- TVW (WISC-TV)
-
TVW
(Digital subchannel of WISC-TV)
Madison, Wisconsin Branding tvw Channels Digital: 50-2 (or 3-2 PSIP) Affiliations MyNetworkTV Owner Morgan Murphy Media
(Television Wisconsin, Inc.)Founded 1996 Call letters' meaning TeleVision Wisconsin, Inc. Former callsigns WiSC2 (1996-1998)
TVW (1998-2001)
WB14 (2001-2002)
UPN14 (2002-2006)
My Madison TV (2006-2009)
TVW (2009-present)Website www.channel3000.com/tvw TVW is the digital television subchannel of Madison, Wisconsin station WISC-TV and is affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned and operated by Morgan Murphy Media, WISC-TV's owners, and is available over-the-air on digital subchannel 50.2 (or virtual channel 3.2 through the PSIP protocol), as well as on channel 14 on DirecTV and cable television systems in south central Wisconsin.
Contents
History
TVW dates back to 1996, when it launched as WiSC2; the channel started out as a second programming provider from WISC-TV for the Madison media market. At its launch, programming was made up of syndicated shows, limited local news & productions, regional sporting events (including Milwaukee Bucks basketball), and a national affiliation with Bloomberg Television. However, WiSC2 was only available to one localized outlying cable area and a low-power line-of-sight programming service provider and not the main cable service in Madison; this setup severely limited its potential audience. In 1998, a deal was struck which brought The WB Television Network to the station (at the time, the WB was only seen on area cable systems through Superstation WGN, which dropped WB programming in 1999). This affiliation was instrumental in getting the channel added to the cable service provider for Madison. The station was then re-branded TVW (which stands for Television Wisconsin, Inc., the licence holder for WISC-TV). TVW carried the full WB schedule, along with a mix of syndicated programming, Wisconsin Badgers sports, and local shows produced by Channel 3 and Charter Cable.
TVW aired as a Charter Communications-exclusive channel on Channel 14 until fall 2000, when WISC added TVW to HDTV subchannel 3-2, allowing it to be available over-the-air to digital television viewers. TVW would become WB14 in September 2001, though the "TVW" name was retained as an official identification.
August 2002 would see a network change for WB14: After ACME Communications purchased Madison's then-UPN affiliate, WHPN, the two stations would swap network affiliations, with WHPN becoming a WB affiliate (under the new WBUW call sign), while WB14 would change to "UPN 14" and become Madison's UPN affiliate. UPN had already had some history with WISC-TV, as the station carried UPN on a secondary basis from 1995 until WHPN's launch in 1999.
On March 8, 2006, Morgan Murphy Media and Fox Entertainment Group announced[1] that UPN 14 would be the Madison affiliate for the new MyNetworkTV service. The station's on-air name changed over to My Madison TV on August 7, 2006. The station continued to air UPN programming after midnight from MyNetworkTV's September 4 debut until UPN's closure on September 15.
During the week of July 1, 2009, My Madison TV reverted on-air identification back to TVW. Unveiling a logo absent of any network or channel identification, the rebranding was meant to emphasize a connection to Madison and Wisconsin in TVW's programming.[2]
Programming
Aside from the MyNetworkTV lineup, the TVW schedule consists mainly of local and syndicated programming, including original programs Steven and Chris, Family Feud, and Inside Edition, and reruns of The Cosby Show, 'Til Death, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. TVW also airs same-day rebroadcasts of Dr. Phil, which airs earlier on the day on WISC-TV 3.1. On weekends, TVW airs live sports programming from ESPN Plus, including college sports involving the Mid-American and Southeastern conferences. TVW also serves as a second outlet for WISC-TV programming when Channel 3 has prior commitments.
Local programs that are produced by and air on WISC-TV also appear on TVW, including Urban Theater (a music performance show hosted by John Urban) and Sidelines (a sports panel discussion show hosted by The Capital Times columnist Mike Lucas that also airs in Eastern Wisconsin on Time Warner Cable Sports 32). TVW also airs local high school sports events under the "PrepMania" banner.
In January 2004, WISC-TV launched UPN14 News at Nine, a 5-minute news update featuring local and national headlines plus a brief weather presentation. The program was expanded to 30 minutes in September 2005 and rechristened News 3 at 9 on UPN14 (now titled News 3 at 9 on tvw). Additionally, WISC's early morning news programming is rerun later in the morning on TVW (while WISC airs The Early Show).
References
- ^ "UPN 14 To Become My Network TV This Fall", announcement on channel300.com, March 8, 2006
- ^ "My Madison TV Is Now TVW", from channel3000.com, accessed on 7/10/2009.
External links
Television Stations in Southern Wisconsin, including Madison Local stations Outlying areas Cable Only Stations WYOU · MMSD Channels · MCC · Fox Sports Wisconsin · WisconsinEye · Oregon Cable Access · McFarland Cable Access · WSTO TV - Stoughton ·ATSC-M/H Mobile DTV
encrypted channels
are italicizedWKOW 27.1 (ABC)
MyNetworkTV Network Affiliates in the state of Wisconsin WISC 3.2 (Madison) - WSAW 7.2 (Wausau) - W42DH-D 7.2 (Sayner) -
WKBT 8.2 (La Crosse) - WCGV 24.1 (Milwaukee) - WACY 32.1 (Appleton/Green Bay) -See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, ION, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in WisconsinRadio Stations: Television Stations: Categories:- Television stations in Madison, Wisconsin
- MyNetworkTV affiliates
- Morgan Murphy Stations
- Channel 50 digital TV stations in the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
