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WTAJ-TV is the CBS affiliate in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It transmits its digital signal on UHF channel 32. It is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group.
[edit] Digital televisionThe station's digital channel is multiplexed. After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion to take place on June 12, 2009, WTAJ-TV remains on its current pre-transition channel number, 32. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display the station's virtual channel as 10.
[edit] HistoryThe station signed on March 1, 1953 as WFBG-TV. The call letters came from the initials of the station's founder, William F. B. Gable, owner of Gable's Department Store in Altoona. Gable also owned WFBG radio (AM 1290 and 98.1 FM, now WFGY). In those early days, all programs were produced and transmitted live from the studios on Wopsononock Mountain in Altoona. Channel 10 was one of the strongest stations in the entire country, utilizing over 300,000 watts to serve its coverage area (most of which is a very rugged dissected plateau). The station could be seen as far west as Pittsburgh and as far east as State College. In 1955, WFBG affiliated with CBS. Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, it also carried a secondary affiliation with ABC, usually carrying some of ABC's higher-rated shows. While ABC had an affiliate in the area, WOPC-TV (channel 38, now WATM-TV on channel 23), its signal was hit-or-miss even in Altoona itself. WFBG-TV also carried DuMont programs.[1] In 1956, WFBG was sold to the Annenberg family's Triangle Publications. In 1969, then-Governor of Pennsylvania accused Triangle of using its three Pennsylvania television stations--WFBG-TV, WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV) and WLYH-TV in Lebanon--of engaging in a smear campaign against him. The FCC found that the charges were true, and forced Triangle to unload all of its broadcasting properties. WFBG-TV was among the last to be sold, going to Gateway Communications in October 1972 along with sister station WLYH. Since WFBG-AM-FM wasn't included in the sale, Gateway changed the station's call letters to the present-day WTAJ-TV (which stands for We're Television for Altoona and Johnstown). The new calls were chosen to acknowledge channel 10's large viewership in Johnstown. Although Johnstown had a CBS affiliate of its own, WJNL-TV (channel 19), that station's signal was always painfully weak and Johnstown viewers actually got a better signal from channel 10. Until the mid-1980s, it was also available on many cable systems in the Pittsburgh area because Pittsburgh's CBS affiliate, KDKA-TV, preempted a decent amount of CBS shows and most of the preempted shows aired on WTAJ. Prior to 1982, Johnstown and Altoona/State College were separate media markets. After the Altoona/State College and Johnstown markets were collapsed into a single market that year, WTAJ became the exclusive CBS affiliate for the enlarged market. WJNL's signal was marginal at best in the eastern part of the market; it barely reached Altoona and just missed State College. WJNL (which changed its calls to WFAT) struggled as a low-rated independent station for a decade before going dark in 1991; it eventually returned to the air and is now Pittsburgh CW station WPCW.  Gateway Communications merged with SJL Broadcasting in December 2000. SJL changed its name to Montecito Broadcast Group in 2005. Montecito put WTAJ and two of its other stations in the Northeast--WLYH and Binghamton, New York's WBNG-TV--up for sale shortly after it purchased four television stations (KHON-TV in Honolulu, Hawaii; KOIN in Portland, Oregon; KSNT in Topeka, Kansas and KSNW in Wichita, Kansas) from Emmis Communications. Granite Broadcasting has since purchased WBNG, and on July 26, 2006, Nexstar Broadcasting Group purchased WTAJ and WLYH for $56 million. Nexstar's acquisition was completed on December 29, 2006. In late May 2007, WTAJ launched a redesigned website. On January 28, 2008, the station unvield a new logo, slogan, and a re-designed set to replace the old set that had been used since 1995. The station also has announced plans to enlarge its coverage in Johnstown since WWCP-TV and WATM have shut down their news department. Plans include a new Cambria County newsroom. WTAJ has already hired former WWCP-TV/WATM reporter and anchor Sean Dreher to cover the Cambria County region. TV-10 News has seen a lot of changes through its more than five and a half decades, both in personnel and technology. Early personalities anchoring news, sports and weather in the 1950s and 1960s included Ted Reinhart, Charlie Ritchey, Big John Riley, Ted Johnson, Charlie Flynn, Bob James, Dick Richards, Jon Schwartz, Wes Maley, just to name a few. In September 1972 just shortly before the station was sold to Gateway Communications, Vice President and General Manager John Stilli stepped down and was succeeded by Ian K. Harrower, who would lead the station into its transition from WFBG to WTAJ. A news director and anchorman moved to Altoona from Washington, D.C. named Bob Moore, as well as the first female news correspondent from Penn State University Pam Jenkins. John Riley, Wes Maley and Ted Johnson stayed on board after the change, but eventually John Riley would be the lone survivor of the on-the-air personalities. In December 1973 Pam Jenkins left to get married and relocate and in January 1974 Bob Moore left to return to Washington, D.C. as a journalist. This began a new area of "Action News" when the station over the next few months would hire five new young people: anchorman Tim Fritz, reporters and weekend anchors Eric Rabe and Karen Nash, Sports Director George McKenzie and reporter Jon McClintock. Out of these five, Eric and McClintock would become the veterans. They both stayed until October 1979 when Eric (who succeeded Tim Fritz as news director/anchorman in January 1976) would move on to field reporting in Philadelphia and Jon McClintock simultaneously would leave to create and head up the Blair County Bureau at WJAC-TV 6 in Johnstown. Vice President and General Manager Ian K. Harrower said he would hire a news director and an anchorman rather than give both jobs to one man. He hired news director Jim Thompson and anchorman Patrick Van Horn, both of course subsequently moved on and would be succeeded by a number of different people over the next three decades. General Manager Ian Harrower left in February 1980 and was succeeded by J. Thomas Conners. That position has had several men come and go over the past three decades, also. The station suffered a devasting loss in early December 1982 when veteran weatherman John Riley suffered an anourism in which he never came out of a coma and eventually passed away in April 1986. The station has had many personalities come and go, some of which are listed below on this page. [edit] Talent[edit] Anchors
[edit] Weather
[edit] Sports
[edit] Reporters
[edit] Former Personalities
[edit] News/Station Presentation[edit] Newscast Titles
[edit] Station Slogans
 This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.[edit] Trivia
[edit] References[edit] External links
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