WATN-TV

WATN-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the Tegna subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group alongside CW station WLMT (channel 30); Nexstar also owns CBS affiliate WREG-TV (channel 3). WATN-TV and WLMT share studios at the Shelby Oaks Corporate Park on Shelby Oaks Drive in northeast Memphis and transmitter facilities near Brunswick, Tennessee.

Channel 24 in Memphis began broadcasting in September 1978 as WPTY-TV, the first independent station in the Memphis area. It was originally owned by Petry Television, an advertising sales representative for TV stations. Over the years, the station changed ownership several times and evolved its programming.

In 1995, after Fox acquired another station, WPTY-TV became the ABC affiliate in Memphis and started a local news department. In 2019, after Nexstar merged with Tribune Media, WATN-TV was spun off to Tegna. Recently in 2026, Nexstar bought Tegna and kept all three stations, including WATN-TV, WLMT, and WREG-TV.

History

The first plan for a channel 24 television station in Memphis started in 1965 by a company from Connecticut. Later, another group got permission to build the station from the Federal Communications Commission in 1968. However, they couldn’t build it and gave up the permission.

In 1977, another company applied to build channel 24. The FCC allowed them, and they started building studios in Memphis. The station, called WPTY-TV, began broadcasting on September 10, 1978. It was the first independent station in Memphis and showed different kinds of shows, including sports games.

Over the years, the station changed owners and affiliations. It became a Fox affiliate before switching to ABC in 1995. The station also added other network programs later on. In 2012, new owners moved the station to a new building. Today, it is known as WATN-TV and is part of a bigger media company.

News operation

WPTY-TV started its news broadcasts on December 1, 1995, the same day it switched to ABC. At first, the news shows had some problems, like broken equipment and mistakes made by new reporters and anchors who were not yet familiar with the city. The news team changed a lot in the early weeks, and the ratings were very low.

Over time, the news improved. By 1997, ratings got better, especially for the 10 p.m. news among younger viewers. The 9 p.m. news on WLMT became very popular. In 2003, the news was redesigned with new anchors and a new weather system. In 2006, a morning newscast was added. In 2013, when the station became WATN-TV, it moved to new studios and started broadcasting news in high definition.

Notable former on-air staff

• Dayna Devon – weeknight anchor/reporter, 1997–1999

Subchannels

WATN-TV's transmitter is located near Brunswick. The station's signal is multiplexed: