 | This article needs to be updated. (January 2024) |
| ATSC 3.0 station | |
|---|---|
 | |
| |
| City | Homewood, Alabama |
| Channels | |
| Branding | CW 21 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WABM, WBMA-LD | |
| History | |
| Founded | November 6, 1979 |
First air date | April 21, 1982 |
Former channel number(s) |
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| |
Call sign meaning | Television Twenty-One[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 74138 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 422 m (1,385 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°29′4.8″N 86°48′25.2″W / 33.484667°N 86.807000°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wtto21 |
WTTO (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, United States, serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM (channel 68) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD (channel 58). The stations share studios at the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover (with a Birmingham mailing address); WTTO's transmitter is located atop Red Mountain, near the Goldencrest neighborhood of southwestern Birmingham.
In Tuscaloosa, west Alabama, and the western portions of the Birmingham area, WTTO's CW channel and two subchannels of WBMA-LD are rebroadcast on WDBB (channel 17), which is licensed to Bessemer. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and managed by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement (LMA); however, Sinclair effectively owns WDBB, as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith.
WTTO had a tortuous history prior to starting operations. It took nearly two decades for the station to be approved and built. Once on air, the station was a successful independent for the Birmingham area. It served as the Fox affiliate for the market from 1990 to 1996, when an affiliation shuffle resulted in the loss of the affiliation.
- ^ Nelson, Bob (October 18, 2008). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WTTO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.