History of TBS (American TV channel)
TBS began life in Atlanta as WJRJ-TV, a UHF station that started on September 1, 1967. It was built by Rice Broadcasting and carried a mix of movies, older TV shows, and a small news segment. The station’s big boost came from a tall new tower that gave it a stronger signal than other UHF stations.
In 1969, Rice Broadcasting merged with Turner Communications, led by Ted Turner. The new company renamed the station WTCG and began to dream big. Turner moved the station into a newer facility and started programming more affordable, off-network shows, sports, and movies.
WTCG caught a new kind of break in the 1970s: it began to reach cable systems far beyond Atlanta. By 1976, the station was beaming its signal to cable systems in several states via satellite, becoming one of the first national “superstations.” Turner spent millions to make this work, but the payoff was huge: WTCG was now available coast to coast.
Turner renamed the station WTBS (short for Turner Broadcasting System) and branded it as a national service, with the Atlanta feed still airing locally. The 1980s brought more original programming to WTBS, along with popular old favorites and movies. The station grew famous for treating itself as a real, national network rather than just a local channel.
In 1987, the station dropped the “W” from WTBS in its branding and began calling itself SuperStation TBS. A year later, it reached tens of millions of homes across the United States. The late 1980s also saw the channel adjust its scheduling and already-massive distribution to fit new cable rules and the evolving TV market.
By 1990, the national feed was officially known as TBS, ending the “Superstation” era as a formal brand, though the channel still carried the same shows on a nationwide schedule. TBS continued to expand its library, add new original programs, and cut back on older cartoons as Cartoon Network took over many of those animated shows.
In 1996, Time Warner (the result of a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications) bought Turner Broadcasting System for about $7.5 billion. This merged company kept TBS as a key part of its cable portfolio, alongside TNT, Cartoon Network, CNN, and other networks. In the late 1990s, TBS began charging cable operators directly for access to the channel and started to insert local ads in some regions, while the national feed carried a consistent lineup.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, TBS shifted focus from mostly movies to more comedy and reality-style programming. Cartoon shorts largely moved to Cartoon Network, and the channel added original comedy, late-night talk, and family-friendly shows. In 2004, TBS adopted a new logo and the “veryfunny” branding to emphasize its comedy tilt. The Atlanta-area station, WTBS, became WPCH-TV (PeachtreeTV) in 2007, a local channel that served Atlanta with different programming, while the national TBS feed continued.
TBS also expanded sports coverage, including Major League Baseball postseason games beginning in 2008. It launched late-night programs like Lopez Tonight (2009) and Conan (2010), and added more talk and comedy content in the following years.
In 2015, TBS announced plans for more original live-action comedies, animated series, and big “unscripted” projects. A new logo debuted, and the look and feel of the channel were refreshed.
In 2016, AT&T announced a plan to buy Time Warner (the parent company that owned TBS and the others). The deal closed in 2018, and TBS became part of WarnerMedia, a division of the new company. In 2019, WarnerMedia reorganized its structure, and TBS was grouped under WarnerMedia Entertainment.
In 2022, WarnerMedia merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery, reshaping the company that owns TBS. Since then, the network has adjusted its strategy and programming as part of the larger group.
Recent moves and leadership changes continued through the mid-2020s. In 2025, TBS saw shifts in original series and staffing, including decisions about renewing certain shows and how the channel plans to move forward. At the same time, big industry changes around Warner Bros. Discovery and other media deals loomed over TBS’s future, with discussions of mergers, spin-offs, and strategic reorganizations affecting how the network operates.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:55 (CET).