WRBL

WRBL is the CBS television affiliate in Columbus, Georgia. The station is owned by Media General, with studios in Columbus. Its transmitter, located in Cusseta, Georgia, once held the record as the tallest man-made structure on Earth.

History
WRBL first went on the air on November 15, 1953—just over a month after NBC affiliate WDAK-TV (channel 28, now WTVM on channel 9). It is Georgia's second-oldest station outside of Atlanta (after Macon's WMAZ-TV) as well as the second-oldest in Columbus. It was owned by Jim Woodruff along with WRBL radio (AM 1420, now WRCG, and FM 102.9, now WVRK). Originally on channel 4, it moved to channel 3 in 1960 as part of a three-city swap which saw WTVM move to channel 9 and WTVY in Dothan, Alabama move to channel 4.

The station has always been a CBS affiliate owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with CBS Radio, but shared ABC with WTVM until the channel switch of 1960, when WTVM switched to ABC to get in line with then co-owned WTVC, also on channel 9. At that time, WRBL began sharing NBC with WTVM. WRBL is the only major station in Columbus that has never changed its original affiliation. Columbus was one of the very few two-station markets in the 1960s without its own primary NBC affiliate, although NBC affiliates in Albany, Atlanta andMontgomery could be picked up with relative ease. WYEA (now WLTZ) took over the NBC affiliation when it opened in October 1970.

Woodruff owned the station until his death in a car crash in the 1970s. After his death, banks controlled the station until it was bought byMalcolm Glazier's Avant Corporation of Rochester, New York. He sold it to TCS Partners, who, in turn, sold it to Spartan Communications. Spartan merged with current owner Media General in 2000.

Over the past several years, the station has downsized its news programming considerably, due in part to WTVM's dominance in the market. 6 p.m. weekend newscasts were eliminated in Fall 2008, and the remaining weekend newscasts were eliminated in early 2009. Soon after, the 5 p.m. and noon newscasts were dropped. Most of these cuts coincided with staff reductions by Media General. However, as of August 2010, the noon newscast has been added back to the WRBL lineup. Also, at this time, News 3 updated its graphics, to the more flashier style of Media General's HD graphics, hinting that WRBL maybe planning to launch HD newscasts in the near future. On October 17, 2010, WRBL revived the Sunday night edition of News 3 Nightwatch.

Because half of the station's viewing area is in the Central Time Zone, programming that is normally delayed an hour in this time zone is aired live, and thus, airs an hour earlier for viewers in Alabama.

Digital programming
WRBL's signal is multiplexed. It broadcasts on digital channel 15.

News
Anchors


 * Tammy Terry, News 3 This Morning & News 3 Midday Anchor
 * Sarah Panko, News 3 First Edition (5:00 p.m.)
 * Teresa Whitaker,News 3 Evening Edition (6:00 p.m.) News 3 Nightwatch (11:00 p.m.) and Sunday Night Anchor
 * Phil Scoggins, News 3 Evening Edition (6:00 p.m.) and News 3 Nightwatch (11:00 p.m.) Sunday Night Anchor

3 On Your Side Reporters


 * Sarah Panko, Digital Journalist, First-Alert Forecaster
 * Alison Flowers, Digital Journalist
 * Meredith Armstrong, Digital Journalist
 * Raquel Rodriguez, Digital Journalist

News 3 First Alert Weather


 * Bob Jeswald, Chief Meteorologist, seen weeknights on News 3 First Edition ,Evening Edition and Nightwatch Sundays
 * David Reese, First Alert Meteorologist, seen weekdays on News 3 This Morning and Midday

3 On Your Side Sports


 * Stuart Webber, Sports Director/weeknights at 5, 6 and 11pm Host of "The PrepZone" (Friday Nights during High School Football Season) Sunday-Fridays

Past Anchors, Meteorologists, and Reporters

 * Trent Aric, meteorologist ( now chief meteorologist at WPLG-TV)
 * Susanna Avery, reporter (now anchor for the Army news program "The Benning Report")
 * Bryan Bennett, meteorologist (now weather producer at WCBS, living in NYC )
 * Dan Bohannon, anchor
 * Megan Bradley, reporter
 * Becca Brown (Hardin), anchor/reporter (now at The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)
 * Mark Bullock, anchor/reporter (now anchor/reporter at WSFA-TV)
 * Cheryl Butler (Cheryl Butler Brayboy), weekend anchor/reporter (NBC 4, Washington DC)
 * Kit Callaway, anchor
 * Jessica Clark, anchor/reporter (now reporter at WTLV)
 * Candace Cook, reporter (now traffic anchor at WCAU-TV)
 * Rece Davis, sports director (now at ESPN)
 * Gordon Dill, anchor/reporter ( now anchor/reporter at WYFF-TV)
 * Jeff Donald, chief meteorologist (now a high school teacher)
 * Semone Doughton, weekend anchor/reporter (now anchor/reporter at WTVM)
 * Mark Edmondton, morning forecaster
 * John Elliot, weathercaster (now meteorologist at WCBS-TV)
 * Richard Elliot, anchor/reporter/managing editor (now reporter at WSB-TV)
 * Rozell Fabiani, host of "Rozell Show" (deceased)
 * Oscar Fann, meteorologist (now at WTVY-TV)
 * Bruce Frazier, sports anchor, reporter
 * Steve Garrett, meteorologist
 * Sam Hall, anchor, managing editor
 * Angie Hanshaw, anchor/reporter
 * Jill Henricksen (now Noelle), weekend weathercaster/ reporter ( now weathercaster for WICD-TV)
 * Jay Hermacinski, producer/reporter (now reporter for WISH-TV)
 * Janice Huff, Meteorologist/science reporter (now a meteorologist at WNBC-TV and weekend Today)
 * Darlene Hughes, anchor
 * Robert Hydrick, weekend sports anchor (now at WALB-TV in Albany, GA)
 * Heather Jensen, weekend anchor, reporter
 * Mara Kelly, anchor/reporter
 * Kimberley Kennedy, anchor (now at WSB-TV)
 * Jamie Lakin, Opelika-Auburn reporter
 * Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield, reporter (now at WIS-TV)
 * Frank Malloy, anchor/reporter (now at WMAZ-TV)
 * Jenna Maloney, reporter/anchor ( now reporter at WXIN-TV)
 * Dick McMichael, anchor (retired)
 * Reese McMichael, reporter ( now anchor at WBBJ-TV)
 * Brad Means, anchor (now anchor at WJBF-TV)
 * Jason Miles, reporter ( now reporter at WMC-TV)
 * Samantha Mohr, meteorologist (now on-camera meteorologist at The Weather Channel)
 * Anne Montgomery, sports reporter (early-mid 1980s), later at KTSP and then ESPN, now a teacher at South Mountain High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
 * Heath Morton, meteorologist (now meteorologist at KLFY-TV)
 * Mitzi Oxford, chief meteorologist
 * Jennifer Pauli, anchor/reporter (married to Brian Sharpe, editor of "her" magazine)
 * Jon Paepcke, reporter ( now reporter at WVTM-TV)
 * Jim Payne, anchor (now at WESH-TV)
 * Steve Ring, anchor
 * Don Rollins, anchor 1968-70 (now New York Times Radio New York City.)
 * Amanda Rosseter, anchor/reporter (now at WSB-TV)
 * Creshon Saunders, News 3 First Edition anchor, reporter (now with cnn.com)
 * Brian Sharpe, anchor/reporter ( now works for Columbus Chamber of Commerce )
 * Ken Smith, reporter (now a reporter at WRAL-TV)
 * Darren Stack, morning meteorologist (now meteorologist at WPDE-TV)
 * Blaine Stewart, anchor/reporter 2001-2006 (now anchor/weathercaster at WTKR-TV)
 * Chris Sweigart, reporter/internet director (now a reporter at WXIA-TV
 * Mark Tarello, freelance meteorologist (now chief meteorologist at KEYC-TV)
 * Desiree Taylor, reporter/anchor (now at a Tampa, FL insurance company)
 * Sterling Thomas (Payne), reporter/assignment editor (now with Transportation Safety Administration)
 * Doug Wallace, meteorologist (deceased)
 * Katie Weitzner, reporter (now consumer reporter for WZVN-TV)

Past Staff

 * Rick Bartlett, CHYRON (now Program Director/Morning Show Host in Iowa)
 * Troy Danekes, former Evening Edition and Nightwatch Producer (now Senior Producer for ATL 26 in Atlanta, GA)
 * Keith Blanchard, (73-81) former TD and Director (now CNN Director of Engineering in Atlanta GA)
 * Ray Lego, (72-76) former cameraperson and weekend news photographer/director (now SE Sales Mgr for PESA in Orlando FL)

Newscast titles

 * TV-3 News (19??-19??)
 * 3 Eyewitness News (1980s-early 1990s)
 * NewsCenter 3 (19??-19??)
 * Channel 3 News (19??-19??)
 * NewsChannel 3 (early 1990s-2001)
 * Your NewsTeam 3 (2001-2003)
 * News 3 (2003–present)

Station slogans

 * Complete, Concise, Comprehensive (1980s)
 * Your 24-Hour News Source (early 1990s)
 * On Your Side (1995–present)