[2] On January 23, 1968, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), owned by evangelist Pat Robertson, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for authority to build a new television station on channel 46 in Atlanta.

[6] On September 3, 1977, WHAE-TV changed its call sign to WANX-TV, with a station spokesman stating it wanted "a new identity" and a "fresh start".

By 1983, it had tied WTBS (channel 17), Ted Turner's independent-turned-superstation, in the local ratings, and The 700 Club was the only religious program on its weekday lineup.

A reported $40 million in program expenditures lifted costs market-wide for syndicated shows and gave channel 46 a stronger lineup.

[18] WATL, which engineered its own rise to viability in the late 1980s, and WGNX gave Atlanta its first serious local independent stations.

Tribune would hold an ownership stake, and six of the company's seven independent stations, including WGNX, were initially to join at launch.

Many of its stations were CBS affiliates in NFC markets—including Atlanta, where it owned WAGA-TV (channel 5); Fox would sell WATL, which it had purchased and where a news department had been partially set up.

[24] By September, CBS had not found a replacement affiliate in Atlanta even though WAGA was due to join Fox at the end of the year.

[25] However, CBS only took cursory steps toward closing the purchase in hopes of finding a higher-profile outlet in Atlanta, even if it was only an affiliate.

By mid-November, with only a month to go before WAGA was due to switch to Fox, CBS had not filed paperwork to purchase channel 69 at the FCC and refused to confirm that it was still moving forward with the deal.

[28] Setting up a news department would have been a part of an unprecedented campaign to promote WVEU and build its facilities to a level commensurate with its new status as a CBS owned and operated station.

[39][40] Meredith began to make aggressive changes in an attempt to turn around the laggard WGNX, a station described by Mediaweek magazine as "somewhat untended".

[44] After the resignation of Allen Shaklan, WGNX/WGCL-TV's first general manager under Meredith, in 2002,[45] the station dropped the "Clear News" format and hired Sue Schwartz, who had last run KTVK in Phoenix.

[46] Kevin O'Brien, president of Meredith's television station group, identified turning WGCL-TV around as the company's number one priority.

[47] Beginning in 2009, Meredith began to hub master control operations for its two other southeastern stations—WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina, and WSMV-TV in Nashville—at WGCL-TV.

According to general manager Erik Schrader, Gray wanted to bill WANF as a station with a very deep connection to Atlanta and which was owned by a locally headquartered company.

[64] Gray and the Atlanta Hawks reached a deal in December 2023 to broadcast 10 games during the 2023–24 NBA season, primarily on Friday nights.

At one meeting, Tribune Broadcasting president Jim Dowdle asked general manager Ramsey while standing in the station parking lot, "Don't get excited, not now, but if we were to put a newsroom in that building, where would it go?

[67] After an investment of several million dollars, Georgia's News at Ten began broadcasting on January 15, 1989; prior to its launch, Atlanta had been the largest market in the United States without an independent prime time newscast.

[68] The newscast, which focused on longer reports, won awards from journalists' organizations and increased its ratings; in June 1990, it expanded to an hour when USA Tonight, a nationally syndicated news program produced by Tribune, was discontinued.

[13] In 2000, as part of the image overhaul, with the new WGCL-TV call sign came a new moniker, Clear News, and a format focused on more substantive stories with fewer murders, fires, and accidents.

[79] After purchasing WGCL-TV–WPCH, Gray announced expansions in the news staff and offerings of the WGCL-TV newsroom, which was staffed by 50 to 60 people at the time Meredith sold it.

In March 2022, Gray declared its intent to add 40 more news employees as well as 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. local newscasts;[54] the staffing expansion ultimately materialized as an increase of 50.

[94] The analog signal continued to operate for another two weeks, until June 26, to broadcast information regarding the transition to digital television under the SAFER Act.