WCWF

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WIWB is the CW-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area of Northeastern Wisconsin that is licensed to Suring. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter in the Town of Glenmore like the other Green Bay stations. Owned by ACME Communications, the station is operated by the LIN TV Corporation through shared service and joint sales agreements as sister to Fox affiliate WLUK-TV. The two stations share studios on Lombardi Avenue (U.S. 41 Bus) in Green Bay. Syndicated programming on this channel includes: The Office, Everybody Loves Raymond, Family Guy, and Friends.

History

It signed-on February 22, 1984 as WSCO-TV under the ownership of Northeastern Wisconsin Christian Television Incorporated. However, financial problems would force the station off-the-air by 1987. That year, VCY America purchased the channel. In 1993, it returned to the air as a sister station to Milwaukee's WVCY-TV with religious and home shopping programming. On April 30, 1997, Paxson Communications purchased the station and converted it to a paid programming format. In 1998, WSCO became a charter owned-and-operated station of Pax under the new call sign WPXG (for "Paxson Green Bay").

On June 2, 1999, Paxon sold WPXG to ACME Communications and the station immediately became a primary WB affiliate under new calls WIWB'. It was originally branded as "WB 14" and later "Wisconsin's WB". Before this network change, WB programming in Northeastern Wisconsin was previously seen either through cable systems that carried WGN and/or WVTV or during off hours on UPN affiliate WACY-TV with Kids' WB airing as part of that station's children's lineup. WIWB also continued to air Pax during off hours (mornings, overnights, weekends) for a few years after ACME's purchase but would drop that network by the early-2000s. By that time, the station eventually became more of a general entertainment outlet with a heavy sitcom and court show lineup in addition to WB programming.

On March 9, 2006, it was announced that WIWB would become Green Bay's affiliate for The CW. The channel officially joined the network on its September 18 launch although it temporary had dual affiliation of both of The CW's predecessors carrying not only The WB but also shows from UPN after that network's Green Bay affiliate (WACY-TV) dropped the network before its closure to join the other new network, News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV. Today, WIWB's daily schedule consists of CW programming along with reruns of syndicated shows.

WIWB also carries the young-skewing weekday morning show The Daily Buzz from 6 am to 9 am (a program produced by this station's owner). Since 2009, the channel has featured local Daily Buzz inserts called "Buzzed Into the 920" (named for the telephone area code for Green Bay and the Fox Cities). "Buzzed" is patterned after sister station WBUW's "Buzzed Into Madison" and features presenter Kari Merchant profiling positive stories on news, events, businesses, and personalities in the Green Bay/Fox Cities area.

On June 4, 2010, it was announced that LIN TV Corporation (owner of Fox affiliate WLUK) would begin to operate WIWB through shared service and joint sales agreements. WLUK now provides technical, engineering, promotional, administrative, and other operational support services for WIWB as well as advertising sales services under a related but separate joint sales agreement. This is the second LMA (or similar) in the market (Journal Communications-owned WGBA-TV has operated WACY which is owned by Ace TV Inc. since 1994).

On Aug. 16, 2010, the station announced it was changing its branding to CW14 as part of an emphasis on local commitment under its new management. The station also said it had filed for new call letters. The station has also now moved into the WLUK studios on Lombardi Avenue, leaving their former facilities in the Parkview Plaza strip mall off Parkview Road. On August 25, 2010, the brand manager at WIWB/WLUK announced that they had submitted for the call letters WCWF (CW Fourteen)

Digital programming

WIWB broadcasts its digital television signal on its current pre-transition channel number, 21, although digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as 14 through the use of PSIP. On December 12, 2008, the station replaced their digital antenna due to a wavering signal and recommended that viewers do a channel rescan to restore the digital WIWB signal that may have been lost. It discontinued regular analog programming on February 17, 2009 looping a nightlight program of digital transition information and local DTV hotline numbers until March 4 when the station turned-off its analog transmitter. On May 6, 2009 due to the station's closeness to the Canadian border zone, the FCC and Industry Canada's CRTC division issued a conditional approval of WIWB's construction permit to expand their coverage area by increasing power. The approval was needed in order to work with interference problems resulting from PBS member station WCMW from across the lake in Manistee, Michigan sharing channel 21 and to address the concerns of interference in local health care facilities' radiological equipment. The increase in power was applied on September 8, 2009 and station officials asked viewers to rescan for the signal.

The former analog transmitter was located outside of the unincorporated Oconto County community of Krakow, four miles north of Pulaski on WIS 32.

External links

• WIWB
• WLUK-DT "Fox 11"
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