CBS Moving to WUPA in Atlanta

[l_miro 245]

2 hours ago, TennTV1983 said:

 

That didn't stop WJKT or WHDH from trying after losing network affiliations themselves. You can operate a news-heavy operation with the right investments made, along with strong marketing.

 

It didn't, however WHDH spent 25 years doing heavy brand building. And WJXT became independent in 2002 , a much different world than today where this summer for the first time ever 18% of linear viewership was broadcast. 

 

15 years ago when linear TV was all the rage, AlJazeera America spent (or is that wasted?) $500 million and failed spectacularly. 

 

 

[l_miro 245]

3 hours ago, johnothy said:

Where do they get money to invest in WANF to be all news? I didn’t think it was highly rated to begin with. Without CBS, I’m sure they’ll be a big drop in viewers. 

 

They aren't that cash poor. Yet.

 

But that's one benefit of having scale, if ownership had to, and it was worth it, they'll throw money at the problem because other stations are cash flowing. 

 

WANF is in the black more than likely, they're just handing over less of the profit to the mothership

[TennTV1983 870]

20 hours ago, JCB4TV said:

Don't you mean WJXT in Jacksonville as WJKT is a FOX affaliate in Jackson, TN?

 

Corrected.

[ATLNewsExpert 508]

On 7/18/2025 at 8:22 AM, MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie said:

Promos are beginning to roll out for CBS Atlanta...

According to LinkedIn, Matt Quinn was in charge of this, as well as the new CBS Evening News look, not sure if the latter was ever mentioned.

[Georgie56 3661]

Appears the news operation won't be ready in time for launch day.

 

A CBS spokesperson noted that the newsroom, set to launch in September, won’t be operational when WUPA assumes the CBS affiliation from WANF, but declined to share further details on its initial scale.

[ColtFromGulfcoast 869]

6 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Appears the news operation won't be ready in time for launch day.

 

A CBS spokesperson noted that the newsroom, set to launch in September, won’t be operational when WUPA assumes the CBS affiliation from WANF, but declined to share further details on its initial scale.

Change the callsign to WWAJ at this point. 

[Breaking News 888]

6 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Appears the news operation won't be ready in time for launch day.

 

A CBS spokesperson noted that the newsroom, set to launch in September, won’t be operational when WUPA assumes the CBS affiliation from WANF, but declined to share further details on its initial scale.

CBS said the same thing back in 1994/1995, for WGPR now WWJ in Detroit. It took em almost 25 years to get an operation. My goodness WUPA probably looking at 2050 at this point.

[TheRob 969]

Existing newsrooms struggle to hire talent and keep them away from public relations and corporate communications. I'm not sure why CBS thought they could pursue such an aggressive timeline.

[GraphicsMan 345]

This was obviously poorly planned. CBS choose the wrong battle.

[bostonmediaguy 129]

Wasn't this the plan all along? CBS never once indicated that local news would debut on launch day.

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

Didn't this happen with WWJ as well?

[TheNewsTV 342]

But WWJ was already CBS, it just didn't have local news.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

The difference with WWJ was because they were literally the station of last resort in Detroit, after CBS tried and failed with every other station there.  They at least had the nuclueus of WKBD to start from, even though Paramout (pre-CBS) shuttered the operation before their first merger. Still, the startup costs were much higher the first go-around given the technology required at the time.

 

This time with CBS Atlanta, it's on a shaky new foundation under Skydance.  CBS needs the cash and will take back their network affiliation in a heartbeat if they feel they are getting screwed.  Watch for more dis-affiliations in the future and more cuts to the legacy CBS network.... 

[GraphicsMan 345]

4 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

The difference with WWJ was because they were literally the station of last resort in Detroit, after CBS tried and failed with every other station there.  They at least had the nuclueus of WKBD to start from, even though Paramout (pre-CBS) shuttered the operation before their first merger. Still, the startup costs were much higher the first go-around given the technology required at the time.

 

This time with CBS Atlanta, it's on a shaky new foundation under Skydance.  CBS needs the cash and will take back their network affiliation in a heartbeat if they feel they are getting screwed.  Watch for more dis-affiliations in the future and more cuts to the legacy CBS network.... 

 

I wonder how many stations there gonna cut I know KIRO and WTSP in Seattle and Tampa respectively have there CBS affiliation days numbered. Oh you know what I just forgot CBS owns WBXI in Indianapolis, CBS already put Nexstar in there place by taking the CBS affiliation away from one of there stations WJMN and they could do the same in Indy. Or I could see Skydance buying Nexstar’s WTTV, KOIN and the NC station. I could also see them buying 2 more stations in Texas.

Edited August 3, 2025 by GraphicsMan

[mre29 1967]

5 hours ago, GraphicsMan said:

I wonder how many stations there gonna cut I know KIRO and WTSP in Seattle and Tampa respectively have there CBS affiliation days numbered. Oh you know what I just forgot CBS owns WBXI in Indianapolis, CBS already put Nexstar in there place by taking the CBS affiliation away from one of there stations WJMN and they could do the same in Indy. Or I could see Skydance buying Nexstar’s WTTV, KOIN and the NC station. I could also see them buying 2 more stations in Texas.

 

If CBS pulls their affiliations from KIRO and WTSP, it'll put both Cox and Tegna in new territory as none of their existing independent stations (Cox has three, Tegna has five) are stand-alone.

 

[Georgie56 3661]

CBS has announced the leadership team for Atlanta. Also, newscasts will indeed launch in September.

[Recovering Producer 410]

9 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

CBS has announced the leadership team for Atlanta. Also, newscasts will indeed launch in September.

 

September 30 is just under eight weeks away. That is an aggressive timeline to go from news director announcement to live product, even if they launch a light schedule with the CBS equivalent of a Scrippscast. While I am sure there has been a lot of behind the scenes work from an operational and engineering perspective, I'll believe newscasts in September when I see them.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

It wouldn't surprise me to farm it out to another of their markets for the time being just to get it on the air.  Their prior effort was largely non-local and even resorted to simulcasting news from places like Boston during the height of COVID-19.

[GraphicsMan 345]

Yeah usually a news department takes longer than 8 weeks to build. 

[atlnews2 631]

CBSAtlanta.net now redirects to an Atlanta landing page on cbsnews.com 

 

cbsatlanta.com continues to redirect to Atlantanewsfirst.com 

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

Now confirmed: the official website will be https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta as I mentioned in an earlier post.  Right now, it shows as coming soon...

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Looks like Gray is getting the last laugh on letting CBSAtlanta.com get away.

 

CBS probably can't afford to buy it under the new Skydance management!

[Breaking News 888]

Business

Atlanta’s new CBS station names new leaders ahead of launch

As the national network transforms WUPA-TV into its Atlanta affiliate, it is building out a newsroom from scratch.

 

By Savannah Sicurella

9 hours ago

 

Less than two weeks from launching its Atlanta news station on WUPA-TV (Channel 69), CBS has named three senior executives with ties to the city to lead the venture.

Tom Canedo, who has worked in various capacities across WUPA for more than two decades, will continue to lead the station as its president and general manager.

 

Shawn Hoder will serve as news director and vice president. Hoder currently sits in the same role at CBS’ owned and operated station in Pittsburgh and spent about seven years in the Atlanta market at 11 Alive (WXIA-TV) more than a decade ago.

Barbara Roeder has been tapped as the vice president of sales, returning to the station after more than 10 years on the sales team at FanDuel Sports Network. She previously worked with WUPA for about 15 years.

Earlier this summer, longtime Atlanta CBS affiliate Atlanta News First (WANF) announced it would go independent after more than two decades. CBS then announced that WUPA, one of its owned-and-operated stations in the city, would become its Atlanta affiliate, delivering the network’s national entertainment, news and sports programming, as well as local news.

CBS Atlanta is now building a newsroom from scratch, and several newsroom positions remain publicly listed online.

 

The station’s news operation will debut in September, and its live linear feed will be available on Paramount+.

Hoder and Roeder will begin Aug. 18. Canedo, who in his role will also oversee CBS’ independent stations in Tampa and Seattle, will report to Jennifer Mitchell, the president of CBS Stations and CBS News and Stations Digital.

“Launching CBS Atlanta represents a significant investment in local journalism and community connection,” Mitchell said in the announcement. “Tom, Shawn and Barbara each bring deep experience and strong ties to the Atlanta market. Their leadership will be essential as we build a station that reflects the voices of the community and delivers trusted, impactful news and content.”

[GraphicsMan 345]

22 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Looks like Gray is getting the last laugh on letting CBSAtlanta.com get away.

 

CBS probably can't afford to buy it under the new Skydance management!

Could be tough under Skydance, CBS can’t just disaffiliate stations and build new news departments from scratch all the time. CBS is gonna have to learn it can’t do that they might get away with that 2 more times with Tampa and Seattle but after that they gonna have to deal with Gray, and Nexstar and everyone else all over again.

Edited August 7, 2025 by GraphicsMan

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

1 hour ago, GraphicsMan said:

Could be tough under Skydance, CBS can’t just disaffiliate stations and build new news departments from scratch all the time. CBS is gonna have to learn it can’t do that they might get away with that 2 more times with Tampa and Seattle but after that they gonna have to deal with Gray, and Nexstar and everyone else all over again.

It could be an interesting legal precedent if CBS takes Gray to court. 

Could it technically be cyber squatting if Gray owns the domain yet no longer has the rights to CBS in Atlanta?  It's a power move to keep their WANF viewers in the tent since the station was once known as "CBS Atlanta".