WALA

WALA
Brand	FOXten
City of License	Mobile, Alabama
Market	Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida
Channel	9 digital (virtual 10) Formerly: 10 analog (1953-2009)
Network Affiliation	Current: FOX Formerly: NBC (1953–94), secondary with CBS (1953-55), Dumont (1953-55), ABC (1953-59)
Founded	1953
Company	Meredith
President
Current Popular Non-Network Shows	Wheel of Fortune Jeopardy! Dr. Phil

WALA is the call sign for the Fox affiliate in the Mobile, Ala./Pensacola, Fla. market. Licensed to Mobile, it broadcasts on digital channel 9 while displayed on tuners as 10, its old analog number. It was bought by Meredith after a merge with previous owner LIN and Media General was voided since Media General (now Nexstar Media Group) owns CBS affiliate WKRG, and a company cannot own two top-ranked stations in a given market.

WALA applied to begin operations in 1953 on channel 3, then reapplied for channel 8. 10 was the only other available VHF channel at the time as 8 was deleted as an allocation, so WALA took channel 10. It had NBC as primary affiliation with secondaries from CBS (now WKRG/ch. 5), Dumont (folded) and ABC (now WEAR/ch. 3 in Pensacola). WALA became a Fox affiliate in 1996, wrapping up Fox's national raid of high profile VHF stations begun in 1994. Unlike many of the VHF stations making the big switch during that time, WALA cleared the Fox Kids line-up both weekdays and Saturdays.

External Links

• Official website for WALA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WALA