WAGT - History

History

The station began operations December 24, 1968 as WATU-TV, the third television station in Augusta. Two Washington, D.C.-based men, Harold Twisdale and David Steel, were the leaders of the original ownership group, operating as Augusta Telecasters Inc. On paper, the new channel 26 was an NBC affiliate at its launch. Unfortunately, the station became one of numerous UHF start-ups of that era to fail to obtain a foothold against long-established VHF competition.

Despite the presence of WATU-TV, NBC continued to keep secondary affiliations with ABC affiliate WJBF and CBS outlet WRDW-TV (channel 12) as it had since September 1, 1967, most likely because most Augusta-area viewers still didn't have UHF-capable sets. During this time it was not unusual for tape-delayed NBC programs to air on both WJBF and WRDW between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. before the respective networks' prime-time feeds began for the evening. WJBF also aired the Today Show and WRDW-TV ran The Tonight Show. Another problem for channel 26 came from the South Carolina side of the Augusta market, where many viewers received a better signal and most of the full NBC schedule from Columbia-based WIS-TV (channel 10). Mainly because of those situations, WATU-TV went off-the-air ("dark" in television terminology) in 1970.

Similar situations occurred in two other Southern markets that were "intermixed" with one UHF and two VHF channels. At the same time WATU was shut down, the owners of NBC station WRDU-TV (now WRDC) in Durham, North Carolina petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for help in its battle against then-CBS affiliate WTVD, which had been cherry picking NBC programs for several years. In 1971 the FCC ruled that VHF stations in markets with three or more commercial outlets can be affiliated with only one network. This forced WTVD and, by extension, WAPI-TV (now WVTM-TV) in Birmingham to choose between one of the networks; the Durham station ultimately chose CBS full-time while the Birmingham outlet went with NBC. Though this decision was too late to save WATU's first incarnation, a precedent was set which allowed the station to return to the airwaves. Channel 26 eventually resumed broadcasts in 1974, and the station was able to secure a full NBC affiliation.

The original partners of Augusta Telecasters, Twisdale and Steel sold WATU to local businessmen J. Thomas Jones and Francis Robertson, in the late-1970s. Jones and Robertson, in turn, sold to present owner Schurz Communications in 1980. The new owners changed the station's call letters to the current WAGT in summer 1981, and for much of the next decade, the station used the on-air branding 26 Power. Even during a very prosperous period for NBC as a whole WAGT continued to languish in the ratings, against both WJBF and WRDW-TV but also against Columbia's WIS-TV, whch was available on cable in much of the area (even in Augusta itself) well into the 21st century.

At some point in the early-2000s, the station began to manage and promote the area's cable-only WB affiliate "WBAU". The service signed-on in 2000 but was originally operated by a separate entity. In early-2007, WAGT once again changed its identity to prepare for the digital phase-out of channel numbers in February 2009. This time it became "NBC Augusta" which resulted in the complete phase out of the channel number. In 2008, the station began branding in several voice promos and during newscasts referring to themselves as "NBC Augusta 26". However, there were no major graphical changes due to the new "NBC Augusta" graphics being created by Giant Octopus.

In 2009, the bug logo on the newscasts introduced a modified "NBC Augusta" logo with a bold Century Gothic typeface "26" off to the right of the logo. There have been several voice-over sequences within promos and graphics that have updated the branding to "NBC Augusta 26" without a change in graphics. However the main station graphics, its website, and the station's weather cut-ins during programming hours still brand as "NBC Augusta". At this point, WAGT brands as either "NBC Augusta" or "NBC 26". Newscast graphics were redesigned in 2009 to reflect the new "NBC Augusta 26" brand although the website still brands as "NBC Augusta".

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. WRDW offered UPN on a second digital subchannel which was announced as the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. As a result of WAGT's association with WBAU, it received rights to carry The CW. Schurz decided to do away with the fictional call sign upon launching a simulcast of the station on a new second digital subchannel of WAGT.

In October 2009, the parent companies of WAGT and WJBF announced that the two would enter into joint sales and shared services agreements in January 2010. This resulted in the two combining news operations, sales, and other operational services. It was later announced that WJBF would control all of WAGT's news and advertising operations while that station handle programming and the maintaining of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. Most of WAGT's managerial staff were dismissed and other employees were reassigned to different positions. Media General had initially intended to move WAGT into an expanded wing of WJBF's studios on Reynolds Street. However, that facility, built in 1956, is unable to sustain the expansion needed to house both stations. Media General instead chose to renovate a former Barnes and Noble store which would allow both stations to retain their news identities with sharing efficiencies. The new facility at the Augusta West Shopping Center was expected to be completed by April 2011, but was ultimately pushed back until October.