WPCH-TV - History - Ted Turner Enters The Picture

Ted Turner Enters The Picture

In January 1970, entrepreneur Ted Turner, who ran his father's billboard business and also owned radio stations, bought the low-rated UHF outlet. Soon after, Turner changed the call letters to WTCG, which reportedly stood for "Watch This Channel Grow" (though the "TCG" officially stood for Turner Communications Group, the forerunner to Turner Broadcasting System). WTCG initially retained its original programming format.

During an interview in 2004, Turner revealed that some of the problems that had dogged WJRJ were present in the early days at WTCG. First, when Turner bought the station, it was the only one in the Atlanta market still broadcasting exclusively in black-and-white because the previous owners had not made necessary color upgrades. Second, money was still very tight during the first couple of years that Turner owned the station. The station decided to purchase the color broadcasting equipment it needed on credit after Turner took over. However, some months had passed and Turner found himself unable to make the payments on the equipment. As a last resort (after unsuccessfully attempting to secure further financing), Turner held an on-air telethon, much in the manner of public television, to raise the money needed to pay the station's bills. Third, there was new competition in the form of new UHF station WATL (channel 36) beginning operations. Once the financial problems were settled, WTCG eventually drove WATL off the air. WTCG threw an on-air party in celebration, but they would soon have a new competitor when WHAE-TV (channel 46, now WGCL-TV) went on the air in 1971. Originally owned by Christian Broadcasting Network, that station ran a general entertainment format mixed with Christian religious programs (like CBN's flagship, The 700 Club) and competitive, but WTCG remained the leading independent in Atlanta.

Turner had a low budget in terms of programming purchases, and would bid very low on new shows offered in syndication, and network stations like WAGA-TV, WSB-TV (channel 2) and WXIA-TV (channel 11) would get the best product. But due to network commitments, the three major affiliates could only keep programs for a few years. Turner would then buy the shows that the major affiliates did not renew for nearly half the price of original purchase. Turner also bought most of the movie packages in this manner. The station placed an on-air emphasis on its movie library; one notable program was Academy Award Theatre, which showcased only Oscar-winning (or nominated) films. Old films of the 1930s, '40's, and '50's (mostly from Warner Bros.) were a part of the regular schedule and were shown every day. Many old films which had either never been telecast in the Atlanta area (such as the 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream) or had not been seen on television for a long time, made their local television debut or "comeback" on WTCG. The sports programming included games of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Flames, and Georgia Championship Wrestling, one of the roots of the later World Championship Wrestling. The sports and wrestling would become foundation blocks during the early satellite years (see below).

WTCG made its name also by producing humorous, satirical newscasts. One such newscast was 17 Update Early in the Morning, which featured usually straight-faced Bill Tush and Tina Seldin reporting the news in a mostly normal fashion, occasionally interacting with the studio crew, and with comedic sideline gags at times by another co-anchor (The Unknown Newsman) wearing a brown paper grocery bag over his head. The newscast, which often contained elements resembling that of a comedic morning drive radio show, had a several-year run between late night/early morning movie presentations from 1975 to 1979. Turner discontinued that program after a Congressional investigation took place concerning his fulfilling Federal Communications Commission public service requirements, some months before Turner would prepare to launch CNN, an all-news channel that would strive to be anything but comedic. Turner reassigned Tush to regular interview programs on WTCG and during the early years of CNN, as well as a skit comedy show between 1980 and 1982.

Another show on the WTCG lineup was Future Shock, hosted by the legendary R&B singer James Brown. The show, which bore similarities to American Bandstand and Soul Train, aired late nights each Friday in the mid-1970s. In the 1970s, WTCG was the first local Atlanta station to bring back telecasts of old films from the 1930s and 1940s. This came after a rather long period in which local stations had abandoned their practice of telecasting very old films, and had begun concentrating on films made in the 1950s and afterwards.