90.1 FM WABE, Georgia's first Public Radio Station, signed on-the-air September 13, 1948. The Atlanta Board of Education and the Fulton County Board of Education funded the station, which was housed atop Atlanta's old City Hall. The Atlanta Board of Education (ABE) holds the license for the station, hence the station's call letters - WABE.

WPBA TV30, Georgia's first Public Television Station, signed on February 17, 1958 with the call letters WETV. Licensed to the Atlanta Board of Education, and funded by the Atlanta and Fulton County Boards of Education, the station began as a classroom television service and telecast only during school hours. In January 1969, WETV became an affiliate of National Educational Television (which evolved into the Public Broadcasting Service) and began serving the General Public as well as Atlanta and Fulton County's school children.