After WDBB began deviating from the WTTO simulcast part-time, the station brought back news programming in 1993 under Abry ownership; the new news department, which branded its newscasts as "WDBB 17 News", consisted of half-hour newscasts at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. each weeknight and at 10:00 p.m. seven nights a week, which were targeted at Tuscaloosa and west-central Alabama; at the time, as Tuscaloosa was considered a separate market from Birmingham, it was the smallest Fox affiliate by market size that produced its newscasts in-house and one of the few news-producing Fox stations that did not carry a prime time newscast that followed the network's programming (the 9:00 p.m. hour was filled by syndicated programming instead). The newsroom and studio were housed at WDBB's original Jug Factory Road facility in Tuscaloosa. Talent such as Dan Cates and Don Hartley, who were already known from previous stints on other television and radio stations in central Alabama, were hired as part of the news department. Later on, they were joined by longtime WVTM anchor Gene Lively. Charleston, South Carolina weathercaster Lisa Willis signed on as the first main weathercaster during WDBB's first year.