide of which Cox's WSB-TV is included. Me-TV launched at 4:00 a.m. on June 1, 2011 starting with Rawhide.

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

Don McClellan, celebrating 50 years at the station, shut down its analog signal for last time on June 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM, live from the station's transmitter room on the noon newscast, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station permanently remained on digital channel 39,^[4] it uses PSIP to display WSB-TV's virtual channel as 2 on digital television receivers.

During late August and into September 2009, the station removed its analog TV antenna from the top of the tower, and moved its side-mounted digital antenna up from lower on the tower.

Broadcast translators[link]

In March 2009, the station filed applications for two digital fill-in broadcast translators, due to expected loss of signal toward the east and northeast because of the digital transition, and the shortcomings of the ATSC standard. One is on channel 46, which was vacated by analog WGCL-TV on June 26 after two extra weeks as an analog nightlight station. It is located on the same radio tower as Cox's WSRV FM and WSBB-FM (34°7′32″N 83°51′32″W / 34.12556°N 83.85889°W / 34.12556; -83.85889), having Gainesville, Georgia as its city of license, but reaching as far into the north-northeastern Atlanta suburbs as Lilburn with 5000 watts. The other is for channel 31, licensed to serve Athens, Georgia, but located only about halfway to there from Atlanta on a tower southwest of Winder (32°55′51″N 83°47′0″W / 32.93083°N 83.783333°W / 32.93083; -83.783333), and again reaching as far west as Lilburn with 9000 watts. WSB-TV requested special temporary authority to begin operating these stations immediately, pending approval of its regular applications.

Most of both stations' broadcast range overlaps with each other, and are almost entirely within the predicted coverage area of the main station, however distributed transmission (on-channel boosters) will not be used. The translators are intended to overcome the terrain obstructions caused by Stone Mountain to the east of the WSB transmitter, and were in operation by January 2011. The Athens station uses virtual channels 2.5 and 2.6 instead of 2.1 and 2.2, while the Gainesville station uses 2.7 and 2.8. This is so that viewers have their choice of whichever station is coming in more clearly at a given time. (Certain ATSC tuners may have trouble with two stations using the same virtual channel, and even if not, the user would have enter the channel number and press channel-up or -down buttons to access the alternates, which would not be separately labeled or identified by the tuner.) All have the same callsign WSB-TV.

In late June 2009, the station also applied for a translator on channel 14 just southwest of Rome, vacated by analog WPXA TV. This would cover a significant portion of northwest Georgia with only 1000 watts, from the same tower as WQTU FM 102.3 and WSRM FM 93.5 (34°14′2″N 85°13′50″W / 34.23389°N 85.23056°W / 34.23389; -85.23056), and the same site as WGPB FM 97.7, W212AR FM 90.3, and W215BA FM 90.9.[5] There is no request for STA with this station however, and as of September 2011^[update] it is still listed as only an application. In October 2010, WSB-TV applied for and later received a construction permit for another translator southwest of Atlanta in Newnan on channel 17, which was vacated by analog WPCH-TV. This station will be 10,000 watts, co-located on the same tower as Cox-owned WALR-FM 104.1 (33°24′43″N 84°50′3″W / 33.41194°N 84.83417°W / 33.41194; -84.83417), and less than a quarter mile (400m) west of another tower holding WBZY FM 105.3 (not owned by Cox).[6]

News operations[link]

Currently, WSB-TV broadcasts a total of 41 hours of local newscasts every week (with six hours on weekdays and Sundays, and five hours on Saturdays); as such, WSB-TV is one of the few Big Three network affiliates to offer more than 35 hours of local news content each week and one of the few Big Three affiliates to carry a midday newscast on weekends. In addition, WSB-TV's weekend newscast output is larger than that of Fox owned-and-operated station WAGA (channel 5), which offers a larger overall weekly (and weekday) newscast output than WSB-TV. Appropriately for a station with roots in a newspaper, WSB-TV has a strong TV news tradition. It has led the news TV ratings in Atlanta for as long as records have been kept.

One factor behind its dominance is talent continuity. Many of the station's personalities have been on the air for 15 years or more. Monica Pearson (known as Monica Kaufman until 2005) has been the station's top anchorwoman since 1975, and was one of the first African-American female anchors in the South. Since 1994, her anchor desk partner has been John Pruitt, who started at channel 2 in 1973 before beginning a 16-year run at WXIA. Glenn Burns has been the main weatherman since 1981. Chuck Dowdle (previously on TV in Miami) served as sports director from 1985 until his December 2009 retirement. Pearson, Pruitt, Burns and Dowdle had been together since Pruitt's return to channel 2 in 1994 — longer than any news team in Atlanta. On December 17, 2010, Pruitt retired after 46 years in the business, as he anchored his final 6PM newscast.

WSB-TV debuted local newscasts in high definition during its noon broadcast on September 27, 2006. It was the second in the Atlanta market to do so, behind WXIA-TV. It is also the second Cox station behind WFTV in Orlando to switch to HD. With the switch to HD came a new HD set and HD graphics from Giant Octopus, which are similar to those seen on WFTV.

In mid-November 2009, reporter Tom Jones and a cameraman escaped serious injury when the telescoping radio mast of their electronic news-gathering van (holding a microwave TV antenna for the remote pickup unit used for outside broadcasting) contacted 115-kilovolt high-voltage powerlines while leaving the Fulton County Jail. Georgia Power staff were surprised anyone survived, but the two were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation at Grady Memorial Hospital and released later in the day. The massive electric spark caused an explosion, left a crater underneath the van, arced to and broke a water main, and caused a brief power outage; the vehicle was a total loss.^[5][6][7]

In July 2010, WSB-TV expanded its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours, with the start time moved to 4:30 a.m. It announced a news partnership with Telemundo affiliate WKTB-LD on August 23, 2010.^[8] On September 29, 2010 beginning with the noon newscast, WSB-TV fully switched its graphics package from the 2006 Giant Octopus graphics to a new graphics package.^[9] WSB had already been using this graphics package since late 2009 for its promos. It features a sleeker "2" logo, located in the bottom right hand corner that is not solid but gray (later changed to gold). The news ticker used during the morning newscasts is a similar design to the one on Charlotte sister station WSOC-TV. Coverage by 615 Music is still used as the station's news theme with the package, but now news opens feature an animated "News Chopper 2" flying across the screen while views of Downtown Atlanta are displayed in the background; the graphics still consist of blue and red colors.^[10]

On November 23, 2010, WSB-TV announced that it will debut an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, that would replace Oprah when the daytime talk show ended its 25-year run; along with the additional newscast, WSB-TV announced that it will hire additional on-air and behind-the-scenes news staff members.^[11] The newscast debuted on May 26, 2011.^[12]

Out-of-market coverage[link]