WBUW
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| WBUW | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Janesville/Madison, Wisconsin | |
| Branding | Madison's CW |
| Channels | Analog: 57 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | The CW |
| Owner | ACME Communications, Inc. (ACME Television Licenses of Madison, LLC) |
| First air date | 1999[1] |
| Call letters’ meaning | The WB (former network) University of Wisconsin (alludes to being in Madison) |
| Former callsigns | WHPN-TV (1999-2002) |
| Former affiliations | UPN (1999-2002) The WB (2002-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 5000 kW (analog) 200 kW (digital) |
| Height | 415 m (analog) 387 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 26025 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.madisonscw.com |
WBUW (Channel 57) is a television station affiliated with the The CW, licensed to Janesville, Wisconsin, but serving all of Madison and South Central Wisconsin. The station's transmission tower is located on Madison's southwest side. The station is branded as Madison's CW.
WBUW programming consists mainly of network programming from The CW and syndicated fare such as Maury and reruns of The King of Queens, That 70s Show, and Friends. WBUW also carries the youth-oriented morning show The Daily Buzz (a show produced by WBUW's owner, ACME Communications).
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[edit] History
Channel 57's original construction permit was granted on May 2, 1998 with the call letters WJNW; however, the station didn not sign on until July 5, 1999 as WHPN-TV. With a transmitter located approximately ten miles west of Janesville, the station served as UPN affiliate for both the Madison and Rockford, Illinois TV markets. (In Madison, UPN previously aired during overnight hours on WISC Channel 3).
In 2002, WHPN would be purchased by ACME Communications, a station group run by Jamie Kellner, a founder of The WB Television Network and former CEO of that network and TBS. In relation to the sale, WHPN would change affiliations to The WB in August 2002 and adopt the WBUW call letters (while Madison's former WB affiliate, WISC-owned cable channel WB14 taking UPN and changing their name to "UPN14").
In 2004, WBUW moved its transmitter to Madison on a new tower with WMTV (Channel 15). This move extend their coverage area throughout south central Wisconsin.
On March 8, 2006, WBUW was confirmed as Madison's CW affiliate, with UPN14 taking the affiliation for MyNetworkTV. WBUW did not change their call letters to fit their new affiliation, nor did the other former WB stations owned by ACME Communications (in an effort to avoid audience confusion during the network realignment).
[edit] Local news and features
In September 2003, WBUW got into the local news game with The WB57 Nine O'Clock News. Produced by local NBC station WMTV, the 35-minute newscast did include local/national news headlines, weather recaps, and one-minute sports reports, but emphasized entertainment and lifestyle features during the balance of the program (Friday editions of the newscast normally ended with in-studio performances by local musicians). E-mail contests and sweeps-month "free gas giveaways" were also included. Despite the stations' efforts, the newscast never gained ratings ground against 9PM newscasts from both WMSN and WISC's cable/digital offshoot, UPN14. The WB57 Nine O'Clock News ended its run in December 2005, as WBUW ended its relationship with WMTV and returned syndicated programming to the time slot.[1][2]
Local content did resume after the network change to The CW, in the form of "Buzzed Into Madison," short features during The Daily Buzz on Madison-area news, events, businesses, and personalities reported by Emmy Fink.
[edit] External links
- WBUW Station Website
- MySpace page for Madison's CW
- Madison Capital Times article about WBUW and UPN14 competing for the CW affiliation
- Madison Capital Times article about WBUW joining CW
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WBUW
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WBUW-TV
[edit] References
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