WUPA

About WUPA

WUPA is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, broadcasting on channel 69 and owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division. Branded as CBS Atlanta since August 16, 2025, the station became the network's Atlanta outlet after 31 years in which the CBS affiliation resided at WANF, channel 46. Channel 69 first began broadcasting in 1981 as independent station WVEU, survived technical struggles and multiple ownership changes, served as a charter UPN affiliate and then a CW affiliate from 2006 to 2023, spent two years as an independent, and finally assumed the CBS affiliation its original owners once sought. The station maintains studios on Northeast Expressway in unincorporated DeKalb County, with its transmitter in northeastern Atlanta near North Druid Hills.

Early years as WVEU

Channel 69 first began broadcasting in 1981 as WVEU, an independent station whose early programming consisted of business news in daytime hours and subscription television in evenings and weekends. Years of technical issues, provoked by interference to mobile radio users and consequent limitations on the station's operating hours and signal strength, contributed to the failure of both the subscription service and a music video service that operated the station.

The station later offered more mainstream fare, showing syndicated programs, cartoons, and network programming passed up by Atlanta's affiliates, along with old kung fu movies and televangelist programming. At one point the channel aired Home Shopping Network programming and was the target of a purchase by HSN, though the deal fell through.

The CBS near-miss of 1994

In 1994, when CBS affiliate WAGA announced it would switch to Fox, CBS needed a new Atlanta affiliate. WVEU's local founders sold the station to CBS, but the network was able to negotiate an affiliation with WGNX, channel 46, a more built-up station, instead. CBS reconsidered the channel 69 purchase after seeing the station's threadbare facilities on the access road of Interstate 85.

By year's end, the Paramount Stations Group bought channel 69 and made it the Atlanta affiliate of the new UPN network, changing the call sign to WUPA, for UPN Atlanta. Under Paramount ownership, the station's programming and ratings improved substantially in the years that followed.

UPN and The CW

WUPA served as Atlanta's UPN affiliate from the network's 1995 launch, carrying its primetime lineup for eleven years. When UPN merged with The WB to form The CW in 2006, channel 69 became Atlanta's CW affiliate, airing series such as Everybody Hates Chris, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash, and Supergirl over the network's seventeen-year run on the station.

As a CBS-owned CW affiliate, the station benefited from corporate resources while serving the network's young-skewing audience. The CW years gave channel 69 its longest period of network stability.

Independence: 2023-2025

After Paramount Global sold the majority of its stake in The CW to Nexstar Media Group in 2022, CBS exercised its option to pull the CW affiliation from its owned stations. WUPA disaffiliated from The CW on September 1, 2023, reverting to independent status. CBS News and Stations leadership said the company looked forward to reimagining the stations as independents, leveraging the value of their primetime real estate with local programming, live sports, and shows from across the Paramount brands.

As an independent branded Atlanta 69, the station programmed syndicated series and movies while awaiting its next chapter. The independence was not new to channel 69, which had begun life as an independent four decades earlier.

Becoming CBS Atlanta

On August 16, 2025, WUPA assumed the CBS affiliation for Atlanta as a network-owned station, rebranding as CBS Atlanta. CBS News and Stations had owned the station since 1994, and the move gave the network its first owned CBS station in Atlanta, one of the country's most vibrant and influential markets. The station also launched a streaming CBS News Atlanta channel covering regional weather, traffic, and local and breaking news, and its live linear feed became available on Paramount+.

Jennifer Mitchell, president of CBS Stations and CBS News and Stations Digital, called the launch a milestone moment, saying the expansion brought the full strength of CBS's award-winning news, sports, and entertainment programming directly to Atlanta viewers and represented an investment in the community and local journalism.

Digital subchannels

WUPA's digital subchannels include Start TV, the diginet Roar, MeTV, Fave TV, a CBS-owned variety diginet, and Charge!, along with a retransmission of Heroes & Icons programming. The multicast lineup complements the main channel's CBS programming with classic series, movies, and genre content.

The station's ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 operations reflect the industry's transition to NextGen TV broadcasting standards.

Ownership

WUPA is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division, a unit of Paramount Skydance. CBS owns and operates 27 stations in 17 of the country's biggest markets, and the Atlanta outlet joined that group as a full CBS affiliate in 2025.

The station's journey from struggling independent to network-owned CBS affiliate spans more than four decades of Atlanta broadcasting history, with CBS's ownership dating to the pivotal 1994 transaction.

Sports and local programming

As a CBS affiliate, WUPA carries the network's sports programming, including NFL football and college sports, along with CBS News and entertainment programming. The station has previously served as a television home for Atlanta Falcons programming and has broadcast select Atlanta United FC soccer matches.

The launch of the CBS News Atlanta streaming channel added a dedicated local news streaming presence, covering the latest regional weather, traffic, and breaking news around the clock.

Digital presence

WUPA's digital home is atlanta.cbsnews.com, integrated with the CBS News digital platforms, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and local news coverage. The station's linear feed is available on Paramount+, and the CBS News Atlanta streaming channel extends its reach to connected devices.

As part of CBS News and Stations, the station's digital strategy leverages the company's national streaming infrastructure, including the CBS News 24/7 service, while maintaining a distinct Atlanta identity. Its official website is https://atlanta.cbsnews.com.

The Paramount makeover

In May 1995, CBS, which had regarded WVEU only as a "safety net," agreed to sell the station to Viacom, parent of the Paramount Stations Group, for $27 million, and began a significant makeover. The station assumed the new call sign WUPA, standing for United Paramount Atlanta, on December 11, 1995, with a more aggressive stance toward purchasing syndicated programming. Viacom built a new tower in North Druid Hills with the maximum five million watts of power, giving WUPA a coverage area comparable to Atlanta's other major stations. With a stronger signal and syndicated shows acquired from WGNX, the station became a factor in Atlanta ratings for the first time, with viewership surpassing WATL and even WTBS. For most of UPN's run, WUPA was the network's fourth strongest station, tied with WJZY in Charlotte. In 2002, UPN unveiled a new logo and WUPA dropped its channel number to become "UPN Atlanta"; the channel number returned to its identity in 2008, and "Atlanta" was re-added in 2014. As CBS Atlanta, the station serves 2.8 million households in the seventh-largest designated market area, carrying CBS's full schedule of entertainment, news, and sports, including select Atlanta Falcons games, with its live feed also available on Paramount+.