WACY
Encyclopedia
WACY is the MyNetworkTV
-affiliated television station
for Northeastern Wisconsin
's Fox River Valley
licensed to Appleton
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 27 (PSIP virtual channel
32) from a transmitter in Glenmore
's Shirley
section. The station can also be seen on CenturyLink
and Time Warner Cable
channel 13. There is a high definition signal offered on CenturyLink digital channel 132. Owned by Ace TV Incorporated, WACY is operated through a local marketing agreement
(LMA) by Journal Communications
as sister to NBC
affiliate WGBA-TV. The two share studios on North Road along Airport Drive/WIS 172 in Ashwaubenon
(with a Green Bay
postal address). Syndicated
programming on WACY includes: The Simpsons
, Two and a Half Men
, George Lopez
, and My Name Is Earl
.
beginning on October 6, 1986 when The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
premiered. WXGZ was the first station in the Green Bay/Appleton market
to begin broadcasting in stereo
and identified itself on-air as "Super 32" after making this change.
Some viewers may remember "Oscor the Clown" (a.k.a. Wayne Lowney) who was the mascot of the WXGZ children's lineup and a Sunday morning show starting in 1986 called Oscor's Place. The major sponsor for the show was Chuck E. Cheese's forerunner brand Showbiz Pizza. In addition, the station heavily promoted its broadcast of Star Trek: The Next Generation
which was one of the first major television shows to be aired in first-run syndication. The station ran into financial problems by November 1991 and APTV ended up declaring bankruptcy.
After an unsuccessful search for a new buyer for the station or more financing, WXGZ was forced to sign-off permanently on the night of February 14, 1992 ending its history with a half-hour retrospective featuring on-air and behind-the-scenes footage at the station. WXGZ's announcer, Ed Myers, said the last of the staff's goodbyes on behalf of General Manager
Roy Smith and then the station was closed. WGBA took over the Fox affiliation the next morning. The station's license was left in the hands of a holding company from March until August 1992 at which point it was bought by Ace TV Incorporated. Analog channel 32 remained off-the-air for two years with occasional word the station was intended to begin broadcasting again "in the near future".
as the station's logo. It was put back on-air with the help of WGBA which arranged to put WACY on solid financial footing by creating a local marketing agreement where WGBA would program this station allow it to use WGBA's studios and sell ad time for the station. WACY relaunched as an Independent station (airing mostly syndicated and regional and local sports programming) for a short time before becoming a charter UPN
affiliate on January 16, 1995. It also held a secondary off-hours affiliation with The WB. In late-1994, the station also began to air local programming.
One of the most durable programs was called Who, What, When, Where. The show was hosted by Jim C. Hoffman and Dan Davies who (at that time) were hosting shows on Public-access television
cable in Oshkosh
. The series featured various interviews, advertisements (notably Ron and Lloyd's supermarket and WNAM
-AM 1280), and entertainment sketches performed by Davies. The show changed its name to N.E.W. Now (with "N.E.W." standing for the station's coverage area, Northeastern Wisconsin, commonly abbreviated as "N.E.W.") in early-1997. Occasionally, a special interview was conducted for the Green Bay audience in accordance with the agreement between WACY and WGBA. N.E.W. Now eventually ended in 1997. A new show It's the Law, hosted by Oshkosh
lawyer George W. Curtis, began operation in 1999 (Hoffman produced the new series). Another local program of note was Polka, Polka, Polka airing Sunday mornings from a Manitowoc
supper club/dance hall.
In August 1995, WGBA became the area's NBC
affiliate after WLUK-TV
switched affiliation to Fox. Due to this, WACY took most of WGBA's children programs to air throughout the day and decided to change over to an all day children programming format under the branding "Wacky 32". The schedule ran from 6-11 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. (11 a.m.-1 p.m. was filled with general programming and infomercials) and consisted of various programming lineups, including UPN Kids
and The Disney Afternoon
as well as syndicated product such as Garfield and Friends
, Scooby Doo, Dennis the Menace
, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
along with some educational and informational
-compliant programs like The New Zoo Revue. WACY also aired Kids' WB
on-pattern in the mornings and afternoons and aired Pokémon
in its one-season syndicated run before it became a part of Kids' WB. The lineup contained local continuity from "Cuddles the Clown".
That programming strategy continued until 1999 when by then the effect of the rules on children's advertising and competition from cable networks like Cartoon Network
and Nickelodeon
made it hard for broadcast stations to financially justify airing children programming more than necessary. The station also lost its secondary WB affiliation after ACME Communications
bought WPXG (now WCWF
) from Paxson Communications in that same year converting it from Pax to a primary WB affiliate. Kids' WB then moved to that station and WACY began to move towards a general programming direction. The station continued to air UPN's Disney's One Too
children's block weekdays until its discontinuation in September 2003 by the network.
In 2004, Journal Communications (owner of Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV
) announced plans to buy WGBA for $
43.2 million and the sale closed in October of that year. WGBA and WACY had an ongoing LMA with the former providing studio space, weather coverage, staff for high school football games, and other facilities. Journal said at the time of the purchase, it would continue the agreement and agreed to buy WACY should the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) ever change its bylaws to allow the purchase. Currently, the Green Bay DMA does not have enough full-power commercial television stations to legally permit a duopoly. However in September 2010, WLUK owner LIN TV Corporation exercised an option to purchase CW affiliate WCWF
from ACME Communications
, and asked for a "failing station waiver" which would allow LIN to own WLUK and WCWF, which is possible if the petitioner can prove the station is in an economically non-viable position. Because WCWF was hampered for years by several factors, including low cable carriage and an analog signal originating more towards their city of license, Suring
than Green Bay), the waiver was granted in February 2011. It is unlikely however Journal could argue the same for WACY, as ACE TV has maintained the license without incident since 1995 and WACY has always transmitted from Glenmore, making a failing station waiver difficult to attain.
, co-owned between UPN owner CBS Corporation
and The WB's Time Warner
. Though there was a slight chance CW affiliation would go to WACY, WIWB was by default the choice for the affiliation due to that station's owners have a deep relationship with WB management, up to one of the board members having been a past network president of the WB. Thus, WACY took the affiliation with MyNetworkTV on March 22 and began distancing itself from UPN immediately after the end of the 2005-06 television season, only airing the first hour of network programming after early June (except for Friday nights), and replacing the second hour with paid programming
.
WACY discontinued airing UPN on September 4 (since MyNetworkTV would launch the next night) leaving WIWB to finish the network's run in Green Bay by airing Veronica Mars
on Saturday nights and WWE Friday Night SmackDown on Sunday afternoon until the network's end. WACY began to use its MyNetworkTV branding "My New 32" in late-July 2006 with the "new" standing for both the new network and Northeast Wisconsin. The new logo is also the first time since WACY's sign-on that no elements of the Ace of Spades appear. The call letters are played down in favor of "My New 32, Green Bay/Appleton" (a version of the logo with "Appleton/Green Bay" instead appears on-screen at the top of the hour because of FCC requirements that the city of license
appear first in a visual identification). The station's graphics are less elaborate and glossy than other Journal-owned stations due to utilization of default MyNetworkTV graphics and imaging package.
In the past, the station aired a high school football game of the week on Friday nights in the fall featuring local teams and, in 2007, began broadcasting selected University of Wisconsin–Green Bay men and women basketball games. All sports broadcasts featured WGBA's sports anchors and the telecasts used the in-house camera system from the arena where the game was played instead of station-owned cameras. The broadcasts of high school games were discontinued in 2008 in a lean period where both WGBA's news and sports staff were drastically cut back due to budget concerns. The decision was also due to the unresolvable conflicts sure to happen with the return of Smackdown in October 2008 to the station on Friday nights via WWE's new programming agreement with MyNetworkTV. However with the departure of Smackdown in 2010 to cable's Syfy
, the station will return to broadcasting Friday night high school football in August 2011, under the new title N.E.W. Sports Showdown.
A late-night feature that had been airing on weekends was the "Ned the Dead" movie program. While the show moved around the schedule, it was most recently seen Saturday nights at 11. The show featured a B-movie from the 1950s (usually sci-fi or horror) with "Ned" doing wraparounds and comic relief. Steve Brenzel, the actor who played Ned, is also spokesperson for local furniture/appliance chain Van Vredee's, who sponsored the program. As of March 21, 2009, the "Ned the Dead" show began to de-emphasize the "Chiller Theater" title (referencing the old black and white horror films) and instead involved additional sketches by Ned and his colorful troupe of sidekicks. Color low-budget films were added including titles never aired on the show before. The program last aired on December 12, 2010.
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Northeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
's Fox River Valley
Fox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
licensed to Appleton
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 27 (PSIP virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
32) from a transmitter in Glenmore
Glenmore, Wisconsin
Glenmore is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Shirley is located in the town.-Geography:...
's Shirley
Shirley, Wisconsin
Shirley is an unincorporated community, in the town of Glemore, in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on Wisconsin Highway 96.-Notes:...
section. The station can also be seen on CenturyLink
CenturyLink
CenturyLink, Inc. is a United States telecommunications firm, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana. The company, founded as Central Telephone & Electronics Corporation in 1968, later changed its name to Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc. in 1971, and then was called CenturyTel, Inc. from 1999 to 2010...
and Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 13. There is a high definition signal offered on CenturyLink digital channel 132. Owned by Ace TV Incorporated, WACY is operated through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA) by Journal Communications
Journal Communications
Journal Communications, Inc. is a publicly traded media company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a daily newspaper, and it also owns television stations, radio stations and weekly newspapers, among other businesses.-History:The Milwaukee Journal was...
as sister to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WGBA-TV. The two share studios on North Road along Airport Drive/WIS 172 in Ashwaubenon
Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
Ashwaubenon is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 17,634, however many village signs still reflect the 1990 census figure of 17,777. Ashwaubenon is a suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin and is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan...
(with a Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
postal address). Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WACY includes: The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, George Lopez
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
, and My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
.
As WXGZ
The station signed-on WXGZ-TV in 1984 and was the first television station to be based out of Appleton. It operated under the ownership of Appleton Midwestern Television (APTV). The Appleton Post-Crescent reported on January 31 the station went on-the-air with testing but formally launched programming on March 7. The station was Independent during its first three years showing off-network sitcoms and syndicated programming. WXGZ was a charter affiliate for FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
beginning on October 6, 1986 when The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
The Late Show (1986 TV series)
The Late Show is an American late-night talk show and the first series broadcast on the then-new Fox Network. Originally hosted by comic actress Joan Rivers, it first aired on October 9, 1986 under the title The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers...
premiered. WXGZ was the first station in the Green Bay/Appleton market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
to begin broadcasting in stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
and identified itself on-air as "Super 32" after making this change.
Some viewers may remember "Oscor the Clown" (a.k.a. Wayne Lowney) who was the mascot of the WXGZ children's lineup and a Sunday morning show starting in 1986 called Oscor's Place. The major sponsor for the show was Chuck E. Cheese's forerunner brand Showbiz Pizza. In addition, the station heavily promoted its broadcast of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
which was one of the first major television shows to be aired in first-run syndication. The station ran into financial problems by November 1991 and APTV ended up declaring bankruptcy.
After an unsuccessful search for a new buyer for the station or more financing, WXGZ was forced to sign-off permanently on the night of February 14, 1992 ending its history with a half-hour retrospective featuring on-air and behind-the-scenes footage at the station. WXGZ's announcer, Ed Myers, said the last of the staff's goodbyes on behalf of General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
Roy Smith and then the station was closed. WGBA took over the Fox affiliation the next morning. The station's license was left in the hands of a holding company from March until August 1992 at which point it was bought by Ace TV Incorporated. Analog channel 32 remained off-the-air for two years with occasional word the station was intended to begin broadcasting again "in the near future".
UPN era (1995-2006)
WXGZ's license to operate was put to use in 1994. Ace TV, still owner of WXGZ's license, changed the call letters to WACY and used the Ace of SpadesAce of Spades
At least in English-speaking countries, the ace of spades is traditionally seen as the highest card in the deck of playing cards, although the actual value of the card varies from game to game...
as the station's logo. It was put back on-air with the help of WGBA which arranged to put WACY on solid financial footing by creating a local marketing agreement where WGBA would program this station allow it to use WGBA's studios and sell ad time for the station. WACY relaunched as an Independent station (airing mostly syndicated and regional and local sports programming) for a short time before becoming a charter UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate on January 16, 1995. It also held a secondary off-hours affiliation with The WB. In late-1994, the station also began to air local programming.
One of the most durable programs was called Who, What, When, Where. The show was hosted by Jim C. Hoffman and Dan Davies who (at that time) were hosting shows on Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable in Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
. The series featured various interviews, advertisements (notably Ron and Lloyd's supermarket and WNAM
WNAM
WNAM is an Adult Standards formatted radio station licensed to Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin, that serves the Appleton-Oshkosh area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media.-External links:*...
-AM 1280), and entertainment sketches performed by Davies. The show changed its name to N.E.W. Now (with "N.E.W." standing for the station's coverage area, Northeastern Wisconsin, commonly abbreviated as "N.E.W.") in early-1997. Occasionally, a special interview was conducted for the Green Bay audience in accordance with the agreement between WACY and WGBA. N.E.W. Now eventually ended in 1997. A new show It's the Law, hosted by Oshkosh
Oshkosh
Oshkosh may refer to:Places in the United States* Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a city and the largest place with the name* Oshkosh , Wisconsin* Oshkosh Township, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota* Oshkosh, Nebraska...
lawyer George W. Curtis, began operation in 1999 (Hoffman produced the new series). Another local program of note was Polka, Polka, Polka airing Sunday mornings from a Manitowoc
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...
supper club/dance hall.
In August 1995, WGBA became the area's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate after WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
switched affiliation to Fox. Due to this, WACY took most of WGBA's children programs to air throughout the day and decided to change over to an all day children programming format under the branding "Wacky 32". The schedule ran from 6-11 a.m. and 1-5 p.m. (11 a.m.-1 p.m. was filled with general programming and infomercials) and consisted of various programming lineups, including UPN Kids
UPN Kids
UPN Kids was a short-lived weekday and Sunday morning children's programming block on UPN that launched on September 10, 1995. During the 1998-1999 season, the block was called The UPN Kids Action Zone. The block aired for 2 hours each day...
and The Disney Afternoon
The Disney Afternoon
The Disney Afternoon was a created-for-syndication two-hour television programming block which aired from September 10, 1990, until Fall 1999. At that time, it was taken out of syndication, and a new Disney weekday afternoon block was started on UPN. The Disney Afternoon was produced by The Walt...
as well as syndicated product such as Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...
, Scooby Doo, Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (U.S.)
Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. It debuted on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate...
, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated series that was first broadcast in September 1993, and only for one season...
along with some educational and informational
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
-compliant programs like The New Zoo Revue. WACY also aired Kids' WB
Kids' WB
Kids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
on-pattern in the mornings and afternoons and aired Pokémon
Pokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
in its one-season syndicated run before it became a part of Kids' WB. The lineup contained local continuity from "Cuddles the Clown".
That programming strategy continued until 1999 when by then the effect of the rules on children's advertising and competition from cable networks like Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
and Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
made it hard for broadcast stations to financially justify airing children programming more than necessary. The station also lost its secondary WB affiliation after ACME Communications
ACME Communications
ACME Communications is a United States-based television broadcasting company. The company was co-founded by current Chairman and former CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Television Network executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name Acme as a...
bought WPXG (now WCWF
WCWF
WNMN is the RTV-affiliated television station for Upstate New York that is licensed to Saranac Lake. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on the WYZY-FM tower north of the village along the Essex and Franklin County line. The station can also be seen on Burlington...
) from Paxson Communications in that same year converting it from Pax to a primary WB affiliate. Kids' WB then moved to that station and WACY began to move towards a general programming direction. The station continued to air UPN's Disney's One Too
Disney's One Too
Disney's One Too was a weekday and Sunday morning children's programming block on UPN, it was a spinoff of Disney's One Saturday Morning, and resembled The Disney Afternoon.-History:...
children's block weekdays until its discontinuation in September 2003 by the network.
In 2004, Journal Communications (owner of Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV
WTMJ-TV
WTMJ-TV, digital channel 28 ; branded as "Today's TMJ4", is the NBC-affiliated television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the flagship station of the Journal Broadcast Group. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha,...
) announced plans to buy WGBA for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
43.2 million and the sale closed in October of that year. WGBA and WACY had an ongoing LMA with the former providing studio space, weather coverage, staff for high school football games, and other facilities. Journal said at the time of the purchase, it would continue the agreement and agreed to buy WACY should the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) ever change its bylaws to allow the purchase. Currently, the Green Bay DMA does not have enough full-power commercial television stations to legally permit a duopoly. However in September 2010, WLUK owner LIN TV Corporation exercised an option to purchase CW affiliate WCWF
WCWF
WNMN is the RTV-affiliated television station for Upstate New York that is licensed to Saranac Lake. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on the WYZY-FM tower north of the village along the Essex and Franklin County line. The station can also be seen on Burlington...
from ACME Communications
ACME Communications
ACME Communications is a United States-based television broadcasting company. The company was co-founded by current Chairman and former CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Television Network executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name Acme as a...
, and asked for a "failing station waiver" which would allow LIN to own WLUK and WCWF, which is possible if the petitioner can prove the station is in an economically non-viable position. Because WCWF was hampered for years by several factors, including low cable carriage and an analog signal originating more towards their city of license, Suring
Suring, Wisconsin
Suring is a village in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 605 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Suring is located at ....
than Green Bay), the waiver was granted in February 2011. It is unlikely however Journal could argue the same for WACY, as ACE TV has maintained the license without incident since 1995 and WACY has always transmitted from Glenmore, making a failing station waiver difficult to attain.
MyNetworkTV era (2006- )
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge into The CW Television NetworkThe CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, co-owned between UPN owner CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
and The WB's Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. Though there was a slight chance CW affiliation would go to WACY, WIWB was by default the choice for the affiliation due to that station's owners have a deep relationship with WB management, up to one of the board members having been a past network president of the WB. Thus, WACY took the affiliation with MyNetworkTV on March 22 and began distancing itself from UPN immediately after the end of the 2005-06 television season, only airing the first hour of network programming after early June (except for Friday nights), and replacing the second hour with paid programming
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
.
WACY discontinued airing UPN on September 4 (since MyNetworkTV would launch the next night) leaving WIWB to finish the network's run in Green Bay by airing Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
on Saturday nights and WWE Friday Night SmackDown on Sunday afternoon until the network's end. WACY began to use its MyNetworkTV branding "My New 32" in late-July 2006 with the "new" standing for both the new network and Northeast Wisconsin. The new logo is also the first time since WACY's sign-on that no elements of the Ace of Spades appear. The call letters are played down in favor of "My New 32, Green Bay/Appleton" (a version of the logo with "Appleton/Green Bay" instead appears on-screen at the top of the hour because of FCC requirements that the city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
appear first in a visual identification). The station's graphics are less elaborate and glossy than other Journal-owned stations due to utilization of default MyNetworkTV graphics and imaging package.
In the past, the station aired a high school football game of the week on Friday nights in the fall featuring local teams and, in 2007, began broadcasting selected University of Wisconsin–Green Bay men and women basketball games. All sports broadcasts featured WGBA's sports anchors and the telecasts used the in-house camera system from the arena where the game was played instead of station-owned cameras. The broadcasts of high school games were discontinued in 2008 in a lean period where both WGBA's news and sports staff were drastically cut back due to budget concerns. The decision was also due to the unresolvable conflicts sure to happen with the return of Smackdown in October 2008 to the station on Friday nights via WWE's new programming agreement with MyNetworkTV. However with the departure of Smackdown in 2010 to cable's Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, the station will return to broadcasting Friday night high school football in August 2011, under the new title N.E.W. Sports Showdown.
A late-night feature that had been airing on weekends was the "Ned the Dead" movie program. While the show moved around the schedule, it was most recently seen Saturday nights at 11. The show featured a B-movie from the 1950s (usually sci-fi or horror) with "Ned" doing wraparounds and comic relief. Steve Brenzel, the actor who played Ned, is also spokesperson for local furniture/appliance chain Van Vredee's, who sponsored the program. As of March 21, 2009, the "Ned the Dead" show began to de-emphasize the "Chiller Theater" title (referencing the old black and white horror films) and instead involved additional sketches by Ned and his colorful troupe of sidekicks. Color low-budget films were added including titles never aired on the show before. The program last aired on December 12, 2010.