agreement, with the WIAT-produced newscast ending on October 13, 2006, nearly one month after channel 21 became a CW affiliate. On April 9, 2010, WIAT became the third television station in the Birmingham–Tuscaloosa–Anniston market (after WVTM and WBRC) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. On April 25, 2015, WIAT debuted a two-hour weekend edition of its morning newscast, Wake Up Alabama, on Saturdays and Sundays from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. This was followed exactly one year later on April 25, 2016, by the addition of a half-hour newscast at noon, which marked the first time that WIAT had produced a midday news program. Currently, the evening news is anchored by Sherri Jackson and Art Franklin. Franklin was an anchor at WBRC in the 1990s and early 2000s. On September 14, 2020, WIAT added a 4:00 p.m. newscast. Notable former on-air staff Doug Bell – weeknight sports anchor (1987–1997; now a freelance sports journalist) Dale Cardwell – investigative reporter (1984–1987) Keith Cate – weekday evening news anchor (1998–2000; now at WFLA-TV in Tampa) Alex Chappell – sports reporter (now with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) Hank Erwin – anchor (late 1970s–early 1980s); later became a news reporter on WYDE; former member of the Alabama State Legislature Paul Finebaum – sports director (1998–2001; currently a sports commentator for SEC Network) Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: In 2007, WIAT launched a second digital subchannel on virtual channel 42.2, carrying a locally produced weather information format. In late March 2009, the subchannel became an affiliate of Untamed Sports TV; the station promotes digital channel 42.2 as a separate channel on-air and on the station's website. In addition to Untamed Sports programming, the 42.2 subchannel also carries live and tape-delayed local high school sports events and a video simulcast of the syndicated radio program Rick and Bubba. At that time, the station launched an additional subchannel on virtual channel 42.3, which took over carriage of its 24-hour weather channel. On November 1, 2017, WIAT added a fourth subchannel affiliated with Laff. Untamed Sports TV was replaced with Escape (now Ion Mystery), which, along with Laff, continued to be carried on WUOA-LD (channel 46) under an existing subchannel leasing agreement until both were dropped by the low-power station in 2019. Analog-to-digital conversion WIAT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 42, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which