1967–1969 | 1969–1970 | 1970–1976 | 1976–1979 | 1979–1981 |
1981–1984 | 1984–1987 | 1987–1990 | 1990–1994 | 1994–1996 |
1996–2003 | 2007–2023 | March–September 2023 | September 2023–2024 | 2024–present |
WJRJ-TV[]
1967–1969[]
What is now WPCH-TV went on the air on September 1, 1967, bearing the callsign WJRJ-TV—named for Jack Rice, Jr., the son of the founding owner.
1969–1970[]
WTCG[]
1970–1976[]
In January 1970, an Atlanta-based group owned by entrepreneur Robert E. "Ted" Turner III, purchashed WJRJ-TV and changed its callsign to WTCG, which reportedly stood for "Watch This Channel Grow" (though the "TCG" officially stood for Turner Communications Group). During this time, many cable systems in middle and southern Georgia and surrounding states—namely Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina—began receiving the WTCG signal via microwave relay, enabling the station to reach far beyond the Atlanta television market.
1976–1979[]
At 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 17, 1976, WTCG became America's first "superstation"—independent stations distributed to cable providers throughout their respective regions, or the entire country—when its signal was beamed via Satcom 1 to four cable television providers in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.
WTBS[]
1979–1981[]
In May 1979, Turner reached an agreement to acquire the WTBS call letters used by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based educational FM radio station owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with the intent of reassigning the callsign to Turner's Atlanta television station. The request was made in conjunction with a $25,000 donation by Turner to a group associated with MIT to fund a new transmitter for the radio station (now known as WMBR), which would include an additional $25,000 pledge to the group if Turner Communications became successful in obtaining the WTBS calls from the FCC. Channel 17 changed its call letters to WTBS— for the Turner Broadcasting System, which its parent company had been renamed in accordance with the callsign change—on August 27, 1979; the station concurrently began branding as "SuperStation WTBS" on a limited basis.
1981–1984[]
1984–1987[]
1987–1990[]
1990–1994[]
1994–1996[]
1996–2003[]
Starting in 2003, WTBS would start using the national TBS Superstation logos until its rebrand and callsign change in 2007; see the TBS page for those logos.
WPCH-TV[]
2007–2023[]
TBS's hybrid status as both a cable channel and an independent local station ended on October 1, 2007, when Channel 17 in Atlanta departed from the TBS schedule and became an independent station. Its call letters changed from WTBS to the current WPCH-TV and it would now be branded as Peachtree TV.
2023–present[]
March–September 2023[]
Coinciding with the launch of a nightly block of original local lifestyle and entertainment programs featuring or produced by Atlanta-area influencers and content creators, WPCH-TV introduced an updated version of its "street sign" logo on March 26, 2023.
September 2023–2024[]
On September 2, 2023, due to Paramount dropping The CW from its stations, WPCH became an affiliate of the network, replacing Paramount-owned WUPA as Atlanta's CW station.
2024–present[]
See also[]
- TBS – an American cable channel, that was formerly the national superstation feed of WPCH-TV as WTBS-TV until 2007.