Editing WIAT (section)

==Since 2006==
===Sale to New Vision Television===
In 2006, Media General announced it would acquire a package of four smaller-market NBC affiliates owned by the NBC network, which included WVTM. Media General opted to keep WVTM because its signal reached more households;<ref>{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|page=1B|title=NBC 13 bought; CBS 42 for sale: Media General deal covers other stations|date=April 7, 2006|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> it also was third in the market in revenue compared to WIAT in fourth.<ref name="BC070622">{{Cite news|first=Michael|last=Malone|work=Broadcasting & Cable|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/sweet-home-alabama-83068|date=June 22, 2007|title=Sweet Home Alabama|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=September 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922015151/https://www.nexttv.com/news/sweet-home-alabama-83068|url-status=live}}</ref> The company put four of its stations up for the sale, including WIAT, to finance the purchase and meet ownership limits in the Birmingham market.<ref>{{cite news|title=Media General to Buy NBC Affiliates for $600 Million|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/media-general-to-buy-nbc-affiliates-for-600-million/?_r=0|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911205221/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/media-general-to-buy-nbc-affiliates-for-600-million/?_r=0|archive-date=September 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Media General buying WVTM-NBC13, selling WIAT-CBS|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/04/03/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl|newspaper=Birmingham Business Journal|date=April 6, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912055527/https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/04/03/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl|archive-date=September 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> WIAT and [[KIMT]] in [[Mason City, Iowa]], were sold to Atlanta-based [[New Vision Television]] in a deal announced in August and completed in October 2006.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Media General Completes Sale of Iowa, Alabama Stations to New Vision|url=http://www.media-general.com/press/2006/oct12_Iowa_Ala.html|website=Media General|date=June 26, 2006|access-date=September 10, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910091927/http://www.media-general.com/press/2006/oct12_Iowa_Ala.html|archive-date=September 10, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the sale, WIAT cemented itself as the number-three station in ratings.{{r|BC070622}} It debuted a full-fledged morning newscast in September 2007,<ref>{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting & Cable|title=Station Cooperation|first=Michael|last=Malone|date=February 2, 2009|id={{ProQuest|225345712}} }}</ref> and it began attracting noted news personalities under general manager Bill Ballard, who ran the station from 2003 to 2013.{{r|Birm131014}} Herb Winches, a veteran Birmingham sportscaster for WBRC and WVTM, worked at channel 42 from 2007 to 2008<ref>{{cite news|date=September 7, 2008|first=Jimmy|last=DeButts|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2008/09/08/story9.html|title=Sportscaster Winches sues Channel 42 over contract|work=Birmingham Business Journal|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529155943/http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2008/09/08/story9.html|url-status=live}}</ref> before being replaced by Jim Dunaway, a 15-year veteran of WVTM and sports talk radio host.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 11, 2015|title=Birmingham sportscaster Jim Dunaway moves to the news desk at CBS 42|first=Bob|last=Carlton|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> The station also hired other longtime news presenters in Birmingham, including Ken Lass, Mark Prater, and David Neal.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 30, 2008|title=Weatherman David Neal returns to TV on CBS 42|first=Jimmy|last=DeButts|work=Birmingham Business Journal}}</ref><ref name="Birm131014">{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|date=October 14, 2013|title=CBS 42 executive Bill Ballard is out after station's owner elects not to renew his contract |work=The Birmingham News}}</ref>

WIAT shut down its analog signal, over [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 42, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30, using [[virtual channel]] 42.<ref>{{cite web|title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=March 24, 2012|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150520010356/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf|archive-date=May 20, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===LIN, Media General, and Nexstar ownership===
On May 7, 2012, [[LIN Media]] announced that it would purchase the New Vision Television stations, including WIAT, for $330.4 million and the assumption of $12 million in New Vision corporate debt.<ref>{{cite web|title=LIN Acquiring New Vision Stations for $330 Million|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/484100-LIN_Acquiring_New_Vision_Stations_for_330_Million.php|first=Michael|last=Malone|periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=May 7, 2012|access-date=May 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002174205/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/484100-LIN_Acquiring_New_Vision_Stations_for_330_Million.php|archive-date=October 2, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> LIN was acquired two years later by Media General, which opted to keep WIAT and divest WVTM, along with [[WJCL (TV)|WJCL]] in [[Savannah, Georgia]], to [[Hearst Television]].<ref name=tvnc-saletohearst>{{cite web|title=Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78615/media-general-lin-sell-stations-in-5-markets|website=TVNewsCheck|date=August 20, 2014|access-date=August 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821105448/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78615/media-general-lin-sell-stations-in-5-markets|archive-date=August 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=b&c-saletohearst>{{cite web|title=Media General, LIN Divest Stations in Five Markets|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/media-general-lin-divest-stations-five-markets/133323|first=Michael|last= Malone|periodical=Broadcasting & Cable|date=August 20, 2014|access-date=August 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821043302/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/media-general-lin-divest-stations-five-markets/133323|archive-date=August 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media|url=http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2014/dec19_14_merger.html|publisher=[[Media General]]|date=December 19, 2014|access-date=December 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219194453/http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2014/dec19_14_merger.html|archive-date=December 19, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> After purchasing LIN, Media General initially agreed to merge with the [[Meredith Corporation]]<ref>{{cite web|title=TV Station Mega Merger: Media General Sets $2.4 Billion Acquisition of Meredith Corp.|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|first=Cynthia|last=Littleton|periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=September 8, 2015|access-date=September 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909115306/http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|archive-date=September 9, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> but faced a shareholder revolt in the wake of an unsolicited offer from [[Nexstar Broadcasting Group]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Meredith, Media General stand by deal despite report|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2015/10/07/report-meredith-media-general-deal-jeopardy/73510926/|first=Matthew|last=Patane|newspaper=[[The Des Moines Register]]|date=October 8, 2015|access-date=October 8, 2015}}</ref> which agreed to acquire the company in 2016.<ref name=nyt-mgnex>{{cite news|title=Nexstar Clinches Deal to Acquire Media General|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/business/dealbook/nexstar-clinches-deal-to-acquire-media-general.html?_r=0|first=Leslie|last= Picker|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 27, 2016|access-date=January 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009125934/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/business/dealbook/nexstar-clinches-deal-to-acquire-media-general.html?_r=0|archive-date=October 9, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Luther Strange with Art Franklin on WIAT DBEldjlUwAA3tqf.jpg-large.jpg|thumb|[[Luther Strange]] being interviewed in May 2017 by WIAT's Art Franklin|alt=Refer to caption]]

Several of the veteran personalities hired under Ballard departed in the late 2010s. Prater abruptly left WIAT in April 2018,<ref>{{Cite news|first=Jeremy|last=Gray|title=Mark Prater, CBS 42 chief meteorologist, no longer with station|date=April 12, 2018|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> later pleading guilty to harassing a woman he had dated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Carol |date=August 30, 2019 |title=Meteorologist Mark Prater pleads guilty to misdemeanor |language=en |work=AL.com |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/08/former-birmingham-meteorologist-mark-prater-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor.html |access-date=December 20, 2023 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107233637/https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/08/former-birmingham-meteorologist-mark-prater-pleads-guilty-to-misdemeanor.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Dunaway moved to the news desk in 2015, co-anchoring the evening newscasts with Jackson,<ref>{{Cite news|first=Bob|last=Carlton|title=Birmingham sportscaster Jim Dunaway moves to the news desk at CBS 42 |date=May 11, 2015|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> before leaving in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 23, 2018|first=Jeremy|last=Gray|title=Jim Dunaway leaving CBS 42 anchor desk on Wednesday |work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> He was replaced by Jack Royer, one of the youngest evening anchors in America at the time.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Birmingham News|first=Anna|last=Beahm|date=July 9, 2018|url=https://www.al.com/news/2018/07/jack_royer_named_co-anchor_at.html|title=Jack Royer named co-anchor at CBS 42}}</ref> Royer moved to mornings in 2020 as part of a switch with Art Franklin,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/cbs-42-news-announces-new-anchor-team-for-evening-morning-newscasts.html|first=Shauna|last=Stuart|date=October 27, 2020|title=CBS 42 News announces new anchor team for evening, morning newscasts|work=The Birmingham News}}</ref> who had been the first Black man to anchor an evening newscast in Birmingham at WBRC in the 1990s;<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 27, 2016|title=Veteran newscaster back in Birmingham|work=The Birmingham News|page=A2}}</ref> Franklin departed in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2022/03/16/franklin-to-pursue-business-interests.html|date=March 16, 2022|first=A.J.|last=O'Leary|title=Broadcast journalist, entrepreneur to leave CBS 42, focusing on new business venture|work=Birmingham Business Journal|access-date=December 20, 2023|archive-date=March 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316224018/https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2022/03/16/franklin-to-pursue-business-interests.html|url-status=live}}</ref>