the Bald Rock Mountain site at a radiated power of 1 million watts, but it is no longer in use by the station. The station also utilizes data from National Weather Service radar sites nationwide. In 2017, WVTM constructed a new dual pole Doppler radar in western Tuscaloosa County in Vance, Alabama, known as "WVTM 13 Live Doppler Radar". On October 17, 2007, WVTM-TV became the first television station in the state of Alabama to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. After Hearst Television purchased the station in 2014, WVTM-TV has shifted its programming focus more heavily towards local news. First on August 18, 2014, the station expanded its weekday morning newscast to 4:00 a.m. and expanded its 11:00 a.m. newscast to one hour, with the latter expansion replacing Daytime Alabama (a locally produced version of the syndicated morning talk show Daytime, produced by former Tampa sister station WFLA-TV) in the 11:30 slot. This was followed three weeks later on September 8 by the launch of an hour-long late afternoon newscast at 4:00 p.m. On April 27, 2015, the station expanded its 6:00 p.m. newscast to one hour, with the second half-hour replacing the cancelled sports talk show Alabama Tonight. Notable former on-air staff Sophia Choi – weekend morning anchor (1991–1996; now at WSB-TV in Atlanta) Bill Fitzgerald – anchor/reporter (1999–2004; now at WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia) Cliff Holman ("Cousin Cliff") – children's program host (1954–1969; later at WJSU-TV; deceased) James Spann – meteorologist (1979–1983; now at WBMA-LD) Rene Syler – weekend anchor (1990–1992; later at KTVT in Dallas–Fort Worth then at CBS as host of The Early Show) Charlie Van Dyke – Announcer (now announcer for rival WBRC) Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: In September 2004, WVTM-TV launched a digital subchannel on virtual channel 13.2, as a charter affiliate of NBC Weather Plus; after the network formally ceased operations on November 30, 2008, it was replaced by NBC Plus, a localized default feed of the network that replaced Weather Plus on most of its affiliates. In January 2008, Media General reached an agreement with Equity Media Holdings to affiliate WVTM with the Retro Television Network; the station began carrying the network on its second digital subchannel on May 1, 2009. WVTM replaced the Retro Television Network with MeTV on 13.2 on September 26, 2011, as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with Media