A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
39-640: WMTV (channel 15) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin , United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW . The station is owned by Gray Television and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Forward Drive in the Greentree neighborhood on Madison's southwest side. WMTV was the second television station to air in Madison, beginning in July 1953 just days after WKOW , and has been its NBC affiliate since signing on
78-661: A barter in some cases. Midco Midco (known as Midcontinent Communications until 2016) is a regional cable provider, providing a triple play service of cable television , Internet and telephone service for both North Dakota and South Dakota , along with much of Minnesota , and several communities in Kansas and Wisconsin . The company's business-class service also provides direct fiber-optic communications services via leased data circuits for larger companies. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and operated as
117-571: A joint venture between Midcontinent Media and Comcast , Midco provides service to 200 communities both urban and rural, serving an area that covers over 1.2 million people. Midcontinent Media was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1931 as the Welworth Theater Company, an operator of movie theaters. The company remained in that business until the 1990s, when it sold its theaters to various chains, including Carmike . In 1952, it bought
156-553: A condition was attached that allowed the FCC to order the sale of WMTV to another group at no profit to Wisconsin Valley were it to find that the firm abused its processes. That September, the FCC voted 5–0 to allow the sale to stand after Midcontinent Broadcasting , owner of WKOW-TV, asked it to reconsider its earlier ruling. Wisconsin Valley gave channel 15 a significant technical overhaul, including an upgraded transmitter facility which increased
195-454: A dedication program. This made it the second station on air in Madison, as WKOW-TV (channel 27) began broadcasting on July 8. It was an affiliate of NBC, ABC , and DuMont . The WMTV facility along the Beltline contained a main studio complete with revolving stage, claimed to be the only one east of California, as well as a permanently installed kitchen for cooking shows. One such cooking program
234-1205: A joint venture between both companies. The partnership continued after Comcast's purchase of AT&T Broadband. In the fall of 2008, Charter Communications announced their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the sale of some assets in non-critical areas. On October 14, 2008, an article appeared in the Fairmont, Minnesota Sentinel , reporting that Charter was selling parts of their system to Midcontinent Communications, including its Bemidji and International Falls headends. Starting February 1, 2009 Midcontinent Communications took over some Charter's cable systems in Minnesota including Balaton , Bemidji , Canby , Ely , Fairmont , International Falls , Littlefork , Sherburn , and surrounding communities. Other areas in Minnesota were sold off to Comcast . In June 2011, Midcontinent Communications acquired 33,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin subscribers from US Cable . Midco previously provided paging service, starting in 1985, but sold its paging services to another South Dakota company, Vantek Communications, in 2004. The former paging service
273-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in
312-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations
351-700: A year before Forward Television, a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises of Mason City, Iowa , acquired WMTV in 1958; the Forward name came from the Wisconsin state motto . During Forward Television's ownership, the station applied to move from channel 33 to channel 15. The move took effect on October 25, 1961, after weather and antenna fabrication delays. Lee accepted an offer from Wisconsin Valley Television Corporation to acquire WMTV in December 1962. Wisconsin Valley
390-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,
429-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around
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#1732870033946468-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually
507-559: The Federal Communications Commission lifted its four-year freeze on new television station grants and opened the ultra high frequency (UHF) band for television use, applications were received to start new stations in Madison. The first came from the Bartell Group , owned by Madison radio announcer Gerry Bartell and owner of Milwaukee station WOKY , for channel 33, one of two UHF channels allocated for commercial use in
546-660: The Summit League , Missouri Valley Football Conference , and Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a specific focus on member schools South Dakota, South Dakota State University, North Dakota, and Augustana University. Additionally, Midco Sports is the primary broadcast partner for the NCAA Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference providing coverage of conference tournament basketball events. Midco Sports's signature coverage comes each February and March with full coverage of
585-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station
624-508: The effective radiated power to 950,000 watts in 1965. Wisconsin Valley renamed itself Forward Communications Corporation at the start of 1967 in the wake of acquiring its first broadcast property outside the state of Wisconsin, KVTV in Sioux City, Iowa . Despite an improved product and Forward's ability to pull WMTV out of its status as a "financial loser", the Madison station continued to be something of an uphill struggle for Forward because of
663-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has
702-615: The Midcontinent Broadcasting Company, owner of KELO-AM - FM in Sioux Falls; the company name changed to Midcontinent Media. The company also bought the construction permit for South Dakota's first television station, KELO-TV , which took to the air in 1953. Midcontinent purchased several other radio and television stations, but began exiting broadcasting in the 1990s (with KELO-TV and its satellites sold off to Young Broadcasting , currently owned by Nexstar ), selling off
741-821: The NSIC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments from the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The network broadcasts each game from the quarterfinals on to the championships in its entirety. That's followed by coverage of the Summit League Men's and Women's tournament quarterfinals and semifinals from the Denny Sanford Premier Center . The network does not carry the championship games for those tournaments, as those rights are held by ESPN. Midco Sports and its overflow channel, Midco Sports 2, are available on to all MIDCO cable customers along with other cable systems in
780-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in
819-511: The air. Founded by a company controlled by the Bartell Group , it was sold to the Wisconsin Valley Television Company (later Forward Communications Corporation) in 1963. The station was successful and competitive in news ratings under Forward, even if it faced economic disadvantages due to being an ultra high frequency (UHF) station. After a succession of owners in the late 1980s and 1990s, Gray acquired WMTV in 2002. After
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#1732870033946858-510: The city. Another application for channel 33 was made by Earl W. Fessler, owner of Madison FM radio outlet WMFM. In late December, Fessler and Bartell combined their applications as the Bartell Television Corporation. With no other bids left to consider, Bartell Television was granted a construction permit on January 23, 1953. WMTV signed on the air with a test pattern on July 8, 1953, and began normal operation 11 days later with
897-404: The configuration of the market, with WISC-TV as the only very high frequency (VHF) station against two commercial UHF outlets. Forward was sold in late 1984 to Wesray Capital Corporation , which retained the Forward name for its media holdings. However, Wesray, as with many private equity firms of the era, cut what it felt were unnecessary expenses. Prior to the sale, WMTV competed with WISC for
936-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of
975-508: The last of their radio holdings in 2004. Midco diversified and extended its reach into other areas of the Upper Midwest , providing telephone and cable TV in rural parts of its service area, starting in the 1960s. In 1999, Midcontinent Media and AT&T Broadband (formerly known as TCI ) merged their cable operations in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Nebraska into Midcontinent Communications,
1014-575: The lead in local news ratings, finding stronger viewership outside the Madison Beltline in Dane County itself. However, the station was hit by cutbacks in the newsroom, as well as in the production of non-news local programming, and declining news ratings. The departures of sports director Jack Eich, who was fired, and Paula Dilworth , who was passed over for a promotion and bolted for Las Vegas , made headlines and put general manager Leslie Leonard in
1053-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at
1092-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on
1131-452: The news. Wesray sold its TV stations to Adams Communications in 1988, but the deal left Adams highly leveraged and ill-prepared to confront declines in the value of broadcast properties, prompting it to default on $ 283 million of debt in 1991; that same year, WMTV debuted its first morning newscast, Wisconsin Today . Brissette Broadcasting was formed the next year when Paul Brissette, who had been
1170-554: The original facility. The new building features twice the square footage as the old studios, which were demolished for parking. That same year, a new affiliation agreement between The CW and Gray resulted in the network affiliation in Madison moving to a subchannel of WMTV from WBUW . In late 2023, the station rebranded from NBC 15 to WMTV 15. The station's signal is multiplexed : Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,
1209-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be
WMTV - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-450: The station's general manager. Bartell proposed to sell the newspapers a two-thirds interest in the station. However, the parties were unable to reach final agreement on matters related to the sale, and the proposed transaction was abandoned in August. With WMTV as Bartell's only television property, Wometco Enterprises filed in 1957 to buy WMTV for $ 350,000. Wometco owned the station less than
1287-443: The vice president of Adams Communications's television stations division, bought out the business for $ 257 million. Four years later, in a $ 270 million merger, Brissette was folded into Benedek Broadcasting after the company was unable to expand by adding stations. By that time, WMTV had slumped to third in local news ratings; later in 1996, it rebranded as NBC 15. The retirement of longtime weatherman Elmer Childress in 1997 also paved
1326-642: The way for the station to take a more aggressive approach to weather coverage, including adding its own Doppler weather radar . Financial problems developed at Benedek at the start of the new millennium. The early 2000s recession reduced ad sales and caused the company to be unable to pay interest on a set of bonds issued in 1996, prompting a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . Most of the Benedek stations, including WMTV, were sold to Gray Television in 2002. The station discontinued analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009. In 2016, Gray built new studios for WMTV adjacent to
1365-455: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines
1404-546: Was a consortium of newspaper interests that owned WSAU radio and television in Wausau . The FCC only narrowly approved the transaction on a 4–3 vote in May 1963, in large part because the firm was being investigated for its relationship with efforts to start an educational television station in Wausau on the only other VHF channel in that city so as to prevent it from going into commercial use;
1443-754: Was hosted by Carson Gulley , the supervising chef for the residence halls at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , who hosted a program with his wife Beatrice from 1953 to 1962. ABC programs moved to WKOW-TV in September 1956 when WISC-TV began as a CBS affiliate on channel 3. In March 1956, it was announced that the Badger Broadcasting Company, owner of radio station WIBA and a joint venture of The Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal newspapers, could soon own WMTV, with Gerry Bartell staying as
1482-501: Was renamed Midco Connections. On January 12, 2016, the company officially adopted the shortened Midco name across all of their operations, rendering it in all-caps as "MIDCO", with the new tagline of "Let's Go". In October 2016, Midco acquired the assets of the cable system serving Lawrence, Kansas from Wide Open West . Midco offers a regional sports network called Midco Sports (formerly MC23 and Midco Sports Network (MidcoSN)) which carries coverage of NCAA Division I athletics in
1521-674: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content
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