It is true: if you’re a sports anchor-wannabe, a job in Alabama could be your goal, and there’s plenty of diversity among media markets to choose from. Where else can you cover the self-proclaimed king of SEC football?
- Birmingham (Anniston/Tuscaloosa) is the state’s biggest market, at #39. Stations include: WBRC (FOX), WVTM (NBC), WTTO (CW), WIAT (CBS), WBMA-LP (ABC) and WABM (MyTV). WBRC claims ratings dominance here, but given it’s a FOX affiliate (and its newscasts are on one hour earlier than the other affiliates), that’s a difficult pill to swallow. No clear winner here. WBRC, WVTM and WIAT all provide its newscasts in high definition; the only one still in standard definition is WBMA-LP.
- Next on the list is a market that is shared with the Florida panhandle: Mobile-Pensacola (Ft. Walton). The hyphenated market ranks 60th among Nielsen markets nationwide. Stations include: WEAR (ABC), WKRG (CBS), WALA (FOX), WPMI (NBC) WFGX (MyTV) and WFNA (CW). All stations air newscasts in high definition.
- The third top-100 station in the state, Huntsville-Decatur (Florence), is another hyphenated market, coming in at No. 80. Stations include: WHDF (CW), WHNT (CBS), WAAY (ABC), WAFF (NBC) and WZDX (FOX). Only WHDF does not broadcast local news in high definition because it has no local newscasts.
- Montgomery-Selma is the next station in Alabama, comprising the capital city. It’s ranked #119 among Nielsen media markets. Stations include: WAKA (CBS), WSFA (NBC), WCOV (FOX), WBMM (CW) and WNCF (ABC). WSFA has been the market leader for decades. Only WAKA does not air its newscasts in high definition.
- Another market that straddles state borders is the Columbus, GA (Opelika, AL) DMA, market #127. Interestingly enough, it also straddles the CST and EST time zones. Stations include: WRBL (CBS), WTVM (ABC), WLTZ (NBC) and WXTX (FOX). WTVM is the ratings leader in this market. Only WRBL does not broadcast newscasts in HD.
- Dothan rounds out the Alabama markets, at #169. Stations include: WTVY (CBS), WDHN (ABC) and WDFX (FOX). WTVY is the ratings leader. Only WDFX airs newscasts in HD.
(Above was updated May 4, 2012)
That covers another one of several states we’ll be covering. If you work for one of these affiliates and have news about new hires, on-air graphic updates, HD overhauls, or anything that would be of interest to this local news blog, please let us know.. I’m not necessarily talking about station gossip, but that works, too. If someone uttered a profane word on-air, for example, that’d be something. Station sales, downsizing, things like that are also newsworthy. You can do so anonymously, of course, but have to prove you work for the station in question for credibility purposes by sending us an email to southtvnewser@gmail.com.
