WCCO-TV

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WCCO-TV
Blue wcco 4 logo.jpg
Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota
City of license Minneapolis, Minnesota
Branding WCCO Channel 4,
WCCO, CCO (general)
WCCO 4 News (newscasts)
Slogan Minnesota's Most Watched Station
Channels Digital: 32 (UHF)
Virtual: 4 (PSIP)[1]
Subchannels 4.1 CBS
Translators (see article)
Affiliations CBS
Owner CBS Corporation
(CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date July 1, 1949; 63 years ago (1949-07-01)
Call letters' meaning Washburn-Crosby COmpany (precursor of General Mills) and taken from its sister radio station
Sister station(s) KMNB, KZJK, WCCO (AM)
Former callsigns WTCN-TV (1949–1952)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
4 (VHF, 1949–2009)
Transmitter power 1000 kW[1]
Height 432 m[1]
Facility ID 9629[1]
Transmitter coordinates 45°3′44″N 93°8′21″W / 45.06222°N 93.13917°W / 45.06222; -93.13917
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.cbsminnesota.com

WCCO-TV, channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station that is licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul television market. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation. WCCO-TV's studios are located in downtown Minneapolis, and its transmitter is located at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.

Contents

History [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion with: further information on the history of WCCO-TV, outside of ownership transactions. (May 2013)
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)
The WCCO building in downtown Minneapolis.

WCCO-TV's roots originate with a radio station, but not one with which it is affiliated today. Radio station WRHM (1280 AM), which signed on the air in 1925, is the station to which WCCO-TV traces its lineage. In 1934, two newspapers – the Minneapolis Tribune and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch – formed a joint venture named "Twin Cities Newspapers", which purchased the radio station and changed its call letters to WTCN. Twin Cities Newspapers later expanded into the then-new medium of television with the launch of WTCN-TV on July 1, 1949 as Minnesota's second television station, broadcasting from the Radio City Theater at 50 South 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis.

When Twin Cities Newspapers sold its radio holdings – WTCN (now WWTC) and WTCN-FM (now KTCZ-FM) – in 1952, it was able to buy the much stronger and dominant WCCO (830 AM). A new company, Midwest Radio and Television, was created to do this, with CBS as a minority partner with the radio station. The call letters of channel 4 were changed to the present WCCO-TV to match its new radio sister (the WTCN-TV call sign would later be picked up by what is now KARE).[2] CBS was forced to sell its minority ownership stake in WCCO radio in 1954 to comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership limits of the time. The network did not own any portion of WCCO-TV until 1992, when it acquired the broadcast holdings of Midwest Radio and Television.[3]

Digital television [edit]

Digital channel [edit]

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
4.1 1080i 16:9 WCCO-DT Main WCCO-TV programming / CBS

Analog-to-digital conversion [edit]

WCCO-TV shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009 as part of the digital television transition. The station remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 32,[4] using PSIP to display WCCO's virtual channel as 4, in correspondence to its former analog channel frequency, on digital television receivers.

Satellite stations and translators [edit]

WCCO-TV operates two satellite stations northwest of the Twin Cities area:

Former KCCO/KCCW logo
Station City of license Channels
(TV / DT)		 First air date Former call letters ERP HAAT Transmitter Coordinates Facility ID Public license
information
KCCO-TV Alexandria 7 (PSIP)
7 (VHF)		 October 8, 1958 KCMT (1958–1987) 29 kW 339.6 m 45°41′10″N 95°8′3″W / 45.68611°N 95.13417°W / 45.68611; -95.13417 (KCCO-TV) 9632 Profile
CDBS
KCCW-TV Walker 12 (PSIP)
12 (VHF)		 January 1, 1964 KNMT (1964–1987) 59 kW 286.4 m 46°56′5″N 94°27′19″W / 46.93472°N 94.45528°W / 46.93472; -94.45528 (KCCW-TV) 9640 Profile
CDBS

Both of these stations were founded by the Central Minnesota Television Company and maintained primary affiliations with NBC and secondary affiliations with ABC from their respective sign-ons until the summer of 1982, when both stations switched to CBS.[5][6] KCMT had originally broadcast from a studio in Alexandria, with KNMT operating as a satellite station of KCMT. Central Minnesota Television sold both stations to Midwest Radio and Television in 1987, at which point they adopted their present call letters and became semi-satellites of WCCO-TV.[7]

Until 2002, the two stations simulcast WCCO-TV's programming for most of the day, except for separate commercials and inserts placed into channel 4's newscasts. However, in 2002, WCCO-TV ended KCCO/KCCW's local operations and shut down the Alexandria studio, converting the two stations into full-time satellites. Since then, channel 4 has identified as "Minneapolis-St. Paul/Alexandria/Walker", with virtually no on-air evidence that KCCO and KCCW were separate stations.

In addition, the broadcast signal of WCCO-TV is extended by way of six translators in southern Minnesota and one in northern Minnesota; all but one broadcasts in digital:

City of license Callsign Channel
Frost K35IU-D 35
Jackson K35IZ-D 35
Olivia K51AL-D 51
Red Lake K49LO-D 49
Redwood Falls K33LB-D 33
St. James K41IZ-D 41
Willmar K46AC-D 46

News operation [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion with: information on the history of WCCO's news department. (May 2013)

WCCO presently broadcasts 28 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 4½ hours on weekdays, 3½ hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). In addition, the station produces a half-hour sports highlight program on Sunday evenings after the 10 p.m. newscast called Rosen's Sports Sunday, which is hosted by sports director Mark Rosen.

Since the May 2006 ratings period, WCCO's newscasts have claimed the top spot in total household ratings for most news programs. The exception has been mornings, where KARE still leads all local competitors. In main demographic groups, WCCO usually comes in second place. May 2009 showed a third place finish behind KSTP at 5:00 p.m.[8]

WCCO 4 NEWS TEAM [edit]

Notable former on-air staff [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d WCCO TV Query Results
  2. ^ http://llnw.static.cbslocal.com/station/wcco/community/09_0827_community_WCCOtimeline.pdf Retrieved 2011-7-22
  3. ^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CBS+ACQUIRES+TELEVISION+AND+RADIO+STATIONS+FROM+MIDWEST+COMMUNICATIONS-a011880751 Retrieved 2011-8-21
  4. ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  5. ^ "WATR-TV decides to go it alone." Broadcasting, February 22, 1982, pg. 72. [1]
  6. ^ Minnesota State Edition
  7. ^ Washington, D.C. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Record, Vol. 02, No. 22, pp. 6730-6732, Oct 23-Nov. 6, 1987. UNT Digital Library. FCC 87-331 Vol. 22. Accessed June 28, 2012.
  8. ^ http://newsblaze.com/story/2009052113384100004.mwir/topstory.html
  9. ^ http://www.minnpost.com/author/karen-boros
  10. ^ "Jerry Bowen". CBS News. 
  11. ^ "WCCO Anchor Bill Carlson Dies At Age 73". 2008-02-29. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  12. ^ a b http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_local_children's_television_series_(United_States)#Minneapolis.2FSt._Paul
  13. ^ http://www.abc7dc.com/talentbios/getbio.cfm?id=8
  14. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=mPxHBfonthgC&lpg=PA17&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false "Best Seat in the House: Mark Rosen’s Sports Moments and Minnesota Memories" by Mark Rosen, 2012, page 23
  15. ^ "CNN TV - Anchors/Reporters:Randi Kaye". 
  16. ^ http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=11407096
  17. ^ http://www.pavekmuseum.org/Kraehling.htm
  18. ^ http://tcmedianow.com/video/wcco-10pm-report-from-december-6-1983-dave-moore-pat-miles-skip-loescher-mike-fairbourne-mark-rosen/
  19. ^ "Bob McNamara". CBS News. 
  20. ^ http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2010/11/01/wcco-station-alumni/photo-2043/
  21. ^ a b http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/103681189.html Star-Tribune September 23, 2010
  22. ^ Oslund, John J. (1997). "Ruling a Prizewinner Unfair". Retrieved 2007-12-11. 
  23. ^ http://shamasportsheadliners.com/new-book-mixes-sports-wcco-legacy/
  24. ^ http://www.topix.com/forum/world/nicaragua/TD3JS0HK75RCUPNBC (an unusual source but there is very little documentation of Stewart's tenure at WCCO)

External links [edit]
Twin Cities
Alexandria
Appleton
Bemidji
Brainerd
Other areas
Cable channels
Defunct
CBS owned-and-operated
CW owned-and-operated
Other stations
Independent stations
MyNetworkTV affiliates
Tr3́s affiliate
CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Minnesota
Disney
CBS Corp.
CW (w/WB) (8):
News
NBCU
Telemundo (16):
UV
UniMás (22):
Univision (22):
  1. WOGX is a semi-satellite of WOFL.
  2. Univision owns the licenses to these stations but the stations themselves are operated by Entravision Communications under LMA.
  3. NBC Universal owns the license but the station is operated by ZGS Communications.
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