The Now Explosion was an early experiment in music video produced in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970, more than a decade before MTV was launched. The program was televised in Atlanta on WATL -TV and, later, WTCG-TV (now WPCH-TV ).
128-454: WATL (channel 36) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia , United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV . It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (channel 11). The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end of midtown Atlanta . WATL's transmitter shares a broadcast tower with several other local stations near North Druid Hills , just northeast of
256-464: A nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $ 473 billion in 2021, Atlanta has the 11th-largest economy among cities in the U.S. and the 22nd-largest in the world. Its economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors in industries including transportation, aerospace, logistics, healthcare, news and media operations, film and television production, information technology, finance, and biomedical research and public policy. Atlanta established itself on
384-598: A Jewish-American factory superintendent, was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old girl in a highly publicized trial. He was sentenced to death but the governor commuted his sentence to life. An enraged and organized lynch mob took him from jail in 1915 and hanged him in Marietta . The Jewish community in Atlanta and across the country were horrified. On May 21, 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire destroyed 1,938 buildings in what
512-447: A blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else". A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus , and later Thrasherville , after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Later, John Edgar Thomson , Chief Engineer of
640-419: A blend of CBS , NBC and ABC shows pre-empted from WAGA-TV , WSB-TV and WXIA-TV, respectively. One popular local program in 1976–77 was The Kids' Show with Otis , where segments featuring a puppet named Otis, played by a teenaged puppeteer named Steve Whitmire , played as interstitials between public-domain black-and-white cartoons. Whitmire's work on the show won him an audition with Jim Henson and led to
768-507: A block of dinnertime game shows. Ted Turner 's WTCG (channel 17, later WTBS and now WPCH-TV ), which had been operating two years longer, spent far less on programming and survived. WATL was also the first station in the country to run music videos all weekend, on a show called The Now Explosion . On March 24, 1971, Frank Minner Jr., the president of U.S. Communications Corporation, announced at an Atlanta press conference that, due to low advertising revenue, WATL-TV (and KEMO-TV) would go off
896-588: A city of the " New South " that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now the Georgia Institute of Technology ) and the Atlanta University Center , a consortium of historically Black colleges made up of units for men and women, had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted
1024-462: A company partially owned by musician Quincy Jones and Tribune Broadcasting (Fox would not be without an owned-and-operated station in Atlanta for long, as it bought WAGA and the other New World stations in late 1996). Although it lost the Fox affiliation, WATL kept Fox Kids programming, which was not cleared by WAGA; outside of the loss of the prime time Fox shows and weekend sports, channel 36's programming
1152-492: A decreasing portion of the population, from a high of 67% in 1990 to 54% in 2010. From 2000 to 2010, Atlanta gained 22,763 white residents, 5,142 Asian residents, and 3,095 Hispanic residents, while the city's Black population decreased by 31,678. Much of the city's demographic change during the decade was driven by young, college-educated professionals: from 2000 to 2009, the three-mile radius surrounding Downtown Atlanta gained 9,722 residents aged 25 to 34 and holding at least
1280-452: A few classic sitcoms plus more movies. Then in 1984, the station was sold again, this time to Outlet Communications ; the sale closed in early 1985, having been intentionally delayed to allow buyer and seller to take advantage of new tax breaks. Gradually, WATL acquired stronger programming such as Cheers , Webster , and Family Ties , as well as newer syndicated cartoons as these became abundant by 1985. Outlet also built new studios for
1408-571: A four-year degree, an increase of 61%. This was similar to the tendency in other cities for young, college educated, single or married couples to live in downtown areas. Between the mid-1990s and 2010, stimulated by funding from the HOPE VI program and under leadership of CEO Renee Lewis Glover (1994–2013), the Atlanta Housing Authority demolished nearly all of its public housing, a total of 17,000 units and about 10% of all housing units in
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#17328946501011536-575: A half years after filing to buy the station, the Briarcliff Communications Group received FCC approval to purchase the construction permit for WATL-TV from U.S. Communications Corporation for $ 23,500. Briarcliff Communications was partially owned (30.5%) by Don Kennedy , a well-known broadcaster in Atlanta; Kennedy started WKLS-FM in the early 1960s and also the Georgia News Network , providing statewide news to radio stations. He
1664-614: A major organizing center of the American civil rights movement , with Martin Luther King Jr. , Ralph Abernathy , and many other locals becoming prominent figures in the movement's leadership. In the modern era, Atlanta has remained a major center of transportation, with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport becoming the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic in 1998 (a position it has held every year since, except for 2020), with an estimated 93.7 million passengers in 2022. With
1792-686: A major role in Atlanta's economy, as the city claims the nation's third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies (tied for third with Chicago ). It also hosts the global headquarters of several corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company , The Home Depot , Delta Air Lines , Arby's , AT&T Mobility , Georgia-Pacific , Chick-fil-A , Church's Chicken , Dunkin Donuts , Norfolk Southern Railway , Mercedes-Benz USA , NAPA Auto Parts , Papa Johns , Porsche AG , Newell Brands , Rollins, Inc. , Marble Slab Creamery , and UPS . Over 75% of Fortune 1000 companies conduct business operations in
1920-602: A nearly four-decade-long career with the Muppet organization, playing iconic characters such as Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Wembley Fraggle , and (after Henson's death in 1990) Kermit the Frog and Ernie . The station also made a brief venture into subscription television with a trial in late 1980 and early 1981, but it opted not to move forward after the trial. The station introduced several program changes, including daily business programming from
2048-496: A new home production base. Program segments were produced at Miami Teleproductions in Miami and 2 inch video editing was undertaken at Videotape Associates in Ft. Lauderdale (now VTA of Atlanta). After 26 weeks in syndication in early 1971, Whitney cancelled The Now Explosion , when the high costs of production and distribution outpaced the commercial revenue. Turner would once again enter
2176-409: A postwar suburban layout. These include Collier Heights and Cascade Heights , historically home to much of the city's upper middle-class African-American population . Northwest Atlanta contains the areas of the city to west of Marietta Boulevard and to the north of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, including those neighborhoods remote to downtown, such as Riverside, Bolton and Whittier Mill. The latter
2304-733: A price of $ 100,000; FCC approval of the transfer was granted on May 12, 1965. At the time of the FCC sale approval, Overmyer owned construction permits for two UHF stations, WDHO-TV in Toledo and WNOP-TV in Cincinnati. In addition, he was in the process of buying existing construction permits for two other UHF stations in San Francisco (KBAY-TV, channel 20) and Pittsburgh (WAND-TV, channel 53), as well as applying for new UHF stations in Houston and Dallas . Neither of
2432-416: A prime time newscast at 10 p.m. for WATL, My 11 Alive News at 10 (now called 11 Alive News: Primetime at 10 on The ATL ); it competes against the 10:00 p.m. newscast broadcast by WAGA. On December 2, 2019, WATL began airing WXIA-produced newscasts through all three hours of prime time weeknights, bumping MyNetworkTV programming to overnight hours. In April 2017, WATL added a 7:00 p.m. newscast; it
2560-486: A result, WQXI-TV signed off on May 31, 1955, after less than six months on the air. (The WQXI call sign was later used on Channel 11, now-sister station WXIA-TV, from 1968 to 1974.) Despite being off the air, the call letters were changed to WATL-TV in early 1956. On August 17, 1964, the FCC announced that an application had been filed to transfer the WATL-TV construction permit from Robert Rounsaville to Daniel H. Overmyer for
2688-413: A short distance from these facilities. Whitney's aim was to create a cost-effective television program that would emulate the success of Top 40 radio, all the way down to the use of an unseen disk jockey. The concept was born about ten years before the arrival of MTV . In 1970, The Now Explosion began its first regular broadcasts on Atlanta's WATL-TV, where it aired 28 hours each weekend. By this time,
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#17328946501012816-680: A strategic hub for the distribution of military supplies. In 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia . The region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four-month-long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman . On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood decided to retreat from Atlanta, and he ordered
2944-523: A survey by the Williams Institute , Atlanta ranked third among major American cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle , with 12.8% of the city's total population identifying as LGB. The Midtown and Cheshire Bridge areas have historically been the epicenters of LGBT culture in Atlanta. Atlanta formed a reputation for being a place inclusive to LGBT people after former mayor Ivan Allen Jr. dubbed it "the city too busy to hate" in
3072-470: A telegram to the state's Board of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned. In the 1960s, Atlanta became a major organizing center of the civil rights movement , with Martin Luther King Jr. , Ralph Abernathy , and students from Atlanta's historically Black colleges and universities playing major roles in
3200-464: A terminus east of the Chattahoochee River , which would be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Foundry Street, Five Points . When asked in 1837 about the future of the little village, Stephen Harriman Long , the railroad's chief engineer said the place would be good "for one tavern,
3328-443: Is 21 miles (34 km) southeast of Marietta , 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Alpharetta , 146 miles (235 km) southwest of Greenville, South Carolina , 147 miles (237 km) east of Birmingham, Alabama , and 245 miles (394 km) southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina . Despite having lost significant tree canopy coverage between 1973 and 1999, Atlanta now has the densest urban tree coverage of any major city in
3456-604: Is a growing population of Mexican ancestry throughout the region, with notable concentrations along the Buford Highway and I-85 corridor, and now extending into Gwinnett County. In 2013, Metro Atlanta had the 19th largest Hispanic population in the United States. The Atlanta area also has a fast growing Asian American population. The largest groups of Asian origin are those of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Pakistani and Japanese descent. Pew Research Center ranks
3584-689: Is also based just outside of the city in suburban Cobb County . The Now Explosion In 1968 and 1969, veteran broadcaster Bob Whitney experimented with a new concept in television programming, in which the hit Top 40 songs of the day were coupled with the latest in the era's videotaping and filming techniques. The resulting pilot enlisted the studio facilities of several stations: WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas , WHBQ-TV Memphis, Tennessee , WKBS-TV Philadelphia and KMBC-TV in Kansas City . Location scenes were filmed at station studios or at locations within
3712-461: Is dominant. The eastside is marked by historic streetcar suburbs , built from the 1890s to the 1930s as havens for the upper middle class. These neighborhoods, many of which contain their own villages encircled by shaded, architecturally distinct residential streets, include the Victorian Inman Park , Bohemian East Atlanta , and eclectic Old Fourth Ward . On the westside and along
3840-472: Is home to more than 6.3 million people (2023 estimate), making it the sixth-largest U.S. metropolitan area . Situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of just over 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, Atlanta features unique topography that includes rolling hills, lush greenery, and the densest urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States. Atlanta
3968-553: Is metro Atlanta's largest employer. UPS , the world's largest courier company, operates an air cargo hub at Hartsfield-Jackson, and has their headquarters in neighboring Sandy Springs . Media is also an important aspect of Atlanta's economy. In the 1980s, media mogul Ted Turner founded the Cable News Network (CNN), Turner Network Television (TNT), HLN (HLN), Turner Classic Movies (TCM), The Cartoon Network, Inc. and its namesake television network , TruTV (truTV) and
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4096-613: Is now the Old Fourth Ward , resulting in one fatality and the displacement of 10,000 people. On December 15, 1939, Atlanta hosted the premiere of Gone with the Wind , the epic film based on the best-selling novel by Atlanta's Margaret Mitchell . The gala event at Loew's Grand Theatre was attended by the film's legendary producer, David O. Selznick , and the film's stars Clark Gable , Vivien Leigh , and Olivia de Havilland , but Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel , an African-American actress,
4224-427: Is one of Atlanta's designated Landmark Historical Neighborhoods. Vine City, though technically Northwest, adjoins the city's Downtown area and has recently been the target of community outreach programs and economic development initiatives. Gentrification of the city's neighborhoods is one of the more controversial and transformative forces shaping contemporary Atlanta. The gentrification of Atlanta has its origins in
4352-579: Is water. The city is situated in the Deep South of the southeastern United States among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains . At 1,050 feet (320 m) above mean sea level, Atlanta has the highest elevation among major cities east of the Mississippi River . Atlanta straddles the Eastern Continental Divide . Rainwater that falls on the south and east side of the divide flows into
4480-506: The BeltLine on the eastside , former warehouses and factories have been converted into housing, retail space, and art galleries, transforming the once-industrial areas such as West Midtown into model neighborhoods for smart growth , historic rehabilitation, and infill construction. In southwest Atlanta, neighborhoods closer to downtown originated as streetcar suburbs, including the historic West End , while those farther from downtown retain
4608-518: The Cotton States and International Exposition , which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South's development to the world. During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs. The city's skyline grew taller with
4736-738: The Equitable Building (1892–1971), Terminal Station (1905–1972), and the Carnegie Library (1902–1977). In the mid-1970s, the Fox Theatre , now a cultural icon of the city, would have met the same fate if not for a grassroots effort to save it. More recently, preservationists may have made some inroads. For example, in 2016 activists convinced the Atlanta City Council not to demolish the Atlanta-Fulton Central Library,
4864-513: The Financial News Network , in late 1981, but financial difficulties caused Briarcliff to search for a buyer. In 1982, the station was sold to Sillerman Morrow Broadcasting, an owner of radio stations formed by Robert F. X. Sillerman and Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow . In the fall of 1983, WATL moved toward a more traditional independent schedule with a couple cartoons , a few westerns , and
4992-581: The Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). Also completed during the era is the Portman-designed Bank of America Plaza built in 1992. At 1,023 feet (312 m), it is the tallest building in the city and the 14th-tallest in the United States. The city's embrace of modern architecture has often translated into an ambivalent approach toward historic preservation, leading to the destruction of many notable architectural landmarks. These include
5120-510: The Gannett Company , the owners of Atlanta's NBC affiliate WXIA-TV, for $ 180 million. The sale was completed on August 7, 2006, giving Gannett the first television duopoly in Atlanta. WATL aired Atlanta Falcons preseason games in August 2008 while its sister station was committed to the 2008 Summer Olympics . WATL introduced its new on-air branding, MyAtlTV on August 20, 2006, ahead of
5248-567: The Georgia Railroad , suggested the town be renamed Atlanta , supposedly a feminine version of the word "Atlantic", referring to the Western and Atlantic Railroad. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847. By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War , the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city
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5376-661: The North to the Atlanta area. It has long been known as a center of African-American political power, education, entrepreneurship, and culture, often called a Black mecca . However, in the 1990s, Atlanta started to experience Black flight . African Americans have moved to the suburbs seeking a lower cost of living or better public schools. The African-American share of Atlanta's population has declined faster than that of any racial group. The city's share of Black residents shrank from 67% in 1990 to 47% in 2020. Blacks made up nine percent of new Atlanta residents between 2010 and 2020. At
5504-749: The Pew Research Center in 2014, but in recent decades the Roman Catholic Church has increased in numbers and influence because of new migrants to the region. Metro Atlanta also has numerous ethnic or national Christian congregations, including Korean and Indian churches. Per the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, overall, 73% of the population identify with some tradition or denomination of Christianity ; despite continuing religious diversification, historically African-American Protestant churches continue prevalence in
5632-602: The Sony Pictures Television game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune , a rarity for a MyNetworkTV affiliate, in the event that those programs are preempted on WXIA-TV . In 2014, WATL reached a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group to serve as the local outlet for its in-house syndicated programming, including Ring of Honor wrestling and the American Sports Network . In September 2006, following its acquisition by Gannett, WXIA-TV began producing
5760-486: The Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in the city. Around the same time, Cox Enterprises , now the nation's third-largest cable television service and the publisher of over a dozen American newspapers, moved its headquarters to the city. Notable sports networks headquartered in Atlanta include Warner Bros. Discovery Sports , NBA TV , Bally Sports South , and Bally Sports Southeast . The Weather Channel
5888-410: The federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25, using virtual channel 36. Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( / æ t ˈ l æ n t ə / at- LAN -tə ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia . It is the seat of Fulton County , and a portion of
6016-712: The "Electric Collage." The Electric Collage production company was popular at major rock concerts and rock festivals . The producers of the Electric Collage visual music were able to produce complex lighting effects with projectors that were not possible using the video technology of the day. In 2000, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Archives at University of Georgia in Athens located and recovered significant amounts of this video which had been stored for 3 1 ⁄ 2 decades in south Florida. These segments were remastered to contemporary technical standards by
6144-472: The "city too busy to hate." Desegregation of the public sphere came in stages, with public transportation desegregated by 1959, the restaurant at Rich's department store by 1961, movie theaters by 1963, and public schools by 1973 (nearly 20 years after the US Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional). In 1960, Whites comprised 61.7% of the city's population. During
6272-400: The 1950s–70s, suburbanization and White flight from urban areas led to a significant demographic shift. By 1970, African Americans were the majority of the city's population and exercised their recently enforced voting rights and political influence by electing Atlanta's first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson , in 1973. Under Mayor Jackson's tenure, Atlanta's airport was modernized, strengthening
6400-577: The 1960s (referring to racial relations). Atlanta has consistently scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index that measures how inclusive a city's laws, policies and services are for LGBT people who live or work there. Religion in Atlanta, while historically centered on Protestant Christianity , now encompasses many faiths, as a result of the city and metro area's increasingly international population. Some 63% of residents identified as some type of Protestant according to
6528-493: The 1970s, after many of Atlanta's neighborhoods had declined and suffered the urban decay that affected other major American cities in the mid-20th century. When neighborhood opposition successfully prevented two freeways from being built through the city's east side in 1975, the area became the starting point for Atlanta's gentrification . After Atlanta was awarded the Olympic games in 1990, gentrification expanded into other parts of
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#17328946501016656-451: The 2013–2014 television season, WATL changed its on-air name to The ATL . Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered a dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper digital video recorders . Gannett ordered that Dish discontinue AutoHop on the account that it is affecting advertising revenues for WXIA and WATL. Gannett threatened to pull both stations should
6784-582: The Atlanta area among the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas by Indian population in 2019. Early immigrants in the Atlanta area were mostly Jews and Greeks . Since 2010, the Atlanta area has experienced notable immigration from India, China, South Korea, and Jamaica. Other notable source countries of immigrants are Vietnam, Eritrea, Nigeria, the Arabian gulf, Ukraine and Poland. Within a few decades, and in keeping with national trends, immigrants from England, Ireland, and German-speaking central Europe were no longer
6912-646: The Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide flows into the Gulf of Mexico . Atlanta developed on a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River , which is part of the ACF River Basin . The river borders the far northwestern edge of the city, and much of its natural habitat has been preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area . Atlanta
7040-663: The Beltline has stimulated new and related development along its path. Under the Köppen classification , Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) with generous precipitation year-round, typical for the Upland South ; the city is situated in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 8a, with the northern and western suburbs, as well as part of Midtown transitioning to 7b. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures somewhat moderated by
7168-649: The Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt during the Reconstruction era . The work attracted many new residents. Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta had surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city. Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady , the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as
7296-528: The Confederacy until it was captured in 1864. The city was almost entirely burned to the ground during General William T. Sherman 's March to the Sea . However, the city rebounded dramatically in the post-war period and quickly became a national industrial center and the unofficial capital of the " New South ". After World War II , it also became a manufacturing and technology hub. During the 1950s and 1960s, it became
7424-490: The Fox network. As a result, Fox canceled the plans for a newscast on WATL and put the station up for sale. CBS, which was losing WAGA as an affiliate, made an offer to buy WATL, but backed out after Fox demanded $ 120 million, far more than CBS was willing to spend on the soon-to-be independent station. At that point, it almost seemed likely that WATL would join the soon-to-launch United Paramount Network ( UPN ) in early 1995. Rival station WGNX, then owned by Tribune Broadcasting
7552-501: The Overmyer-owned stations had signed on by the time of the FCC approval of the channel 36 purchase. Under Overmyer, the station permit bore the call letters WBMO-TV, for his daughter, Barbara Morton Overmyer; it was to have been one of the owned-and-operated stations of the new Overmyer Network , (later United Network), which folded at the end of May 1967 after only a single month of broadcasting. Channel 36 would remain dark until
7680-629: The September 5 debut of MyNetworkTV (and about a month before The WB's final night of programming). Prior to the acquisition by Gannett, WATL's studios were located at One Monroe Place. When the station was acquired, WXIA management decided to move WXIA's operations to the Monroe Place studios (an atypical instance where the senior partner in a duopoly relocates to the studios of the junior partner). During construction, WATL's studios were located with WXIA at 1611 West Peachtree Street , behind competitor WSB. In
7808-550: The US). Atlanta's dialect has traditionally been a variation of Southern American English . The Chattahoochee River long formed a border between the Coastal Southern and Southern Appalachian dialects. Because of the development of corporate headquarters in the region, attracting migrants from other areas of the country, by 2003, Atlanta magazine concluded that Atlanta had become significantly "de-Southernized". A Southern accent
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#17328946501017936-474: The United Kingdom and Germany. Bosnian refugees settled in Atlanta. Vietnamese people, Cambodians, Ethiopians and Eritreans were the earliest refugees formally brought to the city. Of the total population five years and older, 83.3% spoke only English at home, while 8.8% spoke Spanish, 3.9% another Indo-European language, and 2.8% an Asian language. Among them, 7.3% of Atlantans were born abroad ( 86th in
8064-538: The United States and is often called "City of Trees" or "The City in a Forest". Most of Atlanta was burned in the final months of the American Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Yet architecturally, the city had never been traditionally "southern": Atlanta originated as a railroad town rather than a southern seaport dominated by the planter class, such as Savannah or Charleston . Because of its later development, many of
8192-488: The ability to relocate to the suburbs. As a result, the city began to make up an ever-smaller proportion of the metropolitan area's population. African-American veterans returned from World War II seeking full rights in their country and began heightened activism. In exchange for support by that portion of the Black community that could vote, in 1948 the mayor ordered the hiring of the first eight African-American police officers in
8320-592: The air on March 31. The last full broadcast day was March 31, 1971, and the station signed off in the early morning hours of April 1 . For about a week before it left the air, the station ran :30-second announcements with a photograph of its studios at 1810 Briarcliff Road. Turner's first move after acquiring WTCG, the UHF station that would serve as the foundation of his media empire, was to take The Now Explosion from WATL. In July 1971, U.S. Communications Corporation put WATL-TV and KEMO-TV up for sale. On July 17, 1974, two and
8448-583: The area from 1802 to 1825. The Creek were forced to leave the area in 1821, under Indian Removal by the federal government, and European American settlers arrived the following year. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad in order to provide a link between the port of Savannah and the Midwest . The initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to
8576-525: The arrival of European settlers in North Georgia , the indigenous Creek people and their ancestors inhabited the area. Standing Peachtree , a Creek village where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River , was the closest Native American settlement to what is now Atlanta. Through the early 19th century, European Americans systematically encroached on the Creek of northern Georgia, forcing them out of
8704-499: The broadcast of NBC programming preempted on WXIA without requiring downscaling . From June 2006, WATL aired The Tube on digital channel 36.2, but following that network's shutdown in October 2007, the digital subchannel was deleted. In early December 2010, WXIA's 11Alive Weather Information Zone was moved from channel 11.2 to WATL's 36.2, before eventually returning it to WXIA. Atlanta-based Bounce TV aired on 36.2 from its launch on September 26, 2011, until September 25, 2017, when
8832-433: The city approved the $ 2.8 billion BeltLine project. It was intended to convert a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop that surrounds the central city into an art-filled multi-use trail and light rail transit line, which would increase the city's park space by 40%. The project stimulated retail and residential development along the loop, but has been criticized for its adverse effects on some Black communities. In 2013,
8960-452: The city extends into neighboring DeKalb County . With a population of 510,823 living within the city limits, Atlanta is the eighth most populous city in the Southeast and 37th most populous city in the United States according to the 2020 U.S. census . It is the principal city of the much larger Atlanta metropolitan area , the core of which includes Cobb , Clayton and Gwinnett counties, in addition to Fulton and DeKalb. Metro Atlanta
9088-401: The city in the following decade. During the 2000s, the city of Atlanta underwent a profound physical, cultural , and demographic change. As some of the African-American middle and upper classes also began to move to the suburbs, a booming economy drew numerous new migrants from other cities in the United States, who contributed to changes in the city's demographics. African Americans made up
9216-402: The city's economy to this day. In 2021, major freight railroad Norfolk Southern moved their headquarters to Atlanta, and the city hosts major classification yards for Norfolk Southern and CSX . Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport , and the headquarters of Delta Air Lines . Delta operates the world's largest airline hub at Hartsfield-Jackson and
9344-629: The city's elevation. Winters are overall mild but variable, occasionally susceptible to snowstorms even if in small quantities on several occasions, unlike the central and southern portions of the state. Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring spring-like highs while strong Arctic air masses can push lows into the teens °F (−7 to −12 °C). July averages 80.9 °F (27.2 °C), with high temperatures reaching 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 47 days per year, though 100 °F (38 °C) readings are not seen most years. January averages 44.8 °F (7.1 °C), with temperatures in
9472-597: The city's landmarks share architectural characteristics with buildings in the Northeast or Midwest, as they were designed at a time of shared national architectural styles. During the late 20th century, Atlanta embraced the global trend of modern architecture , especially for commercial and institutional structures. Examples include the State of Georgia Building built in 1966, and the Georgia-Pacific Tower in 1982. Many of
9600-409: The city's metro area, and the region hosts offices of over 1,250 multinational corporations. Many corporations are drawn to the city by its educated workforce; as of 2014 , 45% of adults aged 25 or older residing in the city have at least four-year college degrees, compared to the national average of 28%. Atlanta was born as a railroad town, and logistics continue to represent an important part of
9728-605: The city's role as a transportation center. The opening of the Georgia World Congress Center in 1976 further confirmed Atlanta's rise as a convention city. Construction of the city's subway system began in 1975, with rail service commencing in 1979. Despite these improvements, Atlanta lost more than 100,000 residents between 1970 and 1990, over 20% of its population. At the same time, it developed new office space after attracting numerous corporations, with an increasing portion of workers from northern areas. Atlanta
9856-443: The city's uptown district, is eight miles (13 km) north of Downtown and the city's third-largest business district. The district is marked by an urbanized core along Peachtree Road , surrounded by suburban single-family neighborhoods situated among woods and rolling hills. Surrounding Atlanta's three high-rise districts are the city's low- and medium-density neighborhoods , where the craftsman bungalow single-family home
9984-495: The city, stimulated by infrastructure improvements undertaken in preparation for the games. New development post-2000 has been aided by the Atlanta Housing Authority 's eradication of the city's public housing. As noted above, it allowed development of these sites for mixed-income housing, requiring developers to reserve a considerable portion for affordable housing units. It has also provided for other former residents to be given vouchers to gain housing in other areas. Construction of
10112-477: The city. After reserving 2,000 units mostly for elderly, the AHA allowed redevelopment of the sites for mixed-use and mixed-income, higher density developments, with 40% of the units to be reserved for affordable housing. Two-fifths of previous public housing residents attained new housing in such units; the remainder received vouchers to be used at other units, including in suburbs. At the same time, in an effort to change
10240-611: The city. Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl , when the Pitt Panthers , with African-American fullback Bobby Grier on the roster, met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . There had been controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin 's opposition to racial integration. After Griffin publicly sent
10368-656: The city. In the fall of 1952, Robert Rounsaville, the owner of radio station WQXI (790 AM) in Atlanta, applied for a construction permit to build the first UHF station in the city on channel 36, which was granted on November 19, 1953. On October 26, 1954, the FCC granted a Special Temporary Authority to begin commercial operation under the call sign WQXI-TV. Actual full-time programming began on December 18, 1954. Rounsaville also had construction permits for UHF stations in Louisville, Kentucky (WQXL-TV), and Cincinnati, Ohio (WQXN-TV), which were never placed in operation. An article on
10496-646: The company then purchased WATL outright in February 2000. WATL continued to air Fox Kids programming until September of that year, when it moved to WHOT (channel 34, now Univision O&O WUVG ). In 2004, the station rebranded from "WB 36" to "WATL, Atlanta's WB". On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment (the Time Warner division that operated The WB) announced plans to dissolve The WB and UPN, combining them to launch The CW Television Network in September 2006. As part of this joint venture, it
10624-513: The construction of the Equitable , Flatiron , Empire , and Candler buildings. Sweet Auburn emerged as a center of Black commerce. The period was also marked by strife and tragedy. Increased racial tensions led to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, when Whites attacked Blacks, leaving at least 27 people dead and over 70 injured, with extensive damage in Black neighborhoods. In 1913, Leo Frank ,
10752-453: The culture of those receiving subsidized housing, the AHA imposed a requirement for such residents to work (or be enrolled in a genuine, limited-time training program). It is virtually the only housing authority to have created this requirement. To prevent problems, the AHA also gave authority to management of the mixed-income or voucher units to evict tenants who did not comply with the work requirement or who caused behavior problems. In 2005,
10880-413: The destruction of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. On November 11, 1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Army's March to the Sea by ordering the destruction of Atlanta's remaining military assets. After
11008-477: The end of 2011. On December 24, 2011, the channel was replaced by former owner Tribune's Antenna TV network. In late summer 2019, the fourth subchannel of WATL was launched as a UHF simulcast of WXIA-TV, which allows homes with issues receiving WXIA's channel 10 VHF signal or only a UHF antenna to receive WXIA in some form. Instead of channel 36.4, WATL-DT4 maps to channel 11.11. WATL shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on June 12, 2009, as part of
11136-410: The history of WQXI-TV relates how the station shared a house in the northeast Atlanta area of Buckhead at 3165 Mathieson Drive with WQXI radio. In addition, the programming included old movies , live interview shows, a Saturday-evening barn dance and a live bingo game show. Because expensive UHF converters were required, the station could not attract enough viewers to make the station successful; as
11264-412: The illuminated dancers were seen against darkened studio walls. Extensive special effects were added in post production as images were combined and distorted to form what production people often called "eye candy." Common special effects included aiming the camera into a monitor that said camera is connected to - a technique called " video feedback ." The original video and the newly captured pictures from
11392-430: The last building designed by noted architect Marcel Breuer . Atlanta is divided into 242 officially defined neighborhoods . The city contains three major high-rise districts, which form a north–south axis along Peachtree : Downtown , Midtown , and Buckhead . Surrounding these high-density districts are leafy, low-density neighborhoods, most of which are dominated by single-family homes. Downtown Atlanta contains
11520-583: The longest paved trail surface in the U.S. totaling about 300 miles (480 km). Atlanta's cultural offerings expanded during the 2000s: the High Museum of Art doubled in size; the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award ; and art galleries were established on the once-industrial Westside . The College Football Hall of Fame relocated to Atlanta and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights museum
11648-486: The majority of Atlanta's foreign-born population. The city's Italians included immigrants from northern Italy, many of whom had been in Atlanta since the 1890s; more recent arrivals from southern Italy; and Sephardic Jews from the Isle of Rhodes, which Italy had seized from Turkey in 1912. Europeans from Great Britain , Ireland and Germany settled in the city as early as the 1840s. Most of Atlanta's European population are from
11776-557: The monitor were combined with a video switcher to create an "infinity" effect as same video repeated itself in a seemingly endless visual loop. Changes in position or angle of the cameras were used to create trails of light which seemed to spill off dancers in a manner interpreted by many as "psychedelic." Producers felt the distorted video of moving bodies, often seeming to float in space, and moving "in tune" to pop songs, created enhanced enjoyment for viewers. Other images and effects came from an Atlanta 1960's style light show venture called
11904-769: The most notable examples from this period were designed by world renowned Atlanta architect John Portman . Most of the buildings that define the downtown skyline were designed by Portman during this period, including the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis . In the latter half of the 1980s, Atlanta became one of the early homes of postmodern buildings that reintroduced classical elements to their designs. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were built in this period and style, displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such as One Atlantic Center (1987), 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and
12032-425: The most office space in the metro area, much of it occupied by government entities. Downtown is home to the city's sporting venues and many of its tourist attractions. Midtown Atlanta is the city's second-largest business district, containing the offices of many of the region's law firms. Midtown is known for its art institutions, cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and dense form. Buckhead ,
12160-450: The most severe occurring on January 7, 1973. Tornadoes are rare in the city itself, but the March 14, 2008, EF2 tornado damaged prominent structures in downtown Atlanta. The 2020 United States census reported that Atlanta had a population of 498,715. The population density was 3,685.45 persons per square mile (1,422.95/ km ). The racial and ethnic makeup of Atlanta (including Hispanics)
12288-472: The movement's leadership. While Atlanta in the postwar years had relatively minimal racial strife compared to other cities, Blacks were limited by discrimination, segregation, and continued disenfranchisement of most voters. In 1961, the city attempted to thwart blockbusting by realtors by erecting road barriers in Cascade Heights , countering the efforts of civic and business leaders to foster Atlanta as
12416-520: The music video television business with the debut of Night Tracks in 1983 which lasted nine years and Cable Music Channel (albeit for only a month) in 1984. The special effects used in The Now Explosion seem crude in later years but they were state of the art for the early 1970s era. Video was shot with heavy, non portable studio cameras on large rolling tripods. The music videos were recorded on two inch magnetic tape. The video editing required
12544-410: The network moved to WSB-TV's digital channel 2.2. At that point, 36.2 went dark, until a new network was announced, but returned to the air As of 17 January 2018, as an affiliate of This TV , which can be also seen on WANN-CD 2. In late October 2011, Universal Sports was added to digital channel 36.3, until the network ceased over the air broadcasting and moved to cable-only distribution at
12672-574: The population was living below the poverty line in 2022. Circa 2024, of the Atlanta residents, 391,711 of them lived in Fulton County and 28,292 of them lived in DeKalb County. In the 1920s, the Black population began to grow in Southern metropolitan cities like Atlanta, Birmingham , Houston , and Memphis . The New Great Migration brought an insurgence of African Americans from California and
12800-400: The program for a television station he had recently acquired, WTCG-TV. WATL closed down shortly afterward. While it was unclear whether or not the show contributed to WATL's viewership, it has been said by some that many of their viewers only watched WATL for The Now Explosion . The move had also shifted production of The Now Explosion to Fort Lauderdale, Florida , where Whitney established
12928-585: The project received a federal grant of $ 18 million to develop the southwest corridor. In September 2019 the James M. Cox Foundation gave $ 6 Million to the PATH Foundation which will connect the Silver Comet Trail to The Atlanta BeltLine which is expected to be completed by 2022. Upon completion, the total combined interconnected trail distance around Atlanta for The Atlanta BeltLine and Silver Comet Trail will be
13056-414: The proportion of whites in the city had strong growth. In two decades, Atlanta's White population grew from 33% to 39% of the city's population. Whites made up the majority of new Atlanta residents between 2010 and 2020. The Hispanic and Latino populations of metro Atlanta have grown significantly in recent years. The largest Hispanic ancestries in Atlanta are Mexican , Puerto Rican and Cuban . There
13184-401: The same time, Atlanta is home to a sizable foreign-born Black population, notably from Eritrea , Ethiopia , Ghana , Somalia , Liberia , and Nigeria . With many notable investments occurring in Atlanta initiated by the 1996 Summer Olympics , the non-Hispanic white population of Atlanta began to rebound after several decades of white flight to Atlanta's suburbs. Between 2000 and 2020,
13312-581: The show was produced at WATL's studios. Programs were bicycled to stations on 2 inch videotape and played back for extended periods from one to six hours. WPIX-TV in New York played five hours of The Now Explosion surrounding telecasts of New York Yankees baseball games in 1970. Stations in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston had also picked up The Now Explosion . After 13 weeks at WATL, Ted Turner contracted to carry
13440-633: The skirmish continue beyond October 7 and Dish and Gannett fail to reach an agreement. The two parties eventually reached an agreement after extending the deadline for a few hours. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. At that time, both WATL and WXIA became part of the latter company named Tegna Inc. The station airs Fox's Weekend Marketplace paid programming block on Saturdays from 7 to 9 a.m., in lieu of WAGA. WATL also broadcasts
13568-537: The station until 1989, when Outlet sold WATL, along with WXIN in Indianapolis , to Chase Broadcasting for $ 120 million. By then, the station was called "Fox 36". In 1992, WATL and WXIN were included in Chase's merger with Renaissance Broadcasting. Less than a year later, WATL was sold to Fox Television Stations outright and channel 36 became a Fox owned-and-operated station—the first network-owned station in Atlanta. Fox
13696-508: The station was relaunched on August 16, 1969, having returned to the WATL-TV call letters. It was jointly owned by the U.S. Communications Corporation station group of Philadelphia, a subsidiary of AVC, holding an 80 percent interest and the remaining 20% by Overmyer. Overmyer had previously sold the majority interest (80%) in the construction permits for Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Houston to AVC on March 28, 1967, with FCC approval of their sale coming December 8, 1967. None of
13824-435: The station. Even though competing independent WGNX (channel 46, now CBS affiliate WANF ) billed more than twice WATL in 1986, it was WATL that became one of the charter affiliates of the newly launched Fox Broadcasting Company on October 9, 1986. All of this upgrading left the station $ 65 million in debt by 1989, $ 43 million of which was already on the books when Outlet purchased the station. Outlet continued to own
13952-506: The stations were on the air at the time of their sale to AVC, but U.S. built all but one: WATL-TV, WXIX-TV , KEMO-TV and WPGH-TV , in addition to owning Philadelphia's WPHL-TV . The Houston station (KJDO-TV) was never constructed; the permit was deleted by the FCC in October 1971. U.S. Communications reportedly spent $ 1 million on programming in the first year, including Lost in Space and
14080-413: The suburbs slightly cooler due largely to the urban heat island effect. Lows at or below freezing can be expected 36 nights annually, but the last occurrences of temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) were December 24, 2022 , and January 2014 , eight years apart. Extremes range from −9 °F (−23 °C) on February 13, 1899 to 106 °F (41 °C) on June 30, 2012 . Average dewpoints in
14208-704: The summer range from 63.7 °F (17.6 °C) in June to 67.8 °F (19.9 °C) in July. Typical of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall that is evenly distributed throughout the year, though late spring and early fall are somewhat drier. The average annual precipitation is 50.43 in (1,281 mm), while snowfall is typically light and rare with a normal of 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) per winter. The heaviest single snowfall occurred on January 23, 1940, with around 10 inches (25 cm) of snow. However, ice storms usually cause more problems than snowfall does,
14336-504: The three WB affiliates it owned that would not become CW affiliates—WATL, WPHL-TV in Philadelphia and KTWB-TV in Seattle ]—would be joining MyNetworkTV , which was formed in February by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division, 20th Television . As a result, WATL is one of a handful of stations to have been affiliated with both Fox and MyNetworkTV. On June 5, 2006, Tribune announced that it entered into an agreement to sell WATL to
14464-470: The use of three massive and costly "quad" tape recorders allowing only simple transitions such as cuts and dissolves. Most performers were young amateurs recruited from the Atlanta audience. Many appeared with home-grown costumes - often after midnight when station facilities became available - and were recorded dancing extemporaneously as rock rhythms were piped into an almost bare and darkened studio. The lighting often placed performers "in limbo" so that only
14592-406: The whole metropolitan area alongside historic Black Catholic churches. The larger non-Christian faiths according to both studies are Judaism , Islam , and Hinduism . Overall, there are over 1,000 places of worship within Atlanta. With a GDP of $ 385 billion, the Atlanta metropolitan area 's economy is the 8th-largest in the country and the 15th-largest in the world . Corporate operations play
14720-534: The world stage when it won and hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics . The Games impacted Atlanta's development growth into the 21st century, and significantly sparked investment in the city's universities, parks, and tourism industry. The gentrification of some of its neighborhoods has intensified in the 21st century with the growth of the Atlanta Beltline . This has altered its demographics , politics , aesthetics , and culture . For thousands of years prior to
14848-410: Was 51.0% Black or African American, 40.9% non-Hispanic white, 4.2% Asian and 0.3% Native American, and 1.0% from other races. 2.4% of the population reported two or more races . Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 6.0% of the city's population. The median income for a household in the city was $ 77,655 in 2022. The per capita income for the city was $ 60,778 in 2022. Approximately 17.7% percent of
14976-561: Was already slated to join The WB and had turned CBS down, forcing CBS to make a deal to buy WVEU. Eventually, however, Tribune agreed to let WGNX join CBS, and WVEU became the UPN affiliate. Fox programming moved from WATL to WAGA on December 10, 1994, with WATL briefly reverting to an independent station under the branding "WATL 36". Not long after that, Fox subsequently sold the station to Qwest Broadcasting ,
15104-509: Was also the host known as Officer Don of the children's TV show The Popeye Club on WSB-TV from 1956 until switching the show to Officer Don's Club House on WATL-TV in 1969. On July 5, 1976, Kennedy returned channel 36 to the air for good. The existing transmitter facilities were used, but the studios were now located at 1800 Peachtree Road, rather than the previous Briarcliff Road location. Channel 36 ran public domain movies, financial news , low-budget local shows, religious programs , and
15232-464: Was announced that CBS-owned WUPA would become The CW's Atlanta affiliate. It would not have been an upset had WATL been chosen instead, however; CW representatives were on record as preferring to affiliate with The WB and UPN's "strongest" stations in terms of overall viewership, and Atlanta was one of the few markets where the WB and UPN stations were both relatively strong. On May 15, 2006, Tribune announced that
15360-529: Was barred from the event due to racial segregation laws. Atlanta played a vital role in the Allied effort during World War II due to the city's war-related manufacturing companies, railroad network and military bases. The defense industries attracted thousands of new residents and generated revenues, resulting in rapid population and economic growth. In the 1950s, the city's newly constructed highway system, supported by federal subsidies, allowed middle class Atlantans
15488-452: Was considered a handicap in some circumstances. In general, Southern accents are less prevalent among residents of the city and inner suburbs and among younger people; they are more common in the outer suburbs and among older people. At the same time, some residents of the city speak in Southern variations of African-American English . Atlanta has a thriving and diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. According to
15616-527: Was constructed. The city of Atlanta was the subject of a massive cyberattack which began in March 2018. In December 2019, Atlanta hosted the Miss Universe 2019 pageant competition. On June 16, 2022, Atlanta was selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup . Atlanta encompasses 134.0 square miles (347.1 km ), of which 133.2 square miles (344.9 km ) is land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km )
15744-513: Was in the planning stages for a news department at the station, and WATL had even gone as far as hiring a news director. However, on May 22, 1994, New World Communications announced an affiliation agreement with Fox, months after the network won the broadcast rights to the NFL 's National Football Conference . In this deal, most of New World-owned longtime "Big Three"-affiliated stations, including Atlanta's longtime CBS affiliate WAGA, would switch over to
15872-533: Was largely unchanged. WATL did affiliate with The WB in January 1995; since the sale to Qwest Broadcasting would not be finalized until December 14, 1995, the station ended up under the unusual distinction of being affiliated with one network while owned by another, as for nearly a year WATL operated as a WB affiliate (under the branding "WB 36") owned by Fox. In 1999, Tribune sold WGNX to the Meredith Corporation ;
16000-508: Was meant as a temporary measure to allow the sale of additional ad inventory for the 2017 special election ; however, it was continued after the election and remains on-air. The station's signal is multiplexed : As with the same arrangement with sister stations KUSA and KTVD in Denver, WATL airs its main channel in upscaled 1080i rather than MyNetworkTV's default 720p format, allowing it to present syndicated programming and accommodate
16128-419: Was originally founded as the terminus of a major state-sponsored railroad, but it soon became the convergence point among several railroads, spurring its rapid growth. The largest was the Western and Atlantic Railroad , from which the name "Atlanta" is derived, signifying the city's growing reputation as a major hub of transportation. During the American Civil War , it served a strategically important role for
16256-458: Was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games . Following the announcement , the city government undertook several major construction projects to improve Atlanta's parks, sporting venues, and transportation infrastructure; however, for the first time, none of the $ 1.7 billion cost of the games was governmentally funded. While the games experienced transportation and accommodation problems and, despite extra security precautions, there
16384-493: Was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing , the spectacle was a watershed event in Atlanta's history. For the first time in Olympic history, every one of the record 197 national Olympic committees invited to compete sent athletes, sending more than 10,000 contestants participating in a record 271 events. The related projects such as Atlanta's Olympic Legacy Program and civic effort initiated a fundamental transformation of
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