The three outlets share studios on Bismark Road in the Morningside/Lenox Park section of Atlanta; WABE-TV's transmitter is located on New Street Northeast (south of DeKalb Avenue) in the city's Edgewood neighborhood.

It has typically provided a programming mix more reflective of the city of Atlanta than the statewide service from GPB, though duplication between the two has been an issue at times in WABE-TV's history.

[8] The late 1970s and early 1980s also saw other changes: the formation of a Public Broadcasting Association to advise on the operations of WETV and WABE;[9] upset workers who threatened a wildcat strike over work schedule issues;[10] and Fulton County's decision to stop funding WABE and WETV in 1982, which almost led the Atlanta school board to turn both over to GPB.

[11] Ultimately, the factor that dissuaded the Board of Education from handing over its broadcasting outlets was the fact that it was a minority school system and had no interest in turning over the services to a predominantly White group.

[16] After the handover, WPBA more than doubled its annual budget thanks to increased corporate and viewer donations, and its number of members tripled;[17] however, much of this came from airing PBS programming, prompting more concern by some donors of overlap with GPB.

The statewide network made another overture to take over WPBA and WABE, which the Atlanta Board of Education rebuffed, with the racial composition of channel 30's management compared to the state agency again being cited.

[24] WABE-TV's local programming, fitting the station's remit, traditionally focuses on Atlanta issues and culture,[17] though in recent years it has been more limited while WABE built out a digital presence and a series of podcasts.

The weekly talk show Love and Respect with Killer Mike airs on television and expanded to radio in 2022; that same year, the station began a concert series franchise, Sounds Like ATL.