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For the related radio station with the same call letters, see WTMJ (AM)

WTMJ-TV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the flagship station of the Journal Broadcast Group. When WTMJ-TV began broadcasting on December 3, 1947, it was the first television station in Wisconsin, and the fifteenth commercial station to go on the air in the United States. Its signal now covers most of southeastern Wisconsin, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha. Its transmitter is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin approximately 8 miles (13 km) north of downtown Milwaukee. WTMJ-TV transmits its signal from an antenna 1,045 feet (319 m) in height.

The station's current slogan is "Today's TMJ4". The station also provides engineering assistance for ION Network affiliate WPXE (Channel 55); previously WPXE aired WTMJ newscasts on a half-hour delay in the evening and shared some programming with Channel 4, however this deal was ended in July 2005. It is the only station in the Milwaukee market to have never switched affiliations in its history.

History

The Journal Company's first television license was granted in September 1931 for experimental station W9XD, using a low-definition electromechanical system. The station conducted field tests from 1931 to 1933, before converting its facilities to experimental high-fidelity apex radio unit W9XAZ in 1934. Its license was withdrawn by the FCC in 1938 as part of an effort to limit licenses to stations actively engaging in the development of television. No publicly announced television programming was broadcast by W9XD during this experimental period.

The Journal Company obtained in September 1941 one of the first commercial television construction permits issued by the FCC, under the call letters WMJT (Milwaukee Journal Television), and built a new broadcast facility by August 1942. But the U.S. War Production Board halted the manufacture of television and radio broadcasting equipment for civilian use from April 1942 to October 1945, suspending the company's television plans.

On December 3, 1947 WTMJ-TV (TMJ standing for The Milwaukee Journal) went on the air, becoming the first commercial television station in Wisconsin, and the fourth commercial station in the Midwest. When the station began broadcasting in 1947, there were only 500 television sets in Milwaukee, jumping to 2,050 by the following April.[1] WTMJ had affiliated with the NBC television network since sign on, although it also carried programming from CBS, ABC, and Du Mont before those networks had their own affiliated stations in Milwaukee.[2] WTMJ is the only station in Milwaukee to be affiliated with the same network since it signed on. It is currently NBC's second-longest tenured affiliate, behind only KSD-TV (now KSDK) in St. Louis (which had signed on in January of that year).

WTMJ originally transmitted on channel 3, and shifted to Channel 4 on July 11, 1953 to avoid interference with Kalamazoo, Michigan's WKZO-TV (now WWMT), which is nearly directly across Lake Michigan. This was a part of the FCC's complete revision of the Table of Channel Assignments as issued in its Sixth Report and General Order issued on April 14, 1952. This move forced the CBS affiliate on channel 4 in Chicago (now WBBM-TV), the first commercially-licensed TV station outside of the Eastern Time Zone, to move to channel 2. It had done so on July 5.

WTMJ was one of the first stations in the country to purchase color equipment, and in December 1953, they broadcast the color television program Amahl and the Night Visitors from NBC, when only two prototype color sets existed in Milwaukee. The city's first color TV sets were sold in March 1954, and by July 1954 WTMJ broadcast their first local color program originating from their studios, The Grenadiers, becoming the third local station in the U.S. with live color capability.[3] About 3,000 color sets existed in Milwaukee in February 1957.

Programming

WTMJ broadcasts all of NBC's schedule, with the exception of some older made-for-TV movies bought by Channel 4 which are used to pre-empt NBC movies or Saturday night programming for additional local advertising revenue several times a year. However, this practice is nothing new, for they also had a reputation of pre-empting or delaying a handful of NBC shows in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s (NBC's Daytime gameshow and soap opera lineup, moving Sanford and Son to Saturday nights in the 1970s and airing the syndicated Fame in place of Gimme a Break and Mama's Family on Thursday nights during the 1983-1984 TV season were examples of this). But its most controversial move would come in 1979 when it asked NBC permission to delay The Tonight Show to 11pm so it could carry reruns of Maude. They would try again in 1984, attempting to ask for a Tonight Show move to 11:30pm so it could air reruns of Trapper John, M.D. after the late news starting in September of that year. NBC refused again, and the program was moved to then-independent WVTV (Channel 18), where it aired at 10:30pm from September 1984-September 1988, when WTMJ decided to cede to NBC and air the program at its regular time. The station also delayed Late Night with Conan O'Brian to 12:05am from the program's beginning in 1993 until 2001.

Current syndicated programming includes Meredith Corporation's Better TV, a program based on Better Homes and Gardens, Montel Williams, and Extra. WTMJ had been the long-time Milwaukee home for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! from their premieres in the early 80s until fall 2005, when both shows moved to WDJT. WTMJ (and WPXE during the LMA years) had aired Martha Stewart's Martha Stewart Living and then Martha until September 2007, when Martha moved to WISN.

Currently WTMJ airs Today in two segments; the original 7am-9am block, followed by The Morning Blend, then the final two hours of Today from 10am-noon, leading into the relocated hour-long Live at Noon newscast and Days of Our Lives, which moved to 1pm on September 10, 2007.

WTMJ's WeatherPlus.

The station is also the 'official station' of the Green Bay Packers for the Milwaukee market, giving it rights to air the team's non-nationally televisied preseason games. WFRV (Channel 5) in Green Bay is the overall 'official station' for the Packers. WTMJ airs shows involving the team, including the head coach's weekly show, which airs on Tuesday nights at 6:30 and shifts that night's Extra to air after Last Call with Carson Daly. Because of the Summer Olympics occuring in 2004 and 2008, which are not allowed any pre-emptions by the network, WTMJ has sub-licenced some preseason games to other stations; in 2004 to then-LMA partner WPXE, and in 2008 to CW affiliate WVTV (Channel 18) [4].

On March 1, 2006, WTMJ launched its local version of the NBC Weather Plus service called TMJ4 Weather Plus, a 24-hour weather channel which features a mix of local/national forecasts and weather, and features WTMJ's meteorologists. The station airs over DTV Channel 4-2, and on Time Warner Digital Cable over Channel 104 throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. Charter Communications, the other main local cable provider, currently does not carry TMJ4 Weather Plus. In June, the station changed their weather branding on the main newscasts from "Storm Team 4" to "TMJ4 Weather Plus", as have most stations airing the service.

The ownership remains under Journal Broadcast Group. As such, WTMJ is one of the few non-O&O television stations in the country that has had the same callsign, owner and primary network affiliation throughout its history. In August 2004 Green Bay's NBC affiliate, WGBA (Channel 26), was bought by Journal and became a sister station to WTMJ.

The Morning Blend

The station produces a locally-produced program called The Morning Blend, which premiered on September 12, 2006 at 10am, and now airs at 9am after Today's expansion to four hours. The show is hosted by former local reporters Allison de Castro and Molly Fay. This was WTMJ's first attempt at a local show besides news or public affairs since 1979, when the short-lived A New Day aired, co-hosted by 1973 Miss Wisconsin/Miss America winner (and current 700 Club co-host) Terry Anne Meeuwsen and KGO-TV & AM/San Francisco newsman/radio host (and former WTMJ TV reporter) Pete Wilson (now deceased).[5]

Morning Blend's format is based on Daytime, a show from Tampa's NBC affiliate WFLA-TV (Channel 8) which was controversial when launched, because some segments of the program (such as how-to or cooking blocks) were paid for by local businesses, which paid for mentions of their products on air; however WFLA failed to make this clear (they have since changed it so that paid segments are disclaimed). WTMJ's version features a mix of paid and unpaid segments. All segments which promote a certain product or company are clearly disclaimed on air, and the show's talent has no connection to WTMJ's newsroom. Also, the sales and advertising departments produce the show, while the news department has no interest in the program. The hosts of The Morning Blend do not report any news, ceding any breaking events to the Daybreak staff in the news studio, and the show is pre-empted in such cases the news takes up the full hour (such as a weather emergency). [1].

Digital television

Channel Programming
4.1 / 28.1 main WTMJ-TV/NBC programming
4.2 / 28.2 NBC Weather Plus

Post-analog shutdown

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, [6] WTMJ-TV will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 28. [7] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WTMJ-TV's virtual channel as 4.

Newscasts

Since the launch of the extended Today Show in September 2007, the station's programming focus has shifted very heavily towards local news, as replacement syndicated programming for Martha, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! after their moves to other stations in the market, and the August 2008 ending of Montel have failed to spark viewer interest outside of local/network hours. As of September 8, 2008, the station will launch a 3pm news hour, and before then on August 25, extend the 6pm news to the full hour before NBC primetime, giving the station eight hours of local news every weekday [8], tying WITI's daily news output.

Daybreak, Live at 6:00 and Live at 10:00 are available on Time Warner Cable's VOD service, "Wisconsin on Demand 1111" throughout southeastern Wisconsin, two hours after each program's original airing and for three days after. Also available through this service are specific WTMJ reports, I-Team investigations and consumer stories, along with Sunday public affairs program Sunday Insight with Charlie Sykes.

WTMJ's morning and noon newscasts have aired on Green Bay sister station WGBA (Channel 26) since July 14, 2008, after that station ended their own newscasts at 5am, 9am, and 12 noon. Local weather cut-ins from Green Bay continue to air during WTMJ's forecasts on Channel 26, and WTMJ also provides all sportscasts for WGBA.

Today's TMJ4 Personalities

Current On-Air Talent

Anchors

  • George Mallet - Weekdays on Live at 4:00, 4:30
  • Carole Meekins - Weekdays on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 10:00
  • Mike Jacobs - Weekdays on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 10:00
  • Courtny Gerrish - Weekdays on Live at 4:00, 4:30
  • Susan Kim - Weekdays on Live at Daybreak and Live at Noon
  • Vince Vitrano - Weekdays on Live at Daybreak and Live at Noon
  • Diane Pathieu - Weekdays on Live at Daybreak and Live at Noon
  • Charles Benson - Weekends on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, 10:00
  • Shelley Walcott - Weekends on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, 10:00
  • Heather Shannon - Weekends on Live at Daybreak
  • Melissa McCrady - Weekends on Live at Daybreak

Reporters

  • Aaron Diamant - investigative reporter
  • Michael George
  • Lauren Leamanczyk
  • Lisa Manna - Road Warrior Traffic, seen on Live at Daybreak
  • John Mercure - senior investigative reporter
  • Ty Milburn
  • Tom Murray
  • Jay Olstad
  • Melanie Stout
  • Mick Trevey

TMJ4 WeatherPlus

  • John Malan - Weekdays on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 10:00 (NWS Seal of Approval[9])
  • Craig Koplien - Weekdays on Live at Daybreak and Live at Noon (NWS Seal of Approval, AMS Certification[10])
  • Brian Gotter - Weekdays on Live at Noon, 4:00, 4:30 (NWS Seal of Approval, AMS Certification[11])
  • Scott Steele - Weekends on Live at 5:00, 6:00, 6:30, 10:00; formerly with WITI's morning newscasts (NWS Seal of Approval[12])
  • Michael Fish - Weekends on Live at Daybreak

Sports

  • Lance Allan
  • Rod Burks
  • Jessie Garcia - Also part of Packers preseason telecasts
  • David Marcus

Former Personalities

  • Mike LaPoint - Former Weather Forecaster (2004-2006) Now at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, PA now at WAUK 8 in WAKASHA
  • Mike Gousha - Former News Anchor (1981-2007) Retired in late 2007. Now host of WISN-Channel 12 political analysis program UpFront with Mike Gousha.
  • Paul Joseph - Former Cheif Meteorologist (1970-2006) Retired on August 18, 2006.[13]
  • Jim Ott - Former morning/weekend meteorologist (1976-2006) Jim Ott retired from the station in early 2006, and in November of the same year, won election to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican representing the 23rd District, consisting of Mequon, Thiensville, and portions of extreme northern Milwaukee County.

News/Station Presentation

WTMJ was formerly known as "News 4 Milwaukee", and then shortened down to "News 4", with the late news known as "News 4 Tonight at 10". The newscast name was changed to "Newschannel 4" from 1990 until July 1992, when the "Today's TMJ4" imaging was inaugurated during coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The first generation of the branding lasted until July 2004 and the 2004 Summer Olympics, when a modern and glassy image campaign fit for HDTV was launched, which since has been established on the rest of Journal's stations, with some font and branding differences depending on market. The 'sailboat 4' logo was retired, and the music for the station became more elaborate and grand, though the former theme was retained. Currently, the station brands its news as Live at [Time of Day], with the morning newscast going by the title Live at Daybreak.

Newscast Titles

Present

  • Today's TMJ4 - General Title (July 1992-present)
  • Live at Daybreak - Morning News
  • Live at Noon
  • Live at 12:30
  • Live at 4
  • Live at 4:30
  • Live at 5
  • Live at 6
  • Live at 10
  • Live at 6:30: Saturday - Saturday Only
  • Live at 10:30: Sunday - Sunday Only

Former

  • News 4 Milwaukee (1978-1988)
  • News 4 (1966-1978 and 1988-1990)
    • News 4 Tonight at 10:00 (1988-1990)
  • NewsChannel 4 (1990-July 1992)

Station Slogans

  • Trust Today's TMJ4 (2004-present)
  • Breaking News. Accurate Weather. (2004-present)
  • Touch Today's TMJ4 (1992-2004)
  • Real Life. Real News. (1992-2000)
  • Your Number 1 News Station (xxxx-1992)

Logos

Station Cameo Appearances

References

  1. ^ Chicago television stations were powerful enough to be received in Milwaukee, hence the existence of television sets there before WTMJ-TV.
  2. ^ WTMJ discontinued CBS programming in September 1953 and ABC and DuMont programming in October 1953.
  3. ^ Ed Reitan, Local Television Stations with Early Live Color Capability, 2006.
  4. ^ http://www.cw18milwaukee.com/programs/program_changes.shtml
  5. ^ Tim Cuprisin, Notch another one up for Blu-ray in high-definition DVD formats war, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 26, 2007.
  6. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  7. ^ http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231998&formid=387&fac_num=74098
  8. ^ http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=775824
  9. ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/memdir/seallist/get_listoftv.cfm
  10. ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/memdir/seallist/get_listofcbm.cfm
  11. ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/memdir/seallist/get_listofcbm.cfm
  12. ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/memdir/seallist/get_listoftv.cfm
  13. ^ http://www.onmilwaukee.com/buzz/articles/pauljoseph.html

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