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WISN-TV
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Branding	WISN 12 (general) 12 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Leading the Way with Important Local Coverage (news) One of America's Leading ABC Stations (general)
Channels	12 (VHF) analog, 34 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (1954-1961, 1977-present)
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	1954 as WTVW
Call letters meaning	The WISconsin News (Former Milwaukee Hearst newspaper that merged with The Milwaukee Sentinel.)
Former affiliations	DuMont, 1954-1955, CBS, 1961-1977
Website	TheMilwaukeeChannel.com

WISN-TV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha. WISN is an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its transmitter is located within Lincoln Park in the northeastern part of Milwaukee, with WDJT (Channel 58)'s tower nearby. WISN is one of three flagship stations of Hearst-Argyle Television.

Former sister radio stations WISN-AM (1130) and WQBW-FM (formerly WLTQ-FM, 97.3) are now owned by Clear Channel, and are unrelated to WISN in any way except for Channel 12 providing weather forecasts for Clear Channel's Milwaukee radio operations.

Contents 1 History 2 Programming 3 Trivia 4 News 5 Logos 6 Newscasts 7 External links

WISN first signed on the air on October 27, 1954 with the call letters WTVW, which by 1955 it had changed to WISN, after being bought by the Hearst Corporation, who transferred the call letters from their radio station, WISN-AM. From the beginning, the station was an ABC affiliate. Until 1956, it also carried programming from the now-defunct DuMont network.

Hearst kept WISN-TV and WISN-AM in 1962 after they sold the Milwaukee Sentinel to Journal Communications that year (owners of the Milwaukee Journal), due to Journal already owning WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) and WTMJ-AM (620).

Between April 2, 1961 and March 27, 1977, WISN was a CBS affiliate, but eventually switched affiliations back to ABC, switching affiliations with WITI both times.

Today WISN 12 clears all of the ABC schedule, except for ABC Kids airings of Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive due to lack of E/I content; the station unusually aired Kim Possible and Power Rangers SPD early Monday mornings before World News Now in the 2005-2006 season for the same reason.

The station airs most of the highest-rated programs in syndication, with Live with Regis and Kelly after Good Morning America, reruns of Starting Over before the ABC soap opera lineup, and Dr. Phil and Oprah paired up in mid-afternoons together. Entertainment Tonight airs before primetime, and Access Hollywood airs after the 10 p.m. newscast. In 2006, Channel 12 also aired Green Bay Packers Monday Night Football games originating on ESPN, with the ESPNHD feed of the games airing on WISN-DT.

WISN also makes the claim based on Nielsen Media Research numbers that it is among the top-rated ABC affiliates in the nation (an honor that was shared with fellow ABC station WPTA-TV in Fort Wayne, IN), which is based on market size and household ratings percentages. [1] In fact, the three highest-rated ABC affiliates in the nation are all Hearst-Argyle stations (WISN, plus KOCO in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri).

• WTVW's transmitter building was built under a tent, as rains threatened to delay construction. The tent was taken down, and pitched next to the building, where it was used for live automobile commercials, until it collapsed one day in early 1955.
• The station was also the first commercial station in the market to produce an HDTV broadcast, airing the Summerfest "Big Bang" fireworks show in the format on June 29, 2006. WMVS (Channel 10) had produced HDTV programming before, and helped WISN with some aspects of the broadcast. [2]
• WISN was the flagship station for the Wisconsin Lottery from the agency's inception in 1989, playing host to the state lottery drawings and the weekly Wisconsin Lottery Money Game game show. The lottery discontinued the Money Game at the end of 2003 due to budget cuts, and televised drawings at the same time, moving the drawings to the state lottery offices in Madison. WISN continues to announce the lottery numbers on-screen after being drawn in a bottom-screen ticker, and also broadcasts most Powerball drawings with a jackpot over $125,000,000 (WMLW (Channel 41) airs all Powerball drawings).

The station also has a strong commitment to local news, and has found momentum after a month-long tribute to former main anchor Jerry Taff's retirement in May 2005, hiring popular local anchors and reporters released from other stations, a stronger ABC schedule, and a period of change at rival WTMJ due to weaker NBC ratings and newsroom changes.

WISN has added more newscasts to their schedule over the last two years, and is unusual in programming hour-long newscasts Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 10 p.m.. The station also begins all their morning newscasts at 5 a.m., seven days a week, a point made in all of their promotions for what is called 12 News This Morning.

In the November sweeps period for 2006, Channel 12 newscasts were rated first in the morning and early evening, while placing second to Channel 4 by 18,000 viewing homes in the 10 p.m. timeslot [3]. In February 2007, Channel 12 won every newscast timeslot, and even unseated longtime 10 p.m leader Channel 4 with an 0.2-point win. [4]

This logo is the main TV logo for WISN since 1974, and is used in this straight form on their newscasts and as the station's logo bug.

WISN's 'contemporary 12' logo, used as the station ID at the start of their newscasts, entertainment programming, and as the network-generated logo bug on ABC network programs coming out of commercial.

The title screen for WISN 12 News

Weekdays

• 12 News This Morning - 5 a.m.-7 a.m.
  • Anchors: Patrick Paolantonio and Caroline Lyders
  • Weather: Sally Severson
• 12 News at Five - 5 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
  • Anchors: Kathy Mykleby and Toya Washington
  • Weather: Mark Baden Monday-Thursdays, Lance Hill on Fridays
• 12 News at Six - 6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
  • Anchors: Terry Sater and Shelby Croft
  • Weather: Mark Baden Monday-Thursdays, Lance Hill on Fridays
  • Sports: Dan Needles
• 12 News at Ten - 10 p.m.-10:35 p.m. (rebroadcast from 1:35 a.m.-2:10 a.m.)
  • Anchors: Kathy Mykleby and Toya Washington
  • Weather: Mark Baden Monday-Thursdays, Lance Hill on Fridays
  • Sports: Dan Needles

Weekends

• 12 News This Morning Weekend - 5 a.m.-6 a.m., 7 a.m.-9 a.m.
  • Anchors: Portia Young and DeMarco Morgan
  • Weather: Lyra O'Brien
• 12 News at Five - 5 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturdays
• 12 News at 5:30 - 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Sundays
• 12 News at Six - 6 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Saturdays
• 12 News at Ten - 10 p.m.-10:35 p.m. Saturdays (rebroadcast from 12:35 a.m.-1:10 a.m.)
  • Anchors for 5, 5:30, 6 and 10 Newscasts: Mike Miller and Kai Reed
  • Weather: Lance Hill on Saturdays, and Mark Baden on Sundays
  • Sports: Andy Kendeigh
• 12 News at Ten Sunday - 10:00 p.m.-11:05 p.m. Sundays (rebroadcast from 1:35 a.m.-2:40 a.m.)

Occasional

• 12 News On Assignment - a local newsmagazine hosted by Kathy Mykelby which airs long-form interviews, reports, and profiles of local personalities and interesting people. Usually airs in sweeps months, ABC event programming nights, or before Packer games the channel airs from ESPN. 12 News On Assignment usually will air four times a year. Favorite guests include the Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.

• WISN-TV 12 HOMEPAGE
• History of Milwaukee television
• Hearst-Argyle Television
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WISN