WMTV
- For the college television station, see WMTV (The College of William & Mary).
| 240px | |
| Madison, Wisconsin United States |
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|---|---|
| City of license | Madison |
| Branding | NBC 15 (general) NBC 15 News (newscasts) NBC 15 Weather Authority (weather & DT2) Antenna TV 15.3 (DT3) |
| Slogan | Coverage You Can Count On |
| Channels | Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 15 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 15.1 NBC 15.2 WeatherNation TV 15.3 Antenna TV |
| Owner | Gray Television, Inc. (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | July 8, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning | Watch Madison TeleVision |
| Sister station(s) | Eau Claire: WEAU Wausau: WSAW, WZAW-LD Rockford, IL: WIFR |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 33 (UHF, 1953–1960) 15 (UHF, 1960–2009) |
| Former affiliations | Both secondary: ABC (1953–1956) DuMont (1953–1955) DT2: AccuWeather (2007–2013) |
| Transmitter power | 155 kW |
| Height | 414.8 m |
| Facility ID | 6870 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: | Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.nbc15.com |
WMTV (digital channel 19 and PSIP virtual channel 15) is a NBC affiliated television station serving Madison, Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Gray Television, and has its studio and transmitter located on Forward Drive in Madison.
Contents
History
WMTV signed on the air in July 1953 on channel 33 and was an affiliate of ABC, DuMont, and NBC. In 1956, WKOW-TV, which had the CBS affiliation, picked up the ABC affiliation from WMTV after losing CBS to then-new VHF station WISC-TV, thus resulting in WMTV becoming solely affiliated with NBC.
In 1960, WMTV switched channels from 33 to 15, where it remained until analog broadcasting ceased just before midnight on February 17, 2009. The station's over-the-air broadcasts are now on digital channel 19, though it is found through PSIP protocol on virtual channel 15.
On October 16, 2010, WMTV became the second commercial TV station in Madison to produce all of its newscasts in high-definition, the first being WISC-TV. On October 18, 2010, the station also began airing its flagship syndicated programs Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in HD.
WMTV's studios have been on Madison's southwest side since its 1953 launch. The station broke ground for a new facility at that same address in February 2016.[1] It is slated for completion by the following December. The old building will be demolished for parking.[2]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WMTV-HD | Main WMTV programming / NBC |
| 15.2 | 480i | WMTV-WX | WeatherNation TV (The CW, September 2016) |
|
| 15.3 | 4:3 | ANT-TV | Antenna TV |
WMTV-DT2 carried local weather mixed with The Local AccuWeather Channel until January 1, 2014, when it became affiliated with WeatherNation TV.[4] WMTV-DT3 launched on April 1, 2013, carrying Antenna TV.[5]
Upcoming CW affiliation
On December 15, 2015, Gray Television came to terms on an extension of their existing The CW stations and subchannels throughout their chain. The press release announcing the extension also revealed Gray agreed to place The CW on WMTV's DT2 subchannel in the fall of 2016; it will replace WBUW as Madison's CW affiliate at the time of that station's affiliation agreement expiry.[6] The status on WMTV of WeatherNation TV, which currently occupies subchannel 15.2, is currently unknown.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WMTV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, just before midnight on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 19.[7] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 15. Then in a final sign-off similar to early U.S. television broadcasts, a live camera shot of the U.S. and Wisconsin state flags aired as "The Star Spangled Banner", the U.S. national anthem, played in the background. The station then switched to the black-and-white Indian Head test pattern for one or two minutes before permanently switching off the analog signal.
Although the final analog-to-digital conversion date for U.S. television stations was extended to June 12, 2009, the station opted to switch on the original date of February 17 because it had been heavily promoting that conversion date on the air and through community outreach events in the Madison coverage area.
The station's channel 19 signal is also used by Chicago's WGN-TV and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan, causing interference between it and those two stations in the easternmost and western portions of their coverage area, mainly in Walworth County, which is just outside the Madison market (though WXMI's signal is limited by the Kettle Moraine range west of Jefferson County).[8]
References
- ↑ "NBC15 breaks ground for new building," from NBC15.com, 2/10/2016
- ↑ "Channel 15 stands to nearly double its square footage in new building", The Capital Times, November 17, 2015.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WMTV
- ↑ "WMTV, WeatherNation announce partnership," from NBC15.com, 12/31/2013
- ↑ Source: NBC15 on Facebook, posted 3/29/2013
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
