Television

Television debuted in Milwaukee during the medium’s “Golden Age” from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. The city’s local networks were pioneers broadcasting on both the VHF and UHF frequencies.[1] At least fourteen commercial and public television networks competed for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) construction permits and then viewers in Milwaukee during that era. In the 1960s and 1970s, the rush to build new stations in the area slowed and a period of market stability set in. During the cable era of the 1980s and 1990s, the television industry in the regions again expanded, making it increasingly harder for the three network affiliated stations WTMJ-TV (NBC), WISN-TV (ABC), and WITI-TV (CBS) to compete for ratings. Programming emphasis for local network affiliates shifted to a more entertainment-oriented news, weather, and sports format. In the new millennium, Milwaukee television moved into the digital age and the open web, where traditional network and cable companies compete with individual content producers broadcasting on social media websites like YouTube and Vimeo.

Milwaukee holds a unique place in television history. It played a central role in the battle to determine which television frequency—VHF (Very High Frequency) or UHF (Ultra High Frequency)—would serve as the industry standard. The city was also home to several television firsts. The Milwaukee Journal Company filed the first FCC application for a commercial television construction permit in America on November 5, 1938.^[2] Milwaukee stations hired the first female program and news directors in a major television market. Furthermore, the city provided the first regular schedule of color broadcasts by an educational station in the nation.^[3]

On January 27, 1941, the National Television System Committee (NTSC), comprised of the Radio Manufacturers Committee and the FCC, recommended technical standards for commercial analog television.^[4] This came after decades of invention and experimentation on the part of hobbyists, manufacturers, the FCC, and FM radio stations.^[5] Among other provisions, the standards recommended manufacturers produce 525-line television sets, called for the contracting of eighteen black and white VHF channels, and required commercial TV stations to broadcast at least thirty hours per week.^[6] The potential for color broadcasting on the higher UHF frequencies proved a point of contention for communications companies as the government set television standards in the 1940s. For this reason, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) petitioned for commercial, as opposed to experimental, UHF channel assignments.^[7] Milwaukee officially received its first non-experimental VHF channels—3, 6, 8, and 10—from the FCC in February 1946.^[8] Each required a construction permit from the FCC, for which competition was fierce.

The Journal Company led the charge towards television broadcasting in Milwaukee. It first began experimenting with television frequencies during the late 1920s.^[9] In 1936, the Journal Company’s experimental High-Fidelity “Apex” station was the first to broadcast original VHF programming in the nation.^[10] WTMJ-TV (W The Milwaukee Journal) was born after the FCC approved the Journal Company’s second commercial TV construction permit in December 1946.^[11] On December 3, 1947, WTMJ-TV became the first commercial television station to broadcast in Wisconsin. It aired a live TV dedication ceremony from its multipurpose “Radio City” studios on Capitol Drive.^[12] The station had previously held public demonstrations at the Milwaukee Home Show and at local department stores in 1947, playing a key promotional role for commercial television in the area.^[13] In 1948, WTMJ-TV began airing network programming from NBC, CBS, and ABC in addition to its own original content.^[14] Its telecast of a half-hour ABC Midwest variety show produced in Chicago was the first major network television program broadcast in Milwaukee.^[15]

From September 1948 to April 1952, the FCC issued a licensing freeze on all television applications while it deliberated a variety of regulatory issues.[16] Accordingly, between 1947 and 1953, WTMJ-TV was the only television station airing content in Wisconsin. As a result, WTMJ-TV solidified its position as the region’s market leader.^[17] WTMJ-TV’s live television programming in this period included a morning show, ethnic variety programs, sporting events, home economics shows, and weather reports.^[18] By 1951, the station was broadcasting one hundred hours of television per week, while lining up commercial sponsorships from corporations like Gettelman Brewing Company, Gimbels, and Boston Store.^[19]

WTMJ also expanded its local infrastructure during the construction freeze. It remodeled its Radio City auditorium for television production in 1951, adding a new control room and model kitchen, among other features. In 1953, the station completed a 1,035 foot tower on Estabrook Parkway that covered a 90-mile radius.^[20] With the completion of a $5,000,000 radio relay system between Chicago and Minneapolis, WTMJ-TV was finally able to produce original programming that could be aired in outside markets. Previously, it could only receive network programming from Chicago through a one-way relay system.^[21] In May 1954, WTMJ-TV broadcast its first color test-pattern. Soon thereafter, it installed a new RCA color TV camera and converted two of its studios into a larger one for color broadcasts.^[22] In 1967, the Journal Company completed a new $1.5 million circular-shaped studio and extended the height of its antenna to 1,096 feet.^[23]

WTMJ-TV pioneered local TV journalism. In September of 1952, it became one of the first stations in the country to air televised versions of newspaper editorials on civic issues.^[24] Live variety shows were popular for the station early on, including The Grenadiers, The Hot Shots, Carousel, and Mid-Day.^[25] For roughly forty years, it broadcast a popular bowling show, Bowling with the Champs, which aired from 1955 until the mid-1990s.^[26] In the early 1970s, WTMJ-TV hired the city’s first investigative news reporter, Bob Sherwood.^[27]

Milwaukee’s second television station, WCAN-TV, was born in June 1952 after the FCC approved of the sale of Midwest Broadcasting Company and the WMAW-FM radio station to a Pennsylvania investment group headed by Lou Poller.^[28] WCAN-TV was arguably the most successful UHF station in America between 1952 and 1955.^[29] After the FCC approved commercial UHF construction permits in 1952, Poller applied for UHF channel 25, since there was only one VHF channel available for commercial use at the time.^[30] WCAN-TV erected WMAW-FM’s old radio tower atop the Schroeder Hotel (now Hilton) in the summer of 1953 and began broadcasting as CBS’s primary Milwaukee affiliate on September 7, 1953.^[31] WCAN-TV struggled to survive for two reasons. First, Poller was unsuccessful in preventing a third commercial VHF station, channel 12, from being built in Whitefish Bay. While he bid on a construction permit for the channel regardless, intending to simulcast WCAN-TV on channels 12 and 25, the FCC eventually awarded the permit to the Milwaukee Area Telecasting Company. Second, WCAN-TV lost its network affiliation when CBS bought WOKY-TV, channel 19, on January 14, 1955. Industry executives considered UHF stations without network affiliations to be non-competitive. Poller ended up filing suit against CBS and reached a settlement. He later purchased WOKY-TV’s facilities from CBS in a failed effort to broadcast independently. WCAN-TV’s last broadcast was on February 26, 1955; however Poller held channel 25’s construction permit until he sold it in 1966.^[32] Poller was nationally recognized as a tireless advocate for UHF stations. He formed the Ultra High Frequency Television Association in 1953.^[33]

WOKY-TV, channel 19, was Milwaukee’s third television station to air. It too emerged from a radio station, one owned by Bartell Broadcasters, Inc.^[34] Bartell unsuccessfully applied for an FCC VHF construction permit in 1949, before the construction freeze. In October of 1951, as three other networks battled for the one remaining VHF channel, 12, Bartell became the first UHF channel applicant.^[35] After the FCC lifted its construction freeze in 1953, Bartell secured UHF channel 19. It aired test patterns on September 26, 1953, broadcasting from Bartell’s WEMP radio facility on Martin Drive. WOKY-TV affiliated with ABC and DuMont, airing network programming in addition to original shows. CBS purchased the station in January of 1955, changed its call letters to WXIX-TV, and aired locally-produced shows, like the live music show On the Record, from WCAN’s former 27th Street studios.^[36] CBS soon began running promotions encouraging Milwaukee residents to buy UHF converters, since FCC guidelines only required TVs be equipped for VHF.^[37] Due to signal interference, WXIX-TV switched to channel 18 in August of 1958. Despite the switch, CBS sold WXIX-TV in early 1959 to Cream City Broadcasting’s Gene Posner and affiliated with WITI-TV on VHF channel 6.^[38] WXIX-TV began broadcasting again in July 1959 under Posner’s leadership. However, he sold the station to his business partners, Harold and Bernard Sampson, on June 18, 1962 because it was not profitable.

WXIX-TV was again sold in November 1965 to Oklahoma Publishing Company. Oklahoma changed the station’s call letters to WVTV, relocated to 35th Street, and rebranded as “Milwaukee’s Independent Television Station.”^[39] The powerful UHF station—broadcasting at 1,892,000 watts in 1968—became known for countering local network affiliates by offering viewers alternative styles of programming at different time slots.^[40] It aired country music, wrestling, and bowling shows. In 1969, WVTV began collaborating on UWM News Focus with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.^[41] The station partnered with Milwaukee Area Technical College to erect a new tower and transmitter building on county-owned land on Capitol Drive in 1979, broadening its coverage area.^[42] The television industry was deregulated in the 1980s and 1990s. Consequently, in 1993, the federal government allowed media companies to own multiple TV stations within a single market. ABRY Communications, which owned Fox affiliate WCGV-TV, bought WVTV in March of that year. ABRY subsequently fired WVTV’s 75 employees, hiring some back as needed, and affiliated with the UPN network in 1995.^[43]

The Milwaukee Area Telecasting Corporation emerged in the summer of 1954 with a FCC construction permit for WTVW (“Wisconsin’s Television Window”), channel 12, following competition with Midwest Broadcasting Company and Kolero Telecasting Corporation.^[44] The station began broadcasting that October, serving as Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate until 1955. It also broadcast DuMont programming. The station’s tower and temporary studio were located on land purchased from the WEMP radio station near Lincoln Park. Due to the small size of its studio and ABC and DuMont’s limited programming schedules, WTVW aired a lot of content remotely, including Milwaukee Braves games, car dealership commercials, and wrestling and bowling telecasts.^[45] Hearst Corporation, which owned the Milwaukee Sentinel and WISN radio station, purchased WTVW in January of 1955 for $2 million and changed WTVW’s call letters to WISN-TV. Hearst had previously been competing with Cream City Broadcasting and Independent Television for VHF channel 6.^[46] Labor organizations opposed Hearst’s purchase on the grounds that it held a monopoly on communications companies.^[47]

In October of 1957, the Hearst Company moved WISN-TV to new studios at 19th and Wells Street.^[48] For about a year, in 1958, the station joined the Badger Television Network, which included Green Bay’s WFRV-TV and Madison’s WKOW-TV. Badger programs included Homemakers’ Holiday, Good Housekeeping, and Pretzel Party.^[49] In 1959, WISN broadcast its first color program, a film called Pride of the Braves. It also broadcast locally produced public affairs shows, like Milwaukee Reports, game shows like Dialing for Dollars, children’s shows like Punky and His Pals, and entertainment shows, like Hootenanny.^[50] WISN-TV continued to affiliate with ABC until 1961, when the station switched with WITI-TV and affiliated with CBS. The two stations swapped back in 1977, amid CBS’s concerns about low ratings for its programs in Milwaukee.^[51]

WITI-TV, channel 6, was born upon the conclusion of a contentious battle waged by Hearst Corporation, Lou Poller’s Midwest Broadcasting, Cream City Broadcasting, and Independent Television, Inc. for the FCC’s fourth VHF construction permit in Milwaukee. Independent won the contract in June of 1955 after Poller sold his WCAN-TV facilities to CBS, Cream City agreed to dismiss its FCC application, and Hearst purchased WTVW.^[52] The company erected a 1,046 foot-tall tower and began constructing station facilities at Port Washington and Donges Bay Roads in Mequon in the fall of 1955. Its offices were headquartered on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. The first weekly programming on Milwaukee television networks largely consisted of live, in-studio content. Stations did not even operate videotape recorders until 1959.^[53] WITI-TV was the first station in Wisconsin to broadcast previously taped content.^[54] The station broadcast much of its early programming in color. It was the first to employ DuMont’s Vitascan color system, a cheaper alternative to color RCA cameras.^[55] However, due to the lack of color television receiver sales and issues with the Vitascan system, the station switched to black-and-white for its studio activities in October of 1957.^[56] It began relaying color ABC telecasts in 1962, but continued to broadcast local programming in black-and-white until it installed color studio cameras, transmitters, and processing equipment in 1966.^[57]

Storer Broadcasting of Miami purchased WITI-TV in August of 1958 for $4,462,500. Desiring the market reach of VHF, CBS sold its UHF WXIX-TV (channel 19) station to Cream City Broadcasting in April of 1959 and affiliated with WITI-TV.^[58] In 1959, the station began operating out of WCAN-TV’s former 27th Street studios, where it remained through 1978.^[59] In 1961, it moved its tower to Capitol Drive, closer to WTMJ-TV and WISN-TV’s, partly to make it easy for viewers to align their television antennas in the same direction.^[60] WITI-TV programming included some 1,800 feature films purchased by the station. Hollywood film studios saw television as a means of marketing old black and white films using technicolor and cinemascope technologies.^[61]

The first program WITI-TV aired was a newscast called Afternoon Edition, on May 21, 1956.^[62] By the mid-1960s, the station was airing more news shows than any other Milwaukee network and had developed a reliable news reputation.^[63] Such programming proved popular with viewers. Newshost Carl Zimmerman was voted “best-liked local television personality” in 1965.^[64] And, WITI-TV’s The 10 O’Clock Report’s weather segment hosted by Ward Allen and a hand puppet, Albert, was named the top weather show in the nation by the National Association of Program Executives in 1968.^[65] The station’s news programs broke both technological and social barriers in Milwaukee. In 1972, it hired the city’s first African American news anchor, John Gardner.^[66] In 1979, it experimented with the city’s first news helicopter, “Skycamera 6.”^[67] Finally, in 1997, it hired Carol Reuppel as Milwaukee’s first female television general manager.^[68]

Building on the city’s legacy of public radio broadcasting on university stations like the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s WIAO and Marquette’s WHAD, Milwaukee Public Television came out of the Milwaukee Common Council’s desire to found an educational television station. In May of 1951 the common council’s Public Utilities Committee and Mayor Frank Zeidler appointed a Special Committee on Educational Television that included Milwaukee Public Library and Milwaukee Public Museum educators and representatives. The twenty-seven-member committee hotly debated what financing a public television station in the city would look like and the legality of hosting an educational station at a parochial or vocational school. Ultimately, the city concluded in August 1951 that using tax revenues to fund an educational television station at schools in the city’s limits legally served the public interest.^[69]

The Milwaukee Board of Vocational and Adult Education received a construction permit for VHF channel 10 on June 6, 1956. Taking the call letters WMVS-TV, the station was aided by a $100,000 Ford Foundation grant. It shared transmitter and tower space with WITI-TV on Capitol Drive until 1981.^[70] WMVS’s studios were located on the 6th floor of the Milwaukee Vocational and Adult Schools (now Milwaukee Area Technical College). The station first aired on October 28, 1957. Early programming included educational instruction for the seventy-four Catholic schools in the Milwaukee archdiocese and adult telecourses, like The Inquiring Mind.^[71] Many WMVS telecasts in the late 1950s and 1960s were produced by National Educational Television (NET), like the children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.^[72] A second public television station, WMVT-TV, began broadcasting on UHF channel 36 in 1963. In 1966, both WMVS-TV and WMVT-TV moved into the Milwaukee Vocational School’s facilities on Eighth Street.^[73] Public television stations were the first to experiment in high-definition television broadcasts after Congress mandated analog-to-digital conversion in 1996. WMVT-TV televised the first HDTV broadcast in Milwaukee when it aired the 1998 space shuttle Discovery launch.^[74]

In the early 1980s, cable TV emerged nationally as a pay-per-month television service. Cable programming was delivered through a closed-circuit system that utilizes cable wires, in the local area by Time Warner Cable.^[75] Milwaukee stations began broadcasting twenty-four hours a day to compete with cable TV networks for viewers.^[76] Even Milwaukee Public Television shifted its programming schedule as cable stations began airing a range of cultural, culinary, and scientific shows.^[77] The pay service also introduced a more competitive advertising landscape, driving down ad revenues for local stations.^[78]

At the same time, new domestic television networks came into existence. For instance, WCGV-TV debuted on March 24, 1980. It aired from the 27th Street studios previously utilized by WCAN-TV, WXIX-TV, and WITI-TV.^[79] Programming included daily call-in shows, syndicated sitcoms, and a pay-per-view service called SelecTV.^[80] WCGV-TV affiliated with the Fox network from 1987 to 1994.^[81] The station briefly affiliated with the WB and UPN networks in the late 1990s and 2000s, as well as its current affiliate, the Fox-owned MyNetwork TV.^[82] Another local television network, owned by the Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth FM radio station, won an FCC television construction permit on October 21, 1980. Headed by Vic Eliason, WVCY-TV began broadcasting on UHF channel 30 in 1983 from studios in New Berlin. In 1990, the station moved to 35th and Kilbourn Avenue.^[83] Programming on WVCY-TV featured Christian-themed call-in, variety, and children’s shows in addition to national televangelist productions.^[84]

The 1980s and 1990s were a period of government deregulation and television network consolidation. For instance, Storer Communications, which owned WITI-TV, was sold to Lorimar Pictures in 1986, then to Gillette in 1987, and, finally, New World Communications in 1992. When News Corporation purchased twenty percent of New World Communications in 1994, WITI-TV switched affiliations from CBS to the New World-aligned Fox Network.^[85]

In the 21^st century, the television industry continued to innovate. The FCC required the industry to convert to digital signals by 2009.[86] In 2016, Charter Communications acquired Time Warner Cable and planned to rebrand the local cable and internet service as Spectrum.[87]