Media and communications

Newspapers

The Huntsville Times has been Huntsville's only daily newspaper since 1996, when the Huntsville News closed. Before then, the News was the morning paper, and the Times was the afternoon paper until 2004. The Times has a weekday circulation of 60,000, which rises to 80,000 on Sundays. Both papers were owned by the Newhouse chain. In May 2012, Advance Publications, owner of the Times, announced that the Times, along with the other three newspapers owned by Advance, would be published on only three days a week: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

A few alternative newspapers are available in Huntsville. The Valley Planet covers arts and entertainment in the Tennessee Valley area. The Redstone Rocket is a newspaper distributed throughout Redstone Arsenal's housing area covering activities on Redstone. Speakin' Out News is a weekly newspaper focused on African Americans. El Reportero is a Spanish-language newspaper for North Alabama.

Radio See also: List of radio stations in Alabama

Huntsville is the 106th largest radio market in the United States. Station KIH20 broadcasts the National Weather Service's forecasts and warnings for the Huntsville area.

Television

The Huntsville DMA serves 15 counties in North Alabama and 6 counties in Southern Middle Tennessee.

TV Stations WBQR-CA 3 Spanish-language/ethnic programming. WTZT-CD 11 Independent (Athens). WHNT 19/DT 59 CBS - also has ION and Retro Television Network programs. WHIQ 25/DT 24 PBS/Alabama Public Television. WAAY 31/DT 32 ABC. W38BQ 38 3ABN/Trinity Broadcasting Network. WAFF 48/DT 49 NBC WZDX 54/DT 41 Fox. WAMY 45/DT 54.2 My Network TV. NASA television available on local access channels 2 or 13.

There are 7 movie theaters located in Huntsville.

Feature films shot in Huntsville

A few feature films have been shot in Huntsville, including 20 Years After (2008, originally released as Like Moles, Like Rats), Air Band (2005), and Constellation (2005). Portions of the film SpaceCamp (1986) were filmed at Huntsville's U.S. Space and Rocket Center at the eponymous facility. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center stood in for NASA in the 1989 movie Beyond the Stars starring Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, and Sharon Stone. Parts of Tom and Huck (1995) were filmed in Cathedral Caverns, located near Huntsville. Following in the motif of the "Rocket City," Columbia Pictures filmed Ravagers (1979) in The Land Trust's Historic Three Caves Quarry, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and on location at an antebellum home located next door to Lee High School. This cult classic starred Richard Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Ann Turkel, Art Carney and Cecily Hovanes.

Huntsville's legacy in the space program continues to draw film producers looking for background material for space-themed films. During the pre-production of the film Apollo 13 (1995), the cast and crew spent time at Space Camp and Marshall Space Flight Center preparing for their roles. Space Camp was mentioned in the film Stranger than Fiction and was featured in a 2008 episode of Penn & Teller: B.S.! on NASA.