WISC-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 469.2 m (1,539 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 43°3′21″N 89°32′6″W / 43.05583°N 89.53500°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WISC-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is the flagship television property of locally based Morgan Murphy Media, which has owned the station since its inception. WISC-TV's studios are located on Raymond Road in Madison, and its transmitter is located on South Pleasant View Road in Madison's Junction Ridge neighborhood.
History
WISC-TV first took to the airwaves on June 24, 1956, taking over Madison's CBS affiliation from
Despite being the state's second largest market, Madison was a "doughnut" market as it was sandwiched between other markets where primary VHF signals were already assigned–
WISC-TV has been affiliated with CBS since its launch, though it was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network during the late 1950s.[3] In January 1995, WISC-TV began maintaining a secondary affiliation with UPN, carrying tape-delayed overnight airings of the network's prime time programming following CBS's late-night lineup; this arrangement ended in July 1999, when Media Properties Inc. signed on Janesville-licensed WHPN-TV (channel 57, now Ion Television affiliate WIFS) as Madison's first full-time UPN outlet. (WISC would resume its relationship with UPN in 2002 through its cable/digital subchannel, TVW; see below.)
In 1998, WISC-TV partnered with
WISC-TV commemorated its 50th anniversary in June 2006, which merited a congratulatory mention by David Letterman on his Late Show broadcast of June 22, 2006 (its first program, he quipped, was Good Morning, Cheddar).
After CBS' airing of Super Bowl LIII, WISC-TV debuted a new newscast set, dropped the "3" logo in use since 1990, and changed their News 3 branding to News 3 Now.
TVW (WISC-DT2)
WISC-DT2, branded as "TVW", is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated second digital subchannel of WISC-TV. Over the air, it broadcasts in 720p high definition on channel 3.2.
History
The channel launched on January 1, 1996, as WiSC2, a primarily cable-only general entertainment sister channel of WISC-TV. It was not initially available on Marcus Cable (acquired by Charter Communications in January 1999) in the immediate Madison area, instead being carried on cable systems serving some of the city's outlying suburbs and via a low-power broadcast transmitter, a situation that severely limited its potential audience early on. The channel maintained a format modeled after general entertainment independent stations, running a mix of syndicated sitcoms, drama series, talk shows and game shows; children's programming (including some off-network cartoons); a limited schedule of local news and community affairs programs; regional sporting events (including Milwaukee Bucks basketball games carried by the team's then-originating broadcast affiliate, WVTV); and an early-morning simulcast of Bloomberg Information Television (renamed Bloomberg Television in 1997).
In 1998, the channel—which was concurrently renamed the Television Wisconsin Network (TVW), named after the Murphy-owned licensee of WISC-TV, Television Wisconsin, Inc.—became the Madison-area affiliate of
In September 2000, WISC—upon launching its
On March 8, 2006, Morgan Murphy Media confirmed that WISC-DT2 would become the Madison-area charter affiliate of MyNetworkTV, developed as a joint venture between then-
As a MyNetworkTV affiliate, along with syndicated programs, WISC-DT2 aired
Programming
Unlike most CBS affiliates, WISC is one of a handful of CBS affiliates to air
WISC-DT2 is also designated by WISC to carry CBS network programs that the station must preempt to accommodate extended
In 2024, WISC-TV will air 10 Milwaukee Bucks games as part of an agreement with Weigel Broadcasting and Bally Sports Wisconsin. These games originate from Weigel's Milwaukee CBS affiliate WDJT-TV and independent station WMLW-TV and utilize Bally Sports commentators and production personnel. Three games will air on the station's main CBS channel, with the remaining games on WISC-DT2.[14]
News operation
WISC presently broadcasts 35+1⁄2 hours of local newscasts each week (with three hours each weekday and 2+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to its normal morning, noon, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, WISC airs News 3 Now Live at Four, a one-hour newscast which is largely devoted to non-headline news and features that focus on the community and the people of Madison, Dane County, and south-central Wisconsin. Live at Four originally aired at 5 p.m., but moved to 4 p.m. in October 2015 to expand to one hour.
In January 2004, WISC-TV began producing UPN14 News at Nine for TVW, a five-minute news update featuring local and national headlines as well as a brief weather segment. In September 2005, the program expanded into a half-hour broadcast (as News 3 at 9 on UPN14, subsequently revised to account for TVW/WISC-DT2's later branding changes); News 3 at 9 ended its seven-year run on December 31, 2011, after WISC entered into a news share arrangement with Fox affiliate WMSN-TV (channel 47) to assume production responsibilities for that station's 9 p.m. newscast (which had been produced by WKOW since its premiere in 1999) effective January 1, 2012.[15]
On October 26, 2008, WISC-TV began producing all its newscasts in total high-definition video, becoming the first commercial TV station in Wisconsin to do so.[16] The station had produced occasional news features in HD since the beginning of 2008. In April 2011, WISC began offering free on demand segments of their newscasts on the Roku digital video player.[17]
Notable former on-air staff
- Roger Grimsby; long-time anchor on WABC-TV Eyewitness News in New York (deceased)
- Martin Kilcoyne (Sports); sportscaster with KTVI in St. Louis
- Matt Lepay (Sports); play-by-play radio announcer for the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams; part-time play-by-play TV announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers
- Curt Menefee (Sports); studio host of Fox NFL Sunday
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WISC | CBS |
3.2 | 720p | TVW | MyNetworkTV | |
3.3 | 480i | DABL | Dabl | |
3.4 | QVC | QVC | ||
3.5 | HSN | HSN | ||
3.6 | SCRIPPS | Scripps News |
Analog-to-digital transition; spectrum reallocation
WISC-TV shut down its analog signal, over
The analog channel 3 continued to serve as a "nightlight", broadcasting a loop of digital transition information and instructions in addition to any local news programming and emergency information, until signing off for good the final week of March 2009.
On April 13, 2017, the results of the
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WISC-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ FCC History Cards for WISC-TV. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009.
- ProQuest 395130570– via ProQuest.
- ^ "Janesville TV station to be sold". Milwaukee Business Journal. American City Business Journals. April 2, 2002.
- ^ "UPN 14 To Become My Network TV This Fall". WISC-TV. Morgan Murphy Stations. March 8, 2006. Archived from the original on March 22, 2006.
- Gannett Company. February 22, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
- Reed Business Information.
- ^ "My Madison TV Is Now TVW". WISC-TV. Morgan Murphy Stations. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ "ION Affiliation Moves in Madison". Northpine.com. February 4, 2019.
- ^ "TVW". WISC-TV. Morgan Murphy Media. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
- ^ Source: Krista Hatcher Uelmen on Facebook Archived October 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine (posted February 1, 2019, and accessed February 4, 2019)
- ^ "Bordello of Horror is on the move and landing on Madison's TVW at midnight starting on Saturday February 9th! Hope to see you all there!". Bordello of Horror. February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via Facebook.
- ^ Langrehr, Jaymes (February 8, 2024). "WISC-TV, Television Wisconsin to air 10 Bucks games for free over-the-air". Channel 3000. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
- ^ Newman, Judy (January 5, 2012). "WISC-TV now providing news services for Fox 47". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
- ^ "WISC-TV To Air Newscasts In HD". WISC-TV. October 20, 2008.
- ^ "WISC Debuts Local News Channel on Roku Digital Video Player". mediabistro.com. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
- ^ "Dodgers reportedly add Hershiser, Rizzo to TV team". truebluela.com. December 8, 2013.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WISC-TV".
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction Auction 1001 Winning Bids" (PDF). April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Spectrum Auction Channel Changes in the Upper Midwest". Upper Midwest Broadcasting, Northpine.com. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.