KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — On October 1, 1953, WATE (then called WROL) hit the airwaves for the very first time. Just over four decades later, WATE.com launched.
In honor of WATE’s 70th anniversary, the WATE Digital Team is looking back at the station’s website from its 1996 launch to 2023.
WATE was the first TV station in Knoxville to launch a website. The first capture of WATE’s Website on the Wayback Machine dates all the way back to Dec. 29, 1996, just 13 years after the internet began.
In the nearly three decades since the launch of the website, it has gone through several changes and colors. Below you can see how WATE.com got to its current look.
1996
1999
2000
2001
2003
2005
2006
2008
2010
2012
2013
2015
2018
2021
WATE.com got its most recent update in 2021. It was created to focus more on a mobile view while still making sure our viewers could easily find the day’s top stories and breaking news.
