WVTM 13 News Birmingham signed on 29 May 1949 with call letters WAFM-TV. It carries the programs on 1 July primary as CBS programs and secondary From ABC network programs. The voice of Alabama owned the station. It is the continuously operating station in Alabama. Voice of Alabama was purchased in July 1953 by The Birmingham News and changed its call signs into WABT. Newhouse Newspaper bought the Birmingham News on 26 January 1956 and in 1958 it got the call letters WAPI-TV. A station WBRC’s owner bought the station in 1957 and insisted the WAPI-TV run both CBS and NBC programs.Channel 13 carry the famous shows of NBC and CBS. However, it did not run The ED Sullivan show of CBS. WAPI-TV run the first color program on 3 April 1967. It was the NBC-affiliated for Birmingham in May 1970. Newhouse sold the station to Times Mirror company in 1979.After its sale, they changed the name of the station into WVTM-TV.

New world communications were decided to sell the WVTM 13 News Birmingham to NBC operated group NBC Television stations on 22 May 1996. In November 1996 the branding of the station was changed from Alabama 13 to NBC 13. The station WVTM comes under Media General group ownership on 6 April 2006. But it retained its branding as Channel 13. Under Hearst television ownership it got the branding WVTM 13.

Programming

News Operation

WVTM-TV broadcast 38hours newscast in a week, 7 1/2 hours on weekdays and three hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays. It was the first station which established the news department in Alabama in 1951. The schedule of its daily newscast is given in the table.