Thank You!

I will use this space today to thank YOU for making ABC 33/40 News number one at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 nightly. The November ratings period ended on Wednesday, and since Birmingham is a “metered” market now, we don’t have to wait on ratings results. Our morning program, Good Morning Alabama, also had a great ratings period; it was the only local morning newscast to show growth from both May 2004 and November 2003. We are humbled by this and we thank you for watching. We understand the responsibility that comes with being the market leader for news and weather, and we promise to keep working hard to maintain your trust. There are many options available these days for getting news, which is another reason to thank you for joining us.

For those of you who are new to the area, ABC 33/40 is only eight years old. In 1996, WBRC, Channel 6, changed network affiliation from ABC to Fox, and Allbritton Communications was awarded the ABC affiliation for the Birmingham market. Allbritton purchased WCFT, Channel 33, in Tuscaloosa, and WJSU, Channel 40, in Anniston, and opened a central facility for the new station in the Riverchase section of Hoover. The two transmission towers were moved closer to Birmingham; Channel 33 on a monstrous 2,000 foot tower north of Tuscaloosa near the Warrior River, and Channel 40 high atop Bald Rock mountain near Leeds. The station signed on the air on the first day of September in 1996.

There were plenty of skepticism in the industry; lots of people thought two “little country UHF stations” without a transmitter in the city of Birmingham could not compete with the established stations on Red Mountain. Here we are in 2004 and the ratings speak for themselves. Again, thanks for allowing us in your home nightly!