WMTV

WMTV

Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Branding
  • NBC 15
  • NBC 15 News
  • .2: Madison CW
  • Weather & .4:
  • NBC 15 Weather Authority[1]
Slogan Coverage You Can Count On
Channels Digital: 19 (UHF)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP)
Subchannels
Affiliations
Owner Gray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
First air date July 8, 1953 (1953-07-08)
Call letters' meaning Watch Madison TeleVision
Sister station(s) Green Bay: WBAY
Eau Claire/La Crosse: WEAU
Wausau: WSAW-TV, WZAW-LD
Rockford, IL: WIFR-LD
Cedar Rapids, IA: KCRG-TV
Quad Cities: KWQC-TV
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 33 (UHF, 1953–1960)
  • 15 (UHF, 1960–2009)
Former affiliations
Transmitter power 155 kW
Height 414.8 m (1,361 ft)
Facility ID 6870
Transmitter coordinates 43°3′3″N 89°29′13″W / 43.05083°N 89.48694°W / 43.05083; -89.48694
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.nbc15.com

WMTV, virtual channel 15 (UHF digital channel 19), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The station is owned by Gray Television. WMTV's studios and transmitter are located on Forward Drive on Madison's southwest side.

History

WMTV signed on the air in July 1953 on channel 33 and was an affiliate of NBC, ABC and DuMont. However, it has always been a primary NBC affiliate. In 1956, WKOW-TV, which had the CBS affiliation, picked up the ABC affiliation from WMTV after losing CBS to then-new VHF station WISC-TV, thus resulting in WMTV becoming solely affiliated with NBC.

In 1960, WMTV switched channels from 33 to 15, where it remained until analog broadcasting ceased just before midnight on February 17, 2009. The station's over-the-air broadcasts are now on digital channel 19, though it is found through PSIP on virtual channel 15.

The station's channel 19 signal is also used by Chicago's WGN-TV and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan, causing interference between it and those two stations in the easternmost and western portions of their coverage area, mainly in Walworth County, which is just outside the Madison market (though WXMI's signal is limited by the Kettle Moraine range west of Jefferson County).[2]

On October 16, 2010, WMTV became the second commercial TV station in Madison to produce all of its newscasts in high definition, the first being WISC-TV. On October 18, 2010, the station also began airing its flagship syndicated programs Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in HD.

WMTV-DT2 carried local weather mixed with The Local AccuWeather Channel on its second subchannel from the subchannel's 2007 launch until January 1, 2014, when it became affiliated with WeatherNation TV.[3] WMTV .3 launched on April 1, 2013, carrying Antenna TV.[4]

On September 12, 2016, WMTV added The CW to its second subchannel, the result of an affiliation deal between Gray Television and The CW that renewed CW affiliations throughout the Gray chain and added the network to WMTV and three other stations.[5] WeatherNation TV would relocate to new subchannel 15.4 on September 12, 2016, the same day The CW was added to subchannel 15.2.[6] WMTV replaced WBUW as Madison's CW affiliate at the time of that station's affiliation expiry.

WMTV's studios have been located on Forward Drive on Madison's southwest side since the station launched in 1953. The station's original studios were utilized until a new facility at the same address opened in late October 2016, eight months after ground was broken (the old studios were demolished for parking).[7][8][9]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
15.11080i16:9WMTVNBCMain WMTV programming / NBC
15.2720pWMTV-CWThe CW
15.3480i4:3ANT-TVAntenna TV
15.416:9WMTV-WXWeatherNation TV

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Digital TV Market Listing for WMTV". RabbitEars. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Weeden, Tom (5 August 2013). "Digital TV Reception Difficulties". WMTV. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "WMTV, WeatherNation announce partnership". NBC15.com. Gray Digital Media. December 31, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ Source: NBC15 on Facebook, posted 3/29/2013
  5. ↑ "Gray Expands Its Partnership with The CW Network," from PRNewswire, 12/15/2016
  6. ↑ Source: WMTV Engineering on Twitter (posted 9/9/2016)
  7. ↑ "NBC15 breaks ground for new building," from NBC15.com, 2/10/2016
  8. ↑ "Channel 15 stands to nearly double its square footage in new building", The Capital Times, November 17, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Workflow Efficiency Key At Gray's New WMTV," from TVNewsCheck, 8/3/2017
  10. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WMTV
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