CBS Atlanta five years ago dropped its name CBS46, figuring people didn't identify with channel numbers as much anymore.
But new general manager Trey Fabacher said research shows that the number 46 still has power so he brought it back. Today, starting at the 4 p.m. news, the new logo and name CBS46 was unveiled.
"CBS Atlanta did not resonate like it was intended," Fabacher said. "As we talked to people about our station, they refer to us as 46. The station is a local news station. It's known in this market as 46."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
He said most stations in the country still use their original broadcast channel numbers. Locally, the other three local channels with news operations use their broadcast channel numbers prominently. For years, Fox affiliate WAGA-TV has dubbed itself Fox 5. For even longer, NBC's WXIA-TV has been 11Alive. And WSB-TV, even with the heritage of those call letters, prefers to call itself Channel 2 Action News.
Many people in town use Comcast, which does not match up broadcast channels with their channel spots. Channel 2 is on 3, 11Alive is on 6, Fox 5 is on 4 and CBS46 is on 9. But on other satellite and cable networks, Fabacher said, CBS46 is on the proper channel.
Reporters are now saying CBS46 instead of CBS Atlanta.
The local station, owned by Meredith, also rebuilt their main studio, which looked very blue when I took this photo at 4:03 p.m. today:
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Fabacher has hired several new anchors and reporters in the past year since he joined the station. This is a culmination of his revamp.
Scott Light, a new evening anchor, posted this on his Facebook page:
Outside of 11 p.m. news, the station has struggled over the years to climb out of fourth place in most time slots. Channel 2 tends to dominate, followed by Fox 5, then 11Alive. Atlanta local news viewers' habits die hard.
Here are the various logos the station has used from 1977 to 2009:
Here were the CBS Atlanta openings from 2013 until today:
The station was briefly called Clear News from 2000 to 2002. Someone actually posted a YouTube video of that:
Recent stories on CBS Atlanta:
8/13/13: Tracy Hutchins moves to evenings, replaced by Michelle Burdo
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