With the switch from WAGA to WGNX, CBS lost significant viewership in the northern portion of the Atlanta market. Despite its five million-watt analog signal, WGNX did not penetrate nearly as far into this area as WAGA did because of the relatively mountainous terrain that is found in that part of northern Georgia. Much of this region was among the few areas in the United States where cable had yet to gain significant penetration. CBS did not return over-the-air to this area until Toccoa's WNEG-TV (channel 32, now WGTA) joined CBS the following August. Although it was located in the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville market, WNEG served as the "de facto" CBS affiliate for the far northern portion of the Atlanta market as well as the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville market's western fringes until that station's sale to the University of Georgia in 2008. By this time, increased cable and satellite availability improved channel 46's footprint in the area. Tribune began to manage the station in tandem with WATL in 1996 under a local marketing agreement.