You’re flipping through the channels in a Baldwin County living room, maybe looking for a tropical update or just wanting to see if the Causeway is flooded again. It feels familiar. The same anchors you've watched for a decade are there, smiling behind glass desks. But honestly, behind the scenes of mobile alabama news stations, things are looking a lot different than they did even two years ago.
Local TV isn't just about who has the best radar anymore. It’s a chess match of corporate buyouts and weird signal swaps.
If you haven't checked your antenna settings lately, you might be surprised to find that your favorite NBC show isn't where you left it. In late 2025, the market went through a massive shakeup. Sinclair Broadcast Group decided to play musical chairs with their affiliations. They moved the entire "NBC 15" brand off its long-time home at WPMI and tucked it into a digital subchannel over at WEAR-TV.
Crazy, right?
Basically, if you want NBC news now, you’re technically watching a Pensacola station’s signal, even if the reporters are still standing in front of the Mobile skyline.
The Big Three: Who Actually Runs the Show?
Most people in the Port City grew up with a "ride or die" loyalty to one station. You were either a WKRG family or a FOX10 house. But the "local" part of local news is a bit of a stretch these days.
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Take WKRG News 5. They are the oldest CBS affiliate in the area and have stayed loyal to that network since 1955. That's a huge streak. They are owned by Nexstar Media Group, which is a massive conglomerate out of Texas. Despite the big corporate parents, they’ve managed to keep a very "Alabama" feel. You’ve probably seen Peter Albrecht or Devon Walsh—these aren't just faces; they are institutions. Peter has been in this market for over 30 years. He actually started in sports, married an Auburn grad, and basically became a fixture of the Gulf Coast.
Then you have FOX10 (WALA). For a long time, they were the NBC station. Then the Great Switch of '96 happened, and they went Fox. Now owned by Gray Television, they tend to dominate the ratings. Why? Partly because they lean hard into the "We Are Loyal Alabamians" vibe. Their studios on Satchel Paige Drive are literally named after a local legend. They play the local card well, even though Gray is based in Atlanta.
The Weird Case of WPMI and WEAR
This is where it gets kinda messy. WPMI (Channel 15) was the first independent station in Alabama back in the early 80s. For decades, it was the NBC home. But Sinclair, which operates the station, shifted the NBC affiliation to WEAR 3.2.
If you go to Channel 15.1 now, you won’t find the Today Show. You’ll find a network called "Roar." It’s a massive shift in how we consume local media. WEAR is technically a Pensacola station, but since the Mobile-Pensacola-Fort Walton Beach market is the 57th largest in the country, they all have to play in the same sandbox.
- WEAR (ABC 3): Based in Pensacola, very Florida-heavy, but maintains a Mobile bureau on Dauphin Street.
- WPMI (The former NBC 15): Still exists, but its "identity" as a major network player has been hollowed out.
- WJTC (UTV 44): The sibling station to WPMI, mostly focused on syndicated reruns and high school sports.
Why Weather is the Real Kingmaker
In South Alabama, news is fine, but weather is life or death. We don't just watch the weather; we obsess over it.
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You remember Alan Sealls? The guy went viral a few years back for being the "best weatherman in the world" during a hurricane season. He was at WKRG, then went to WPMI, and he's a perfect example of how much star power a meteorologist carries in this town. When a hurricane enters the Gulf, the ratings for mobile alabama news stations skyrocket. People don’t care about corporate owners then; they care about who they trust to tell them when to board up the windows.
Chief Meteorologist Ed Bloodsworth at WKRG and the team at FOX10’s "Weather Now" are constantly battling for that trust. FOX10 even has a dedicated 24-hour weather channel on certain cable providers. In a place where a summer afternoon thunderstorm can drop three inches of rain in twenty minutes, having a reliable app on your phone is more important than the 6 PM broadcast.
The Digital Pivot: It’s Not Just TV Anymore
Honestly, most people under 40 in Mobile aren't sitting down at 5:00 PM to watch the news. They’re getting push notifications.
The "big" stations have had to turn into digital publishers. WKRG’s Facebook page has over half a million followers. That’s more than the population of the city! They’ve realized that being a "TV station" is a losing battle if you don't own the smartphone screen too. They are competing with AL.com and local independent outlets like Lagniappe, which has a huge following for its "no-holds-barred" local reporting.
Is Local News Dying?
Not really. It's just mutating.
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The consolidation of stations under companies like Sinclair and Nexstar means there are fewer boots on the ground. Sometimes you'll see a "local" story on the Mobile news that was actually filmed in Pensacola or even Birmingham. It’s a cost-saving measure, but viewers notice. They notice when an anchor mispronounces "Gautier" or "Dauphin."
Nuance matters here.
Actionable Tips for Staying Informed in Mobile
If you want to actually know what's happening without the fluff, you have to diversify your "news diet." Relying on just one of the mobile alabama news stations isn't enough anymore.
- Rescan your digital antenna. If you haven't done this since the end of 2025, you're likely missing channels or seeing "No Signal" on what used to be NBC.
- Follow the "Weather Authority" and "Storm Tracker" apps. Don't just rely on the built-in weather app on your iPhone; it doesn't understand the nuance of Gulf Coast micro-climates.
- Check the "bureau" focus. If you live in Mobile, WKRG and FOX10 generally give you more "Alabama" news. If you’re in Baldwin County, you’ll get a mix. If you’re watching WEAR, expect a lot of Escambia County (Florida) politics.
- Support independent local print. Stations often pick up stories that were first broken by Lagniappe or the Mobile Press-Register (via AL.com). Supporting those journalists keeps the TV stations on their toes.
The landscape of Mobile media is weirdly complex for a city of its size. We have stations that have been around since the dawn of television and digital subchannels that seem to change every six months. Stay skeptical of "national" stories packaged as local news, and keep your eye on the radar.
The next step is to audit your social media feed. Make sure you are following at least two different local newsrooms to see how they cover the same city council meeting or downtown development project. You'll be surprised at how different the "truth" looks depending on which station is telling it.