In 1997, current owner Media General acquired WHLT and WJTV (as well as Savannah, Georgia's WSAV-TV) from Raycom in a swap for Richmond, Virginia's WTVR-TV.
Further complicating matters, WSB-TV in Atlanta—then an NBC affiliate—put at least a grade B signal into much of the northern portion of the market, while WALB-TV in Albany and WSAV-TV in Savannah, both on VHF, could be seen in some parts of, respectively, the southwestern and southeastern portions.