The station that became WAAY was the first TV station in Huntsville, Alabama
Tuesday is a milestone for television broadcasting in North Alabama.
The first television station licensed to Huntsville came on the air 64 years ago.
For the broadcast purists, Decatur had a television station with WMSL Channel 23.
This marks a first for broadcasting here in Huntsville.
In August 1959, President Eisenhower signed an order making Hawaii the 50th state in the U.S., number one box office was Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick in Otto Prememinger's “Anatomy of a Murder”, and number one on the pop charts was Bobby Darin with “Mack the Knife”.
On Aug. 1, 1959, a group of local businessmen signed on the air Huntsville's first television station on the site of an old gas station on Monte Sano Boulevard. It was known as WAFG Channel 31.
For the first time in Huntsville, there was a new television network – ABC Television.
With it came new television shows like “Maverick”, “Surfside Six” and “Cheyenne”.
The Smith family were already in broadcasting, owning a television station in Birmingham and 1515 AM here in Huntsville. In 1963, it was decided to build a new station, Channel 25, until the owners of WAFG made them an offer.
So, in November 1963, the Smith family took over Channel 31. One month later, Channel 31 took on new call letters, WAAY-TV.
And with a lot of cross promotions with WAAY radio, Channel 31 rose to become the number one station in the Tennessee Valley.
The Smith family sold Channel 31 in 2000. But history continues to be made with the purchase recently of this station by Allen Media, making it the first minority owned television station in Huntsville.
Happy 64th anniversary, WAAY 31!
