WACW (channel 20) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Berfield/Willis Broadcast Corporation. Launched in 1988 as WVEU by Tom Roche, WACW struggled in the market until 2004 when Capital Cities Communication bought the station. In 2006, WVEU shocked the market when they became an affiliate of the The CW. Shortly after becoming a CW affiliate, they changed their call letters to WACW. On Feb 6. 2016, Capital Cities sold the station to Adelphia Communications. Adelphia in turn sold the station to Berfield/Willis Broadcast Corporation in September 2016.
History[]
Don Roche launched WVEU on January 3, 1988 as an independent station. The station ran low-budget syndicated shows, CBS and NBC programs that were preempted by WATG and WNIV, and some older movies. However, better programming was difficult to come by, as longer-established competitors WGAX and WBMO (now WMYA) picked up the higher-profile programs. Another problem was the station's signal. It originally broadcast from a transmitter atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, the city's second tallest building. However, it was painfully weak at the time and did not reach very far outside of the I-285 corridor. Most viewers could only get an acceptable picture from the station via cable. Things became more difficult when WBEA was sold to Metromedia in 1986 and became more competitive in acquiring better syndicated programs and films.
Atlanta was not large enough at the time to support a lot of independent stations. Realizing this, in 1995, WVEU began running Home Shopping Network programming for about 15 hours each day. HSN entered into discussions to buy the station, but the deal fell through in 1997. WVEU primarily aired programming from HSN's sister service Home Shopping Network II, but also aired some religious shows, infomercials, NBC and ABC programs preempted by WNIV and WSBB and a few syndicated shows. It barely registered in the ratings, but was profitable because it did not spend as much money on programming as the market's other independents.
Capital Cities takes over[]
By 2004, WVEU continue to barely be noticed in the Atlanta, GA market. Rumors started swirling that a takeover bid maybe in the works between WVEU and QTV (owners of WGAX and WXD), but those talks fell through and out from nowhere, Frank Smith, Jr., whose father founded the original Capital Cities Communication, announced that Capital Cities would buy the station. In 2006, UPN shut their doors and merged with The WB to form The CW. Everyone thought that WGAX (by then an affiliate of The WB and one of the highest rated affiliates in the country) would be an affiliate of The CW, but WGAX shocked everyone when they announced that rather than joining the CW, they'd once again become an independent. After WBMO became an affiliate of MyNetworkTV (and changed their call letters to WMYA), The CW's only choice was naming WVEU Atlanta's affiliate. After the news, WVEU changed their call letters to WACW. On Feb. 6. 2016, it was announced that Capital Cities has sold the station to Adelphia Communications for $95 Million.
Berfield/Willis ownership[]
On September 16, 2016, Adelphia Communications announced that they would be trading WACW to Berfield/Willis Broadcast Corporation in exchange for WISV. The deal was finalized the same day.