History of WSFA-TV

Variety shows were an early tradition at WSFA 12.

Charles Caton, Bob Gambacurta and Gov. George Wallace at WSFA 12 on Election Night.

WSFA 12 Announcer Carl Stephens and Auburn Coach Shug Jordan

WSFA 12 Sports Anchor Phil Snow with Coach Doug Barfield on the "Auburn Football Review."

WSFA 12 Anchors Phil Snow, Bob Howell, and Dan Atkinson in the late 1970's.

WSFA-TV signed on the air Christmas Day 1954. A brief sign-on announcement by announcer Ralph Williams led into the first program, "A Christmas Carol." The telecast was sponsored by Montgomery Fair (now Dillard's).

The call letters WSFA were already a landmark in Montgomery. Gordon Persons (later to become Governor of Alabama) opened Alabama's fourth radio station in 1930. The station was located in what is now the Gunter Annex, but then was the city's airport. He publicized the station with the slogan, "With the South's Finest Airport" (WSFA). When the television studios were built in 1954, the radio station moved into the facility along with the new TV station.

In February 1955, just two months after going on the air, the radio and television stations were purchased by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. At that time, the stations were operated by a staff of 35. In 1956, the radio station was sold, changed its call letters to WHHY, and moved to a downtown location. Several expansions of the Delano Avenue facility now provide room for a staff of more than 100 and two large telecasting studios.

From the beginning, WSFA has had a serious commitment to news coverage. Former WSFA News Director and Anchor Charles Caton said, "the Oklahoma Broadcasting people had a newspaper background and news was big with them, unlike a lot of stations at the time. Many stations had no local news programming at first. WSFA, however, had the ingredients for an outstanding news operation: the commitment of ownership, the most advanced equipment available, talented leadership in the person of first News Director Frank McGee, and perhaps most importantly, a riveting story to tell." The story was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which launched Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to national prominence. It also was a proving ground for McGee, who later anchored NBC's "Today" show and all the early space shots.

WSFA was one of the first stations outside the top ten markets to own film processing equipment. During the late 50's, WSFA fed many stories to the networks each week and processed more film than any station south of the nation's Capitol. During the early years of the Civil Rights movement, NBC, CBS, ABC, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company used the WSFA facilities to transmit stories.

The Broadcasting Company of the South purchased WSFA in 1959. That company did not have a strong background in news in those early days. When the ownership realized that news was such a strong part of WSFA's focus, they went on to develop strong news stations in other markets, too.

The 60's were exciting times in television. The old black-and-white pictures gave way to color, and videotape changed the way stations operated. Then, in the mid-70's, WSFA erected its "tall tower." At the time, it was the third tallest man-made structure in the world.

In addition to outstanding news coverage, WSFA presented many live programs still remembered fondly in Central and South Alabama. Children's programming included "Fun for the Young" and "Young World" with Marge Payne, "Cartoon Carl," "Popeye Theater," "Adventure," and "Junior Auction." Betsy Plummer, the first lady of Montgomery television, was host of "How Do You Do It?" Catherine Wright interviewed many nationally-known guests on the "Guest Room," and her teen-aged daughter Toni Tennille played the piano and sang on many of the local programs. She later became world famous as part of "Captain and Tennille."

"The Auburn Football Review" was one of the first coach's shows in the nation, going on the air with Coach "Shug" Jordan in 1955. It is still broadcast to this day on WSFA.

WSFA has continually built its news department. In the early days, it was one half-hour newscast a day. Now, WSFA airs more than 28 hours of local newscasts each week. Some of the most popular additions to WSFA news were a series of tower-cams, giving viewers aerial views of weather and traffic, and Doppler 12 StormVision, the city's only live local weather radar.

WSFA was also the first television station in the state to upgrade to digital, non-linear video news gathering equipment and the first television station in Montgomery to begin broadcasting in High-Definition. News coverage and the technology that accompanies it are mainstays at WSFA 12 News, however the station is equally grounded in community support projects throughout the year.

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