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113-580: WMLW-TV (channel 49) is an independent television station licensed to Racine, Wisconsin , United States, serving the Milwaukee area. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting alongside CBS affiliate WDJT-TV (channel 58) and two low-power stations: Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD (channel 63, which is simulcast over WMLW-TV's fourth digital subchannel ) and Class A MeTV owned-and-operated station WBME-CD (channel 41, which WDJT-TV simulcasts on its second digital subchannel). The stations share studios in

226-500: A multicast channel in March 2008 for an NCAA men's basketball tournament game in standard definition besides the one being aired in high definition on WDJT's main signal. Subsequently, This TV took over simulcasting duties for the 2009 tournament. In early January 2009, Weigel added its Telemundo affiliate, WYTU-LP (channel 63) to WBME's digital signal as subchannel 49.4. Although WYTU has its own digital signal on UHF channel 17, it has

339-522: A burden not faced by network-affiliated stations – these factors made prospective owners skittish about signing on a television station as an independent. By the 1970s, however, cable television had gained enough penetration to make independent stations viable in smaller markets. This was especially true in markets that were either located in rugged terrain or covered large areas; in these regions, cable (and later satellite) are all but essential for acceptable television. Nearly 300 independent stations existed in

452-561: A complicated six-station affiliation switch in South Florida saw WSVN in Miami switch from NBC to Fox in 1989, the station adopted a news-intensive format unlike any independent station or Fox affiliate prior, a scheduling choice initially ridiculed in local media but which quickly attracted industry attention and saw ratings success. This model was copied by stations owned by New World Communications and SF Broadcasting that switched to Fox in

565-540: A day later to compensate. The 2013 men's final was pre-scheduled in advance for the second Monday in September, and WMLW again carried it in lieu of WDJT. In 2014 , however, all syndicated programming on WDJT moved their premiere dates to the Tuesday after, allowing WDJT to carry the men's final for the first time in six years without preempting any new programming; this turned out to be the last year CBS would have to work around

678-578: A different position depending on market (such as channel 19 in Sheboygan ). The station activated a new digital transmitter on the Weigel tower in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park on October 20, 2008 to better serve the entire market, while the analog signal continued to transmit from Oak Creek until the end of analog television service on June 12, 2009. On October 30, the simulcast on WDJT-DT3 ended to make way for This TV ,

791-539: A distinct class of station because their lack of network affiliation led to unique strategies in program content, scheduling, and promotion, as well as different economics compared to major network affiliates. The Big Three networks in the United States — ABC , CBS , and NBC — traditionally provided a substantial number of program hours per day to their affiliates, whereas later network startups— Fox , UPN , and The WB (the latter two were succeeded by The CW and, to

904-541: A full-service variety format, while others are devoted primarily to classic television (such as MeTV ) and/or films, or carry mainly niche programming. Many stations that are affiliated with the larger post-1980s networks still behave much like independents, as they program far more hours a day than a station affiliated with one of the Big Three networks. This is especially the case with MyNetworkTV, whose efforts to offer first-run programming were largely unsuccessful. By 2009,

1017-472: A lesser extent, MyNetworkTV )—provided substantially fewer shows to their affiliates. Through the early 1990s, Fox affiliates were often considered independents. The term independent station most often is used to refer to stations with general entertainment formats. Historically, these stations specialized in children's programming, syndicated reruns or first-run shows, and sports coverage. Some independent stations, mostly those once having been affiliated with

1130-444: A limited range as a low power television station to the inner ring of the Milwaukee suburbs, and placing the station on WBME's full-power signal allows it full-market coverage. The channel 17 signal was converted to high definition before the 2012 Summer Olympics , with WMLW-DT4 remaining in standard definition. On December 31, 2009, Weigel switched WYTU-LP to WBME's schedule on analog channel 63. The analog signal eventually went off

1243-566: A local announcer team and camera crew or coverage from ESPN Plus or the Horizon League 's internal broadcasting unit. As of the 2013–14 season, the "new" Big East Conference chose a rights deal which mainly consists of coverage on Fox Sports 1 , with some other games carried by Fox Sports Wisconsin, while UW-Milwaukee sports are exclusive to TWCSC. The station also formerly carried the sports talk show Sidelines from Madison 's TVW . In September 2008, WMLW-CA began to air The Daily Buzz ,

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1356-653: A major network affiliation. However, in a broader sense, there are independent stations that focus on a specific genre of television programming. For instance, religious independent stations buy and schedule, or produce locally, evangelism and study programs, and ethnic independent stations purchase or produce programs in specific languages or catering to specific communities. During the 1950s and 1960s, independent stations filled their broadcast hours with movies, sports, cartoons, filmed travelogues , and some locally produced television programs, including in some instances newscasts and children's programs. Independents that were on

1469-970: A major network, produce substantial amounts of news and public affairs programming. The model for these stations was WSVN in Miami , an NBC affiliate that switched to Fox in January 1989 and dramatically expanded its news output. Further affiliation changes and news expansions from the 1990s onward have produced a number of additional stations, such as KTVK in Phoenix (an ABC affiliate until 1995); WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida (a CBS affiliate until 2002); and WHDH in Boston (an NBC affiliate until 2017), as well as stations such as WGN-TV in Chicago and KUSI-TV in San Diego that never held

1582-708: A network programming style as much as possible; but in turn, Fox only carried a late-night talk show at its launch in October 1986, and beginning in April 1987, offered one night of prime time programming a week (on Sundays). The network only programmed two hours of prime time programming each night (and, beginning in the 1990s, some children's programming through Fox Kids ), but gradually expanded its prime time lineup to all seven nights until January 1993. Fox's owned-and-operated stations left INTV in March 1992. The lack of programming in other dayparts forced most Fox affiliates to maintain

1695-562: A new agreement for Weigel's subchannels between them and WISN's owner, Hearst Television . From then until September 29, WMLW-DT3 carried a simulcast of This TV from WDJT-DT3. On that day, the channel space was used to launch a new Weigel network concept, Heroes & Icons , which carries mostly police dramas and westerns targeted towards men. On March 3, 2015, Weigel moved This TV to WMLW's third subchannel to consolidate their owned subchannel networks onto WDJT, and shuffled H&I onto WDJT-DT3. On May 15, 2021, Bounce TV became exclusive in

1808-541: A new network from Weigel and MGM Television focusing on movies and classic television series, leaving MeTV to broadcast exclusively on WBME, confining the signal to within the inner ring of the Milwaukee metro area. MeTV has been successful in Milwaukee on WBME, outrating daytime programs seen on the Sinclair Broadcast Group duopoly of WVTV (channel 18) and WCGV-TV (channel 24) as of September 2011. On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that they would take

1921-646: A part of the sale to Weigel. On October 18, 2017, Weigel agreed to acquire KAXT-CD and KTLN-TV , in San Francisco and KVOS-TV and KFFV in Seattle , from OTA Broadcasting in a $ 23.2 million deal. The Seattle deal was completed, while the San Francisco completion took until April 15, 2019, as both KAXT-CD and KTLN-TV are involved in a spectrum transition resulting from the 2016 FCC auction. On July 18, 2018, CBS Television Stations and Weigel Broadcasting announced

2034-435: A partnership with Fox Television Stations to create a new digital subchannel network called Movies! , which is expected to debut on all of Fox's owned-and-operated stations in the spring of 2013. On May 13, 2013, Weigel announced that Tribune Broadcasting would take over operations of This TV on November 1, and that the channel would move to a WGN-TV subchannel following the changes. On July 1, 2013, Weigel premiered

2147-429: A permanent part of WMLW's schedule on January 1, 2008. The show initially featured the same anchors as channel 58's 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts (though its anchors are part of WDJT's reporting staff), although WITI has since solved the pre-emption problem by using that station's Antenna TV subchannel and live webstream to air its primetime newscast on nights when it is subject to preemption. Some breaking news coverage from WDJT

2260-528: A program previously unseen in Milwaukee as Sinclair Broadcast Group, until their acquisition spree began in 2012, did not air the morning show on any of its stations; the station dropped the program in September 2010 and replaced it with the Canadian talk program Steven and Chris . The Daily Buzz returned to the station's schedule in September 2012, with the broadcast of the 6 a.m. hour of the program, before being removed once again in September 2013 to make way for

2373-484: A programming block that debuted on January 6, 2003, on television station WFBT-CA (channel 23) in Chicago , Illinois , an independent station that otherwise featured an ethnic programming format. In April 2008, Weigel completed the purchase of WJJA-TV in Racine, Wisconsin , which gave the company its second full-power station in the Milwaukee market. The station carried a local version of MeTV for four years before it and

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2486-447: A result of the various network launches that have occurred since the 1986 launch of Fox, true independent stations have become a rarity. The smallest stations, which in the past would have been forced to adopt a locally originated independent program schedule, now have other options – 24-hour-a-day networks that require no local or syndicated programming for the station to carry; some of these networks, such as AMG TV or America One , follow

2599-551: A schedule dominated by shows held over from and an affiliate body primarily made up of stations previously aligned with its two predecessors. Some of the newly independent stations subsequently found a new network home through MyNetworkTV , itself created out of the prospect that the UPN affiliates of corporate sister Fox Television Stations would become independents due to The CW choosing to affiliate with CBS Television Stations and Tribune Broadcasting stations in overlapping markets. As

2712-488: A simulcast with WDJT depending on whether CBS Sports coverage of golf , the NFL or SEC college football on WDJT would pre-empt them otherwise. On February 3, 2020, a one-hour 7 a.m. extension of WDJT's morning news was added on WMLW on weekdays, allowing local competition in that hour against WITI's market-leading morning newscast. It was then expanded to two hours as of April 26, 2021. During its time on WDJT-DT3, MeTV served as

2825-435: A split schedule of programming, with JTV in the morning and afternoon hours, and Shop at Home during the evening hours. Shop at Home eventually shut down again in March 2008, and WJJA's last month under Kinlow ownership featured a 24-hour schedule of Jewelry Television programming. On August 1, 2007, Weigel Broadcasting announced its intention to purchase WJJA. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval for

2938-495: A standalone basis have become quite rare in the United States and, in turn, independents that are senior partners in duopolies are fairly uncommon. With the proliferation of duopolies and local marketing agreements since that point, most independent stations are operated alongside a major network affiliate (more commonly, one of either ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox), which may share syndicated programming with and/or produce newscasts in non-competitive timeslots for its unaffiliated sister. This

3051-443: A syndicated program using most of the same personnel as First Business , was launched in the fall of 2015 and is carried by WVTV locally. In October 2007, when Fox affiliate WITI could not air its own 9 p.m. newscast in its regular time slot because of its broadcast of the 2007 World Series , WDJT's news department decided to test out a 9 p.m. newscast to air WMLW on those nights. The program, titled CBS 58 News at 9 on WMLW , became

3164-477: A very different program format from their predecessors. While sitcom reruns are still popular, expanded newscasts and other syndicated programs such as talk shows; courtroom shows; reruns of recent scripted comedy and drama series; and no-cost public domain programming are common. Another type of content being added to many independent station lineups in recent years has been brokered programming , including infomercials , home shopping and televangelist programs ;

3277-481: Is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago , Illinois , alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood. It currently owns 25 television stations, seven digital over-the-air television networks (most notably MeTV ), and one radio station. The company was founded by Chicago broadcasting veteran John Weigel, whose career dated back to

3390-1025: Is because in most markets, independents tend to have lower viewership than that of a network affiliate, and usually fall within part of the FCC's duopoly criteria (which allows a company to own two stations in the same market if one is not among the four highest-rated at the time of an ownership transaction). 5.4 MyNetworkTV August 16, 1969 (2nd incarnation) July 5, 1976 (current incarnation) April 1, 1971 (2nd incarnation) 68.2 ABC November 1, 1964 (current incarnation) 23.2 ABC 19.2 MeTV/MyNetworkTV 19.2 Independent 55.2 MeTV 7.2 The CW June 1994 (current incarnation) April 30, 1997 (current incarnation) (now WGPX-TV) (now WMYA-TV) (now KSIX-TV) 13.2 Independent 13.3 CBS 13.2 Independent 13.3 Telemundo (now KHII-TV) (now KCVH-LD 6 ) (now KYAZ) 4.2/29.2 Independent (now WNDY-TV) (now WJAX-TV) 30.2 MyNetworkTV/MeTV 30.4 Telemundo 47.4 MyNetworkTV Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co.

3503-679: Is currently airing a simulcast of WCIU-TV on WCIU digital subchannel 26.2. The new digital subchannel, The U Too , was officially launched on January 5, 2011. The new digital network will be airing on WCIU digital subchannel 26.2, replacing MeTV, which moved to WCIU digital subchannel 26.3 on December 15, 2010, and mainly consists of other purchased programming without room on the main WCIU schedule, second runs of WCIU programming or programming burned off due to low ratings. On January 4, 2011, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Weigel announced plans to distribute MeTV nationwide. On January 28, 2013, Weigel entered into

WMLW-TV - Misplaced Pages Continue

3616-461: Is currently running on a lower effective radiated power . The station (as WBME-TV) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 49, on June 12, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48, using virtual channel 49. Weigel delayed the conversion for all of its full-power stations to digital to June 12 in the wake of the DTV Delay Act , although the possibility

3729-615: Is on historical and factual programming and utilizes the library of the cable network History , expanding its non-fiction offerings beyond Through the Decades . On February 13, 2023, Weigel announced that Decades would be re-branded as Catchy Comedy on March 27, 2023. It will focus on classic sitcoms weekdays with comedy marathons on weekends. On December 29, 2023, CBS Media Ventures re-launched Dabl , pivoting it from lifestyle programming to Black-oriented sitcoms owned by their parent company Paramount Global . Weigel took over operations of

3842-526: Is simulcast on WMLW, along with severe weather alerts. With the conversion to high definition in August 2012, WMLW's newscast immediately also began to be carried in HD that same day. On January 18, 2015, the 9 p.m. newscast was expanded to a full hour, displacing Inside Edition to the early morning hours. Beginning in September 2014, WMLW began to carry newscasts in the 5 p.m. hour on weekends, carried either alone or in

3955-547: The 2023–24 NBA season . All 10 games will air on WMLW, though the February 23 game will be simulcast on sister network WDJT-TV and the March 4 game will be aired in Spanish by sister network WYTU-LD . WMLW announced a similar agreement for the 2024–25 season . Five games will air on WMLW, with one game also aired in Spanish on WYTU. Previously, the station carried ESPN Plus 's regional college football and basketball packages for

4068-697: The Big Ten Conference , which included Wisconsin Badger games, until 2007, when the new Big Ten Network launched in late August 2007, as part of a ten-year exclusivity deal between the Big Ten Conference, ABC and ESPN went into effect. All non-network Badger sporting events now air on the Big Ten Network, though the Badger Sports Report remains a part of WMLW's schedule. Other rights included

4181-536: The Denver market (many stations surrounding Denver have used cable and satellite carriage to take advantage of the larger market reach). September 1, 2019, saw WCIU-TV taking over the affiliation for The CW in Chicago as "CW 26", replacing Fox -owned WPWR-TV and resulting in the move of some programming and that station's former "The U" branding to WMEU-CD. In December 2019, Weigel agreed to purchase low-power WHCT-LD in

4294-722: The Eastern and Pacific time zones, and 9:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones. Network stations aired their late newscasts an hour later. From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, independent stations in several U.S. cities, particularly those that had yet to receive a cable franchise, carried a form of a network affiliation through subscription television networks (such as ON TV , Spectrum and SelecTV ); these services – which were formatted very similarly to their pay cable counterparts – ran sports, uncut and commercial-free movies (both mainstream and pornographic , broadcasts of

4407-570: The FSBREWERS bug in the upper right-hand corner, and adaptation of graphics to fit WMLW's 4:3 frame rather than FSN's usual 16:9 -optimized presentation), while WMLW/WDJT sold ad time during the games. A few games were added to the WMLW package every year depending on early-season weather postponements and the team's standing in the pennant race later in the season. After the games, a WDJT-produced postgame show called The Final Out aired. This arrangement

4520-783: The Hartford, Connecticut market from Venture Technologies Group LLC for $ 1.5 million. On September 11, 2020, Weigel announced that it was buying WJFB in Lebanon, Tennessee (serving the Nashville television market), from HC2 Holdings for $ 5.5 million, pending FCC approval. On October 28, Weigel announced it will acquire KAZD in Dallas, KYAZ in Houston, KMOH-TV in Kingman, Arizona , and its Phoenix translator KEJR-LD from HC2, for $ 35 million. The sale of

4633-465: The Marquette Golden Eagles , using coverage originated from ESPN Plus when Marquette was a member of the "old" Big East Conference by their Big East Network , including contractually-obligated carriage of Big East football, despite Marquette's lack of a program in that sport. Coverage was shared with TWCSC. The station also carried Milwaukee Panthers men's and women's basketball from either

WMLW-TV - Misplaced Pages Continue

4746-505: The New York / Tri-State market for the first time. On October 11, 2021, Weigel filed to acquire WJLP , licensed to Middletown Township, New Jersey and transmitting from 4 Times Square , from PMCM TV LLC for $ 62.5 million. In March 2022, Weigel filed to purchase Cleveland , Ohio -based W27EA-D . On February 14, 2022, Weigel announced that it would launch Story Television, a digital multicast network, on March 28, 2022. The network's focus

4859-499: The US Open tennis tournament from CBS, because of WDJT's commitment as the local "Love Network" affiliate for the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon , along with the first three hours of the show in prime time so WDJT could carry CBS programming; this ended when MDA decided to pursue other formats for the telethon (a six-hour show on the night before Labor Day, then a two-hour network broadcast on ABC ). From 2008 to 2012 ,

4972-504: The 1930s. With $ 1,000 of his own money and another $ 1,000 from his attorney, Daniel J. McCarthy, Weigel bought the broadcasting license for what became the first UHF television station in the Chicago area. WCIU signed on the air on February 6, 1964. One year later, in 1965, the company was the subject of a successful hostile takeover at the hands of the Shapiro family. Over the years, the company began to acquire and also launch new stations in

5085-447: The 1990s and into the 2000s, WJJA continued to air Shop at Home programming, while also airing FCC-required educational programming , local church services, public domain sitcoms, and other programs relevant to local residents of Racine and Milwaukee, mostly during the morning hours. Its cable coverage at the time was usually limited to Milwaukee , Racine , Kenosha , Walworth and Waukesha counties under must-carry provisions, with

5198-647: The Arizona and Texas stations, which at the time of acquisition were all affiliated with Azteca América and later converted to MeTV owned-and-operated stations, was completed on December 29. All of the HC2 sales except for WJFB came with the move of the Azteca America affiliations to subchannels under long-term affiliation agreements with Weigel. On September 1, 2021, Weigel acquired WZME in Bridgeport, Connecticut , moving into

5311-561: The CBS affiliation in late 1994. WBND-LP became the home of ABC programming in South Bend the next year. In both cases, the longtime affiliates of the networks in those markets — WITI in Milwaukee and WSJV in South Bend — switched to Fox , and the Weigel-owned stations secured 11th-hour affiliation deals after no other viable replacement affiliates surfaced. Also in that same year, WCIU dropped

5424-465: The FCC's mandated E/I thresholds. A locally programmed MeToo subchannel was originally expected to be added as a subchannel, but was later set aside for Weigel's other national subchannel concepts. On August 7, 2012, WMLW and WBME swapped channel allocations. The WMLW callsign (whose "-CA" suffix was changed to a "-TV" suffix with the swap) and its syndicated and brokered programming inventory moved from low-power channel 41 to full-power channel 49, while

5537-484: The Federal Communications Commission did not allow infomercials to be broadcast on American television until 1984, but since then, it has proven to be a lucrative, if somewhat polarizing with viewers, way to fill airtime. During the 1990s when infomercials gained popularity, many stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day rather than signing off at night. By filling the overnight hours with infomercials,

5650-732: The Kinlow family that owned and operated WJJA as one of the few outright minority-owned and run stations in the United States. By 1995, WJJA had dropped HSN programming for The Military Channel (a network unrelated to the Discovery Networks –owned cable and satellite known by that name from 2005 to 2014). Kinlow dropped that network the following year, and returned to HSN, eventually affiliating with Shop at Home in 2001. When CBS -affiliated WITI (channel 6) switched to Fox in December 1994, Kinlow decided not to affiliate with CBS when approached by

5763-574: The MeTV concept national and compete fully with the Retro Television Network and Antenna TV , while complementing its successful sister network This TV (Weigel would transfer the ownership stake it held in that network to Tribune Broadcasting in November 2013, eight weeks before that company assumed ownership of WITI). As of December 15, 2010, WBME-TV carries most of the national feed of MeTV. However

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5876-548: The Renaissance Center office complex on South 60th Street in West Allis ; WMLW-TV's transmitter is located in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park . Even though WMLW-TV is licensed as a full-power station, it shares spectrum with WBME-CD, whose broadcasting radius does not reach all of southeastern Wisconsin . Therefore, the station is simulcast in 16:9 widescreen standard definition on WDJT-TV's third digital subchannel to reach

5989-585: The Rich and Famous , Star Search , Independent Network News and Star Trek: The Next Generation (as well as canceled network series revived for first-run syndication such as Fame , Too Close for Comfort , Charles in Charge , It's a Living and Baywatch ), and made-for-television movies and miniseries like Sadat . This trend primarily benefited independent stations. Independents scheduled these first-run programs during prime time and on weekends. In

6102-493: The Spanish-language Univision network and became Chicago's only true full-power independent station when WGN-TV and WPWR-TV joined The WB and UPN networks respectively, while WGBO-TV became a Univision-owned station. These changes allowed WCIU to pursue sports rights and syndicated programming not previously available, ultimately giving WCIU some strength in the market. Weigel's MeTV format originated as

6215-633: The United Paramount Network ( UPN ). The WB, UPN and their affiliates used a very similar programming model to that initially used by Fox and its stations during their first four years of existence (although neither network would expand their prime time lineups to all seven nights); the launch of those networks resulted in PTEN's demise in 1997, as most stations that became affiliates of UPN and The WB (whose respective founding parents, Chris-Craft Industries and Time Warner , jointly owned PTEN) either dropped

6328-604: The United States by the mid-1980s, in markets of varying sizes, up from fewer than 100 in 1980. They could buy new shows without cash using barter syndication . Many stations belonged to the Association of Independent Television Stations (INTV), a group similar to the National Association of Broadcasters , and which lobbied the FCC on behalf of independents. In the 1980s, television syndicators began offering original, first-run series such as Solid Gold , Lifestyles of

6441-973: The United States during the 1960s and 1970s, independent stations from large and mid-sized markets were imported by these systems via wire or microwave relay to smaller media markets , which often only had stations that were affiliated with the Big Three television networks ( ABC , NBC and CBS); these independents became the first " superstations ," which were distributed on a statewide or regional basis. In December 1976, Ted Turner decided to uplink his struggling Atlanta , Georgia station WTCG to satellite for national distribution. Soon, other companies decided to copy Turner's idea and applied for satellite uplinks to distribute other stations; WGN-TV in Chicago, KTVU in Oakland -San Francisco, and WPIX and WOR-TV in New York City would begin to be distributed nationally during

6554-729: The United States, many independent stations were commonly owned. Companies that operated three or more independents included: In 1986 several independent outlets, led by the Metromedia stations, formed the Fox Broadcasting Company , the first major venture at a fourth U.S. broadcast television network since the DuMont Television Network shut down in August 1956 (which resulted in some of its affiliates, including those owned by Metromedia, becoming independents). Fox made efforts, slowly at first, to have its affiliates emulate

6667-419: The United States; some mid-sized markets would not regain a general entertainment independent until the early 2000s, through sign-ons of unaffiliated stations and disaffiliations by existing stations from other commercial and noncommercial networks. In 2001, Univision Communications purchased several English language independents in larger markets (which mostly operated as Home Shopping Network affiliates until

6780-467: The WBME calls and MeTV programming moved to low-power channel 41 as WBME-CA. The switch to the full-power channel 49 signal allowed WMLW to begin broadcasting its programming in high definition for the first time. The swap also resulted in WBME taking over the 58.2 subchannel that WDJT-TV previously used to relay WMLW's signal as a low-power station. WMLW retained Racine & Me on the channel 49 schedule under

6893-562: The Weigel-produced First Business , which moved from WDJT to WMLW when that station expanded its weekday morning newscast to 4:30 am, along with Right This Minute and a move of Tyler Perry 's Meet the Browns to the 6 a.m. hour. The Daily Buzz eventually began to air on WCGV in September 2014 until its unexpected April 2015 termination. First Business ended on December 26 , 2014. Business First with Angela Miles ,

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7006-628: The Year award. The company makes efficient use of digital TV's multicast capabilities, with one main channel and four subchannels for WCIU in Chicago, and MeTV and This TV on subchannels nationwide. On November 22, 2010, Weigel announced that they would take the MeTV concept national and compete fully with RTV and Antenna TV , while complementing its successful sister network This TV . On December 1, 2010, WCIU dropped their FBT foreign broadcasting digital subchannel (with some of that programming eventually to be moved to Polnet Communications' WPVN-CA ) and

7119-402: The adjacent markets of Milwaukee and South Bend , at first by placing WCIU translators in those markets to gain a foothold in each market, before programming the stations independently. Weigel would end up an unexpected beneficiary of the television industry realignment of 1994–95 . Full-power independent station WDJT-TV in Milwaukee, which had only signed on five years earlier, ended up with

7232-428: The air by January 2013, with the license canceled the next month. On August 8, 2011, the backers of Bounce TV and Weigel announced that both WBME and WWME would be charter affiliates of the network, which is targeted to African-American viewers. It launched on September 24 with the network's preview reel before its September 26 premiere on 49.2. The channel was added to Charter systems in the area on October 5, 2011; it

7345-432: The air during this period would sign-on at times later than that of stations affiliated with a television network, some not doing so until the early or mid-afternoon hours. Another source of programming became available to independent stations by the mid-1960s: reruns of network programs which, after completing their initial runs, were sold into syndication . As cable television franchises began to be incorporated around

7458-496: The announcement of the purchase of KNLC in St. Louis , a religious station holding a commercial license, for $ 3.75 million. Many of its purchases since 2017 have been made through its LLC for WMLW. It sold that station's spectrum in the 2016 FCC auction for $ 69.7 million, with WMLW itself re-transitioning to the spectrum of WBME-CD. KNLC's former owners continue to maintain a right to the station's second subchannel to carry their schedule as

7571-416: The basic tier of all of those services, as it is allowed to assert must-carry status with those providers. The station had asserted must-carry status with Time Warner Cable years earlier under Kinlow's ownership and is carried on that system on channel 19, while Weigel and Charter came to an agreement to launch the station on its basic tier in late August 2008; the station airs on that provider on channel 20, or

7684-462: The children's programming block offered by Fox, 4Kids TV (formerly Fox Kids and later, FoxBox ), due to Fox affiliate WITI declining to carry the block, taking over for WCGV-TV when that station chose not to continue carrying it. WMLW aired the 4Kids lineup on Sundays at 8 am, one day and one hour later than its usual Saturday timeslot for most of the Central Time Zone , and did not pick up

7797-531: The early evening, and movies during prime time and late night hours. In some areas, independent stations carried network programs that were not aired by a local affiliate. In larger markets such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, independent stations benefited from a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that barred network-affiliated stations within the top 50 television markets from airing network-originated programs in

7910-465: The end of the 2011 season , WMLW was the over-the-air broadcaster of the Milwaukee Brewers ' regular season baseball games (along with a Brewers/ Cubs spring training game), the first time the team aired its non-nationally televised games on broadcast television locally since Fox Sports Wisconsin (now FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin ) became the team's exclusive broadcaster in 2005 . Several of

8023-549: The entire market . This relay signal can be seen on channel 58.3 from the same Lincoln Park transmitter facility. The station first signed on the air on January 27, 1990, as WJJA, operating as an affiliate of the Home Shopping Network ( HSN ). The station was founded by the late Joel Kinlow, a Milwaukee area minister who died on June 7, 2016; his estate and children continue to own Elm Grove -based WGLB (1560 AM). The WJJA calls stood for Joe, Joel and Arvis, all members of

8136-463: The formation of Start TV , with plans to launch the network on Labor Day of that year (September 3). The network will focus on women-led police procedurals and procedural dramas . On May 30, 2019, Marquee Broadcasting agreed to sell KREG-TV (formerly a satellite of KREX-TV ) to Weigel Broadcasting for $ 2 million. Once the sale closes, the station will become an H&I owned-and-operated station, and likely be positioned as Weigel's station in

8249-407: The games in the package were aired on WMLW due to Fox Sports Wisconsin's contractual priority to carry Milwaukee Bucks basketball and prevent programming conflicts inside of the Milwaukee market. The telecasts were produced by Fox Sports Wisconsin and simulcast on that network outside of the Milwaukee market, retaining the network's on-air appearance (except for WMLW microphone flags and a lack of

8362-625: The hour preceding prime time. This legislation, known as the Prime Time Access Rule , was in effect from 1971 to 1995, and as a result independents faced less competition for syndicated reruns. Some stations in larger markets (such as WGN-TV in Chicago; KTLA , KCOP-TV and KHJ-TV in Los Angeles; KWGN-TV in Denver ; and (W)WOR-TV, WPIX and WNEW-TV in New York City) ventured into local news broadcasts, usually airing at 10:00 p.m. in

8475-417: The independent format of low-power WMLW-CA were switched around in August 2012, becoming WMLW-TV . In July 2008, Weigel announced the creation of This TV , a national subchannel network, operated as a joint venture with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . In early August 2008, Weigel agreed to sell all three of its South Bend stations, WBND-LP, WCWW-LP and WMYS-LP , to Schurz Communications , the longtime owner of

8588-478: The issue with the tournament's move entirely to ESPN in 2015 (and the tournament's main stadiums eventually receiving retractable roofs). In August 2016, WMLW sublicensed two games produced by the Green Bay Packers preseason television network from WTMJ-TV, which could not air those games due to NBC 's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics (the network disallows any preemptions of Olympic coverage), giving

8701-527: The late 1970s and early 1980s (in the case of KTVU, it would revert to being a regional superstation by the early part of the latter decade). By the start of the 1970s, independent stations typically aired children's programming in the morning and afternoon hours, and movies and other adult-oriented shows (some stations aired paid religious programs ) during the midday hours. They counterprogrammed local network-affiliated stations' news programs with syndicated reruns – usually sitcoms and hour-long dramas – in

8814-405: The late 1990s) from USA Broadcasting to form the nuclei of the upstart Spanish language network Telefutura (now UniMás ), which launched in January 2002. Several stations affiliated with The WB and UPN became independent again when the respective parent companies of those networks (Time Warner and CBS Corporation ) decided to shut them down to form The CW , which launched in September 2006 with

8927-486: The latter often created legal issues that were eventually largely cleared up due to an FCC regulation that legally allowed the broadcast of programs featuring content that would otherwise be deemed indecent when broadcast "in the clear" if the encrypted signal was not visible or audible to nonsubscribers), and on some services, television specials. Independents usually ran the services during the evening and overnight hours in lieu of running movies and other programs acquired off

9040-512: The launch of a new digital subchannel service called Decades , scheduled to launch on all CBS O&O stations in 2015. The channel will be co-owned by Weigel and CBS, with Weigel being responsible for distribution to stations outside CBS Television Stations . It will air programs from the extensive library of CBS Television Distribution , including archival footage from CBS News . On July 19, 2017, Weigel agreed to acquire Cedar City, Utah station KCSG for $ 1.1 million. The sale will convert

9153-452: The local CBS affiliate WSBT-TV , for undisclosed terms. However, in the absence of action by the Federal Communications Commission , the deal was called off in August 2009. Weigel launched You and Me This Morning , an Interstitial program lifestyle news program in fourth quarter (fall) 2009 on WCIU-TV 's first two subchannels. At the end of 2009, Broadcasting & Cable gave Weigel its first annual Multi-Platform Broadcaster of

9266-519: The market on days with strong tropospheric propagation across Lake Michigan , the signal of WHME-TV from South Bend, which is also on digital channel 48, can overwhelm WMLW's lower power signal, while WMLW causes interference with the former station. WHME has thus filed a tentative construction permit with the FCC to move back to their former analog channel, 46, though signal conflict issues with Weigel's Milwaukee operations would remain as Channel 46 also carries WDJT's digital signal. On April 13, 2017,

9379-580: The market to stations owned by sister operations Scripps and Ion . WMLW had been airing Bounce TV in a simulcast with WTMJ-DT2 and WPXE-DT2 since March 1, 2021. On that date, WMLW-DT2 began to carry Movies!, which returned it to carriage by Spectrum for the first time since the 2018 spectrum switch bumped it to WYTU-LD2, and after former affiliate WISN-DT2 switched to the True Crime Network . WMLW-TV's digital television transmitter in Lincoln Park

9492-445: The men's final for each US Open that year (all delayed to Monday afternoon due to weather conditions on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and in 2011 , earlier days) was aired on WMLW; as the second Monday in September is traditionally the debut date for new and returning syndicated programming, WDJT passed along the tennis coverage to launch their new series, though in 2011 most of WDJT's syndicated programming moved up their season starts to

9605-559: The mid-1990s , and to other news-producing Fox and minor network affiliates, and independent stations, by the 2000s. In September 1993, many independents began carrying the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), an ad-hoc programming service that emulated a network model, which featured drama series and made-for-TV movies intended for first-run syndication. In January 1995, many remaining independents, including those that carried PTEN, joined upstart networks The WB and

9718-541: The network had abandoned its first-run programming efforts and became a "programming service", with its programming now focused upon off-network reruns of drama series. After this transition, many of MyNetworkTV's affiliates began to downplay their affiliation with the network and move the block to alternate timeslots (such as late-night); network owner Fox Television Stations rebranded most of its MyNetworkTV stations as offshoots of their parent Fox stations (such as " Fox 11 Plus" for KCOP-TV ) Current independents follow

9831-442: The network with an offer to become an affiliate. Kinlow claimed he wanted to maintain his staff while continuing to give broadcasting experience and training to many different people beyond those usually hired to operate a television station. He felt the station could accomplish this better without the responsibilities and obligations of serving as a major network affiliate. The CBS affiliation eventually wound up on WDJT . Throughout

9944-507: The new home of WMLW and its subchannels, effectively reversing the August 2012 channel swap. Sinclair, Weigel Broadcasting, and Milwaukee PBS all decided on a switch date of January 8 for their various local spectrum moves, and WMLW will move to WBME-CD's bandwidth at 5 a.m. that morning. WMLW and Bounce will remain on their existing 49.1 and 49.2 positions, with the WYTU-LD market-wide simulcast moving to WDJT-DT4, and Decades to WMLW-DT4. This TV

10057-464: The new subchannel service TouchVision, which provides a rolling news and information service designed for television, mobile and tablet platforms starting on WDJT-DT4, after Milwaukee real estate agency Shorewest Realtors ended their time-lease on the channel space to concentrate on an Internet on-demand channel instead. TouchVision was based out of Weigel's Chicago facilities under the LLC "Think Televisual", and

10170-413: The over-the-air subscription services had shuttered operations by the end of the 1980s. Until the late 1970s, independent stations were usually limited to the larger American television markets, due to several factors. Most smaller markets did not have a large enough population to support four commercial stations. Even in markets that were large enough to support a fourth station, the only available license

10283-493: The remainder of the market unable to watch it outside of over-the-air reception. On May 16, 2006, Shop at Home parent E. W. Scripps Company announced that the network would suspend operations, effective June 22 of that year. However, the network's liquidation sale ended one day early on June 21, and WJJA switched to Jewelry Television in the meantime. Shop at Home resumed operations on June 23 after Jewelry Television purchased some assets relating to that network, and began to air

10396-439: The replacement Weekend Marketplace infomercial block from Fox at the start of 2009, which remains unseen in the Milwaukee market, though WITI took the new Xploration Station block from Fox in September 2014. The station currently carries a three-hour block of syndicated E/I programming on Saturday mornings (along with Weigel's Green Screen Adventures ) to fulfill the station's E/I programming requirements. The majority of

10509-454: The results of the FCC's 2016 spectrum auction were announced, with Weigel successfully selling the UHF spectrum for WMLW for $ 69.7 million. WMLW's channels will retain their existing numbering and identification as channel 49 and being associated under the WMLW calls. On September 12, 2017, in a press announcement of the purchase by Weigel of Los Angeles station KAZA-TV , WBME-CD was announced as

10622-463: The same programming model as independent stations during non-prime time slots, and during its early years, on nights without prime time programming from the network. Fox coerced most of its affiliates to air prime time newscasts (there were some holdouts as late as 2013, while many others opted to run outsourced local newscasts from a competing network affiliate) as well as news programming in other dayparts common with other major network affiliates. When

10735-569: The same title, with a move to Saturday mornings and upgrade to HD telecasts. In September 2013, WMLW's main channel and subchannel feeds moved exclusively to Time Warner Cable's digital tier as that provider begins the transition to an all-digital system by 2015, requiring a QAM -compatible television or a DTA set-top box to view the station. On September 15, 2014, WMLW changed its on-air brand to "The M" (" ... and The M means Milwaukee."), in imitation of Chicago sister station WCIU-TV , "The U". From September 2004 to December 28, 2008, WMLW carried

10848-546: The service or moved its lineup out of prime time when those networks launched. Other stations banded together to become charter outlets of the Pax TV (now Ion Television ) network in August 1998, although some of the stations that aligned with Pax had earlier affiliated with its predecessor, the Infomall TV Network (inTV), two years before. The launches of these networks drastically reduced the number of independent stations in

10961-538: The station in a H&I owned-and-operated station, though the possibility of Weigel's other networks being contained to it is also possible. It was Weigel's first station purchase outside of a state along Lake Michigan , as all of its properties were in Illinois , Indiana and Wisconsin . This sale closed December 5, 2017. On September 8, 2017, it was announced that Weigel agreed to purchase Los Angeles , California station KAZA-TV for $ 9 million. The same day also saw

11074-587: The station its first telecasts of any Packers games. WMLW carried the second and third games of the Packers' 2016 preseason against the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders , both home games at Lambeau Field (as WYTU-LD carries its own Spanish-language production of the games, this also meant that WMLW aired two different versions of the same game on the same channel space, in English and Spanish). From 2007 until

11187-432: The station since coming under Weigel ownership also carries a public affairs program called Racine & Me , which airs weekend mornings on WMLW and WBME, and deals with topics and community calendar events relevant to the station's city of license . The station also carries some different educational and informational programming such as Green Screen Adventures (which is broadcast on the national MeTV network) to meet

11300-544: The station would be able to generate extra revenue where they had previously been off the air. Home shopping programs (mainly simulcasts of cable services that also have over-the-air distribution such as QVC and the Home Shopping Network) or syndicated programs fill overnight time periods on stations that do not run infomercials during that day part. Since the FCC revised its media ownership rules to permit station duopolies in August 1999, independents that operate on

11413-518: The station would go digital-only earlier than that remained due to the condition of the Oak Creek analog tower. Weigel oddly expressed interest in maintaining channel 49's analog tower for an additional month to use it to provide nightlight programming after the June 12 date, but WBME's analog service from Oak Creek did end on June 12 as WITI (channel 6) instead provided nightlight programming. In some areas of

11526-487: The station's paid programming airs early on weekdays, Saturday morning and most of Sunday morning. To attract cable providers during its days as a non-must carry low-power station, WMLW formerly pursued a strong sports lineup to lure them to carry the station, though this has been drawn down as most college and professional teams in the area have partnered with Fox Sports Wisconsin and formerly, Spectrum Sports instead, along with streaming services such as ESPN+ . Currently

11639-482: The station's sports output is limited to the WIAA basketball and hockey tournaments, which are produced by Allen Media Group for a statewide broadcast network. Additionally, the station carries a postgame show for any Green Bay Packers games carried by channel 58 through CBS, using WDJT's sports staff, along with other sports analysis shows under the title SportsZone . Prior to 2011, the station aired Labor Day coverage of

11752-553: The stoppage. Fox Sports Wisconsin also launched a second "plus" channel statewide to deal with Bucks/Brewers conflicts in April 2012, making a licensing deal with a second broadcaster unnecessary. Spanish sister station WYTU continues to carry several Sunday home Brewers games a year with Spanish-language play-by-play, though under a separate production and announce team which uses Bally Sports Wisconsin's camera positions. In 2024, WMLW parent company Weigel Broadcasting announced an agreement to broadcast 10 Milwaukee Bucks games during

11865-605: The syndication market by the station, although a few eventually began to carry these services for most of the broadcast day. The services required the use of decoder boxes to access the service's programming (some of which were fairly easy to unencrypt due to the transmission methods stations used to scramble the signal during the service's broadcast hours); some required the payment of an additional one-time fee to receive events and adult films. As cities added cable franchises, thus allowing people to subscribe to conventional premium television networks like HBO and Showtime , nearly all of

11978-416: The transfer in mid-September 2007, though the license and financial transfers between the two parties, along with the poor condition of the station's transmitter tower in the southeastern Milwaukee County suburb of Oak Creek took months longer to settle before Weigel could take full control of the station. On April 21, 2008, Weigel assumed full control of the station, and at 12:30 pm, Jewelry Television

12091-529: Was converted to a widescreen presentation in late June 2018. WMLW was also a charter station of Movies! , a 24-hour movie network co-owned by Weigel and Fox Television Stations on May 27, 2013 ( WBND-LD in South Bend, Indiana is the only other Weigel-owned station that carries the network; Fox-owned WFLD in Chicago carries Movies! in that market); Charter began carrying the network on July 24, 2013. However Movies! moved to WISN-DT2 on August 4, 2014, as part of

12204-474: Was discontinued after the 2011 season due to several factors, including the Brewers wanting to maintain a full schedule of games in high definition, and Fox Sports Wisconsin desiring to maintain near-full exclusivity over telecasts for their own network, along with the 2011 NBA lockout allowing Fox Sports Wisconsin to add the rights for the 15-game package to their schedule in lieu of the loss of 16 Bucks games due to

12317-625: Was moved from the channel share and onto WYTU-LD2. In addition, WMLW's main signal is now rebroadcast on WDJT-DT3 to serve all viewers in the market over-the-air, in a reduced standard definition simulcast which remains in widescreen format. WBME-CD will continue to carry MeTV on 41.1, along with the 58.2 market-wide simulcast. Since the spectrum auction, most of Weigel's acquisitions since 2017 have directly used WMLW's "TV-49, Inc." holding company to purchase those stations. Independent station In North American and Japanese television, independent stations with general entertainment formats emerged as

12430-464: Was on a UHF channel allocation. During the analog television era, the reception quality of UHF stations was not nearly as good as stations on the VHF band, especially in areas with rugged terrain (the reverse is true in the present day with the transmission of digital signals) or in markets that cover large geographic areas. Since independent stations had to buy an additional 16 hours of programming per day –

12543-551: Was originally launched in Milwaukee on WDJT digital subchannel 58.3 on March 1, 2008, at 5 am, with an episode of Route 66 . MeTV had full cable coverage throughout the market on Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications , requiring a digital cable receiver to watch the station as it launched on channel 201 of both cable providers. This simulcast continued while technical issues were worked out as WBME transitioned to Weigel's West Allis studios, and Weigel eventually received carriage on both DirecTV and Dish Network on

12656-428: Was replaced by a test card and color bars . Later that afternoon, it became the full-power Milwaukee home of MeTV (a format focused on classic television programs that was first introduced on one of Weigel's Chicago stations, WWME-CA , now an owned-and-operated station of the MeTV network, in 2005). Weigel immediately filed to change the station's call letters to WBME-TV; this became official on April 29, 2008. MeTV

12769-536: Was run by former radio and Tribune executive Lee Abrams and Brandon Davis. TouchVision ceased operations on January 14, 2016. On September 29, 2014, Weigel launched Heroes & Icons , a new digital subchannel which specializes in reruns of classic television series and films. Heroes & Icons, abbreviated H&I, aims to attract a generally male audience with shows from the genres of action, police, detective, western, science fiction, superhero, and war and military. On October 21, 2014, Weigel and CBS announced

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