WJBF
 
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Augusta, Georgia United States |
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| Branding | ABC 6 (general) WJBF NewsChannel 6 (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Coverage you can count on |
| Channels |
Digital: 42 (UHF) Virtual: 6 () |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary until 1967) |
| Owner |
Nexstar Media Group (Media General Communications Holdings, LLC) |
| First air date | November 23, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning |
J.B. Fuqua (founder of the station) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 6 (VHF, 1953–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
NBC (1953–1974; secondary from 1967) CBS (secondary, 1953–1954) DuMont (secondary, 1953–1956) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
| Height | 507 m (1,663 ft) |
| Facility ID | 27140 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°24′20.7″N 81°50′0.5″W / 33.405750°N 81.833472°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | wjbf |
WJBF, channel 6, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Augusta, Georgia, USA. WJBF is owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group. WJBF's studios are located in Television Park, near the Augusta West Mall in Augusta. WJBF's transmitter is located in Beech Island, South Carolina.
Augusta's first television station, WJBF-TV began operations on November 23, 1953. The station was founded by local entrepreneur J. B. Fuqua, who also owned NBC Radio Network affiliate WJBF (1230 AM). WJBF-TV was a primary NBC affiliate, but picked up programs from CBS, ABC and DuMont on a secondary basis. Sister station WJBF radio was sold by Fuqua in 1954 (it is now WEZO). It lost CBS only three months later when WRDW-TV (channel 12) signed on.
On September 1, 1967 WJBF became a primary ABC affiliate. The move relegated NBC to a shared secondary affiliation with WRDW-TV. This was an unusual situation for a then two-station market, especially one as small as Augusta. ABC, as the smallest and weakest of the big three networks, would not be on nearly the same footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s, when most markets of Augusta's size grew large enough to support three full network affiliates. However, fellow NBC affiliate WIS-TV in Columbia provided at least grade B coverage to the South Carolina side of the market. In contrast, no full-time ABC affiliate put even a grade B signal into the area. Fuqua reasoned that if channel 6 took a primary ABC affiliation, it wouldn't have significant out-of-market competition. Additionally, in 1966 Fuqua bought two full-time ABC affiliates, WTVW in Evansville, Indiana and KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV) in Fargo, North Dakota, and apparently wanted to get his other stations—WJBF and KTVE in El Dorado, Arkansas—in line with the new acquisitions. In 1969, Fuqua branched out into the movie theater business when he purchased Martin Theaters of Georgia, forerunner of Carmike Cinemas. That purchase added WTVM in Columbus, Georgia, and WTVC in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also ABC affiliates, to his portfolio.
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