Launching Next Week in Atlanta

CBS's owned-and-operated station in Atlanta will launch its new, start-up local news operation next week, with the first newscasts scheduled for Monday, September 15. The station says that the inaugural 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM newscasts will be produced from a fully immersive augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) studio.

The solo anchor for the broadcasts will be Jobina Fortson-Evans, an Atlanta native and three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist. Previously, Fortson-Evans hosted "ATL Live" at Atlanta News First (WANF) and held anchor and reporter positions at KGO-TV in San Francisco, WAVE 3 News in Louisville, and WMDT in Salisbury, Md. She is a graduate of Howard University.

The AR/VR studio format is designed to provide visual context for topics such as weather systems and civic issues. CBS Atlanta is the ninth company-owned station to implement this technology, following stations in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. It will be the third CBS-owned station to produce all its newscasts from a fully immersive virtual set.

According to station management, the launch represents a significant investment in the Atlanta market, pairing the new production technology with an anchor who has established community ties.