WTMJ-TV
Encyclopedia
- For the related radio station with the same call letters, see WTMJ (AM)WTMJ (AM)WTMJ is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting at 620 AM. It is a 50,000-watt station airing a format of news, talk and sports. WTMJ is owned by Journal Broadcast Group, which also owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and sister station WLWK-FM....
WTMJ-TV, digital channel 28 (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....
4.1); branded as "Today's TMJ4", is the 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...
-affiliated television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, and the flagship station of the Journal Broadcast Group. Its signal covers most of southeastern 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...
and parts of northeastern Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, including Racine
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
, Sheboygan
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
and Waukesha
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The population was 70,718 at the 2010 census, making it the largest community in the county and 7th largest in the state. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...
. Its transmitter is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin approximately 8 miles (12.9 km) north of downtown Milwaukee, with the station's studios located directly south on Capitol Drive; this Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
facility is known as "Radio City" in tribute to the New York complex of the same name
NBC Radio City Studios
NBC Radio City Studios is the name given to radio and television studio complexes in New York's Rockefeller Center, San Francisco, and the former radio-TV complex located at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California....
. WTMJ-TV transmits its signal from an antenna 1045 feet (318.5 m) in height a few hundred feet behind the studio.
The station also provides engineering assistance for ION Television affiliate WPXE-TV (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 its primary network affiliation in its history.
WTMJ-DT
| Channel | Video | Format | Callsign | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
WTMJ-DT | Main WTMJ programming / NBC |
| 4.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WTMJ-WX | Storm Team 4 TV |
| 4.3 | 16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
LWNet | Live Well Network |
Analog-to-digital conversion
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversionDigital television transition
The digital television transition is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves both TV stations and over-the-air viewers; however it also involves content providers like TV networks, and cable television...
, WTMJ-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009 at 12 noon (with a short two-hour nightlighting period after), and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 28. However, through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers currently display WTMJ-TV's 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....
as 4.
WTMJ-DT2 (Storm Team 4 TV)
On March 1, 2006, WTMJ launched its local version of the NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
service called TMJ4 Weather Plus, a 24-hour weather channel which featured a mix of local/national forecasts and weather and WTMJ's meteorologists. The station airs over DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
Channel 4-2, and on Time Warner
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
Digital Cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
over Channel 999 throughout Southeastern Wisconsin under an exclusivity agreement which precludes Charter Communications
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
, the other main local cable provider, to carry it or TheCoolTV. In June 2006, the station changed its weather branding on the main newscasts from "Storm Team 4" to "TMJ4 Weather Plus", as had most NBC stations airing the service. With the November 2008 end of the Weather Plus service, the weather branding has returned to using the former "Storm Team 4" name; the subchannel also took on the same branding as the Storm Team 4 Channel on January 1, later to be renamed "Storm Team 4 TV". As of mid-December 2009, Storm Team 4 TV no longer uses the Weather Plus system, switching to national programming and graphics software from The Local AccuWeather Channel
The Local AccuWeather Channel
The Local AccuWeather Channel is a 24-hour, weather-oriented, commercially sponsored broadcast and cable television network in the United States owned and operated by AccuWeather, Inc., which is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania....
.
WTMJ-DT3
WTMJ began carrying TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
on 4.3 in early July 2009, becoming the first full-power station to carry the network as a digital subchannel; it later was carried by stations in the Sinclair and LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...
groups, and in November 2010 by Green Bay sister WGBA. The station featured music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s and concert programming which was customized by WTMJ. TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
was co-branded with WTMJ-TV's FM radio sister, WLWK-FM, which airs a random music format.
In September 2011, Journal Communications filed a $257,000 lawsuit against the operators of TheCoolTV, alleging non-payment of broadcast services since before June 2011. Because of this, Journal announced that TheCoolTV would be replaced by ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Live Well Network on October 1, while WGBA's TheCoolTV subchannel was replaced with Me-TV. On WTMJ, Live Well airs in 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
optimized for 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
displays, and limited LWN programming appears in high definition during late night weekend slots on the main WTMJ schedule.
History
The Journal Company's first television license was granted in September 1931 for experimental station W9XD, using a low-definition electromechanicalMechanical television
Mechanical television was a broadcast television system that used mechanical or electromechanical devices to capture and display video images. However, the images themselves were usually transmitted electronically and via radio waves...
system. The station conducted field tests from 1931 to 1933, before converting its facilities to experimental high-fidelity apex
Apex (radio band)
Apex was an experimental radio broadcasting system introduced in the United States in 1934 that used high frequencies between roughly 25 and 42 MHz and wideband AM modulation to achieve high fidelity sound with less static and distortion than medium wave AM stations in the so-called standard...
radio unit W9XAZ in 1934. Its license was withdrawn by 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) 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
War Production Board
The War Production Board was established as a government agency on January 16, 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt.The purpose of the board was to regulate the production and allocation of materials and fuel during World War II in the United States...
halted the manufacture of television and radio broadcasting equipment for civilian use from April 1942 to August 1945, suspending the company's television plans.
On December 3, 1947 WTMJ-TV (WTMJ standing for The Milwaukee Journal) went on the air, becoming the first commercial television station in Wisconsin, the fourth commercial station in the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
and the fifteenth commercial station to go on the air in the United States. When the station began broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
in 1947, there were only 500 television sets in Milwaukee, jumping to 2,050 by the following April. WTMJ had affiliated with the 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...
television network since sign on, although it also carried programming from CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and Du Mont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
before those networks had their own affiliated stations in Milwaukee. 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
KSDK
KSDK, Channel 5, is the NBC-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KSDK is owned and operated by Gannett Company, and the station's transmitter is located in Marlborough, Missouri. The station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its former analog channel assignment...
(now KSDK) in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
(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
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
's WKZO-TV (now WWMT
WWMT
WWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
), which is nearly directly across Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. 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
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(now WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
), the first commercially-licensed TV station outside the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
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, it broadcast the color television
History of television
The history of television records the work of numerous engineers and inventors in several countries over many decades. The fundamental principles of television were initially explored using electromechanical methods to scan, transmit and reproduce an image...
program Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
from 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...
, 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 its first local color program originating from its studios, The Grenadiers, becoming the third local station in the U.S. with live color capability. By November 1, 1956, all locally produced WTMJ-TV programs were in color. About 3000 color sets existed in Milwaukee in February 1957.
On April 7, 2009, WTMJ became the first station in Milwaukee, and the second in Wisconsin (behind WISC-TV in Madison, WI) to convert its newscasts and programs to 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...
. It began with a soft launch starting with that day's Live at Daybreak newscast.
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-TV (Channel 26), was bought by Journal and became a sister station to WTMJ, along with LMA partner WACY-TV.
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 it 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 SonSanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
to Saturday nights in the 1970s and airing the syndicated Fame
Fame (1982 TV series)
Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although...
in place of Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...
and Mama's Family
Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...
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
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
to 11 pm so it could carry reruns of Maude
Maude (TV series)
Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with...
. It tried again in 1984, attempting to ask for a Tonight Show move to 11:30 pm so it could air reruns of Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
after the late news starting in September of that year. NBC refused again, and the program was moved to then-independent WVTV
WVTV
WVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and serves as Southeast Wisconsin's The CW Television Network affiliate. The station broadcasts from the Milwaukee Public Television tower on Milwaukee's northeast side with WMVS/WMVT, along with WCGV , WVTV's sister station...
(Channel 18), where it aired at 10:30 pm 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'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
to 12:05 am from the program's beginning in 1993 until 2001.
WTMJ decided to pre-empt
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
the entire run of the primetime poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Face the Ace
Face the Ace
Face the Ace is a poker-themed game show on the NBC television network first airing August 1, 2009. The show is hosted by Steve Schirripa and features the commentary of Ali Nejad, who also commentates for NBC’s Poker After Dark...
in August 2009, replacing the series with station-slotted 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...
, the first time any Milwaukee station has pre-empted a significant portion or all of an entire primetime network series since the early 1990s. It is unknown if moral objections by WTMJ management (as sister station WGBA carried the series) or ratings concerns played into the pre-emption.
The station's sole syndicated programs are Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
and Access Hollywood Live on weekdays and late weekend evenings, and reruns of The Unit
The Unit
The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
on Sunday night, Hispanic Business Today, and Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy Corporation is a public utility holding company that incorporated in Madison, Wisconsin in 1981. It consists of two subsidiaries:...
Powerhouse, by far being the station with the lowest amount of syndicated shows in the market. WTMJ had been the long-time Milwaukee home for Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
from their premieres in the early 1980s until fall 2005, when both shows moved to WDJT-TV
WDJT-TV
WDJT-TV, channel 58, is the CBS-affiliated television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting on UHF digital channel 46, that displays WDJT's virtual channel as its former analog channel assignment of 58 via PSIP...
, and was the first station to air Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
until an en-masse deal with Hearst's television stations in 1994 moved the show to WISN. WTMJ (and WPXE during the LMA years) had aired Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
's Martha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart Living is a magazine and a television show featuring entertaining and home decorating guru Martha Stewart. Both the magazine and the television program focus on the domestic arts. Martha Stewart Living began as a quarterly magazine in 1990, published by Time Inc..and is currently...
and then Martha
Martha (TV series)
Martha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is an American, weekday one-hour talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. Previously airing in first-run syndication, the show began exclusively airing on cable network Hallmark Channel since September 13, 2010.-History:The program originally debuted on...
until September 2007, when Martha moved to WISN.
Currently WTMJ airs Today in two segments; the original 7 am–9 am block, followed by The Morning Blend, then the final two hours of Today from 10 am–noon, leading into the relocated hour-long Live at Noon newscast and Days of Our Lives, which moved to 1 pm on September 10, 2007.
The station is also the 'official station' of the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
for the Milwaukee market, giving it rights to air the team's non-nationally televised preseason games. WTMJ airs shows involving the team, including the head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
's weekly show, which airs on Tuesday nights at 6:30. Because of the Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
occurring 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
The 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...
affiliate WVTV
WVTV
WVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and serves as Southeast Wisconsin's The CW Television Network affiliate. The station broadcasts from the Milwaukee Public Television tower on Milwaukee's northeast side with WMVS/WMVT, along with WCGV , WVTV's sister station...
(Channel 18). The station also provides a pre-game news segment, and pre-game and post-game "ride home" weather segments to the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, which are carried on the scoreboard of Miller Park.
The Morning Blend
The station produces a locally-produced program called The Morning Blend, which premiered on September 12, 2006 at 10 a.m., and now airs at 9 a.m. after Todays expansion to four hours. The show is hosted by Tiffany Ogle and former WITI morning news anchor Molly Fay. Original co-host Alison de Castro (who originally reported for WISN) left the program in October 2009 due to a family move to Chicago, and Ogle (a Miss MinnesotaMiss Minnesota
The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Minnesota has won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The last, was Gretchen Carlson, in 1989.- Winners :...
2004 and former commercial actress) took over co-hosting duties with 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 Wisconsin
The Miss Wisconsin competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Wisconsin in the Miss America pageant. Wisconsin has once won the Miss America crown.- Winners :* Succeeded to the crown after Miss Wisconsin won Miss America...
/Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
winner (and current The 700 Club
The 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
co-host) Terry Meeuwsen and KGO-TV
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
& AM
KGO (AM)
KGO is a news/talk-format radio station radio with offices and studios in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other American news/talk stations, KGO originates nearly all of its own programming locally. Since 1978, KGO radio has received Arbitron's number-one ranking in the Bay Area...
/San Francisco newsman/radio host (and former WTMJ TV reporter) Pete Wilson
Pete Wilson (broadcaster)
Peter James "Pete" Wilson was an American broadcaster born in Wisconsin. For more than 20 years prior to his death, he worked in the San Francisco Bay Area...
(now deceased).
The format for "The Morning Blend" was derived from WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV, virtual channel 8, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida. The station is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Media General. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Hillsborough County, Florida. WFLA is the only station in the market to be...
in Tampa's Daytime program, one of the first shows to launch this morning program format. 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 news 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). In June 2008, the program also began to air on sister station WGBA in Green Bay due to that station cutting some morning news programming, also at 9 a.m. The show competed with Fox affiliate 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...
(channel 11)'s Living with Amy. WGBA has since replaced The Morning Blend with syndicated programs.
The format and Morning Blend branding has since been adapted by several other Journal stations; Fox sister station WFTX-TV in Fort Myers
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
-Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...
in mid-2009, and in late April 2010 on two additional sister stations, ABC affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
(airing weekdays at 11 a.m.) and on CBS affiliate KMTV
KMTV
KMTV-TV is the CBS television station in Omaha, Nebraska. Owned by the Journal Broadcast Group, it broadcasts a digital television signal on UHF channel 45, which remaps to former analog channel 3 via PSIP.-History:...
in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
(airing weekdays at 9 a.m). KTNV
KTNV
KTNV-TV, channel 13, is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Las Vegas, Nevada which is owned by Journal Broadcast Group and serves as the ABC affiliate for the Las Vegas Valley, Southern Nevada and northwest Arizona...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
premiered its version of the show in early July 2010.
News operation
Currently, WTMJ broadcasts a total of 40½ hours of local news each week (with seven hours on weekdays, three hours on Saturdays and 2½ hours on Sundays), the second-highest newscast output in the Milwaukee market and the state of Wisconsin (behind Fox affiliate WITI). WTMJ-TV is one of the very few Big ThreeBig Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
affiliates in the United States to produce 35+ hours a week of local newscasts, and is one of three stations in the Milwaukee market to carry a midday newscast (WITI's newscast airs at 11 a.m.; WTMJ and WDJT both air a noon newscast. WISN used to carry a noon newscast). The station maintains a news and weather content agreement with its associated radio stations; WTMJ Radio
WTMJ (AM)
WTMJ is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting at 620 AM. It is a 50,000-watt station airing a format of news, talk and sports. WTMJ is owned by Journal Broadcast Group, which also owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and sister station WLWK-FM....
and WLWK-FM (which both based at Radio City with WTMJ-TV), also partners with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
, the newspaper which founded the station, with news stories seen in the Journal Sentinel and to provide weather forecasts; as such, an auxiliary studio is maintained by the station in the newspaper's State Street headquarters and is used for a regular segment called "JSOnAir", which is featured during the station's 3 p.m. newscast. WTMJ is also one of ten television stations that air consumer reports from John Matarese of ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati.
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
Martha (TV series)
Martha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is an American, weekday one-hour talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. Previously airing in first-run syndication, the show began exclusively airing on cable network Hallmark Channel since September 13, 2010.-History:The program originally debuted on...
, Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
after their moves to other stations in the market, and the August 2008 ending of Montel
The Montel Williams Show
The Montel Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Montel Williams. On January 30, 2008 it was announced that The Montel Williams Show would stop production on new episodes at the end of the 2007-2008 television season after seventeen years...
have failed to spark viewer interest outside of local/network hours. As of September 8, 2008, the station launched a 3 pm news hour, and before then on August 25, extended the 6 p.m. newscast to a full hour (except Tuesday nights for Mike McCarthy's coach's show during the NFL season) before NBC primetime with the move of Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
to WITI's late night schedule, giving the station eight hours of local news every weekday tying WITI's daily news output.
On April 11, 2011 the station dropped the 6:30 p.m. newscast, replacing it with Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
, which moved to WTMJ from WISN after that station began airing an hour-long 10pm newscast in January 2011. A consequence of this was WISN moving longtime 10:30 p.m. slotholder Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
to 12:30am, and program producer NBCUniversal Television Distribution asking for an early release from their contract so that the show could move to 6:30 p.m. on WTMJ. Access previously aired on WTMJ at 11:35 p.m. from its 1995 debut, until the move of Conan to the network mandated slot in 2000; the new agreement also allows WTMJ to begin carrying Access Hollywood Live in the 2 p.m. slot in the fall of 2011.
Daybreak, Live at 6:00 and Live at 10:00 are available on 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...
's VOD
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service, "Wisconsin on Demand 411" 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
Public affairs (broadcasting)
Public affairs, a broadcasting industry term, refers to television programs which focuses on matters of politics and public policy. Among commercial broadcasters, such programs are often only to satisfy Federal Communications Commission regulatory expectations and are not scheduled in prime time...
program Sunday Insight with Charlie Sykes, a Sunday morning "week in review" debate program featuring the WTMJ radio host which follows Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
. The station also utilizes and promotes Time Warner Cable's Start Over
Start Over
"Start Over" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles taken from her fourth studio album 4 . It was written by Shea Taylor, Knowles and Ester Dean and produced by the first two. The song's development was motivated by the fact that Knowles traveled around the world and experienced...
for its locally-based and select local programs, allowing viewers to restart a program from the beginning if they tune in late in a program.
Some of WTMJ's morning and noon newscasts aired on Green Bay sister station WGBA-TV (Channel 26) beginning on July 14, 2008, after that station ended its own newscasts at 5 am, 9 am, and the first half-hour of the noon newscast. The simulcasting ended early 2009 due to viewer disinterest in Milwaukee-focused news. The station also began to provide forecasts to that station during weekend newscasts. All sportscasts are provided by WTMJ; station staff continues to film video and freelance announcers (some formerly with WGBA) provide commentary for Green Bay sporting events on WGBA and WACY. WGBA relaunched a local morning newscast in January 2011.
Since April 7, 2009, WTMJ has broadcasted all of its newscasts in HD. With the change to HD came new music, High Velocity from 615 Music
615 Music
615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles...
and new graphics from Renderon Broadcast Design, the main graphics company for all Journal Broadcast Group stations. Studio shots are in the format, while two of the station's live units are equipped for the format, with the remainder of the news equipment and "Chopper 4" outputting in digital widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
upconverted for HD broadcast.
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 Olympics1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
. The first generation of the branding lasted until July 2004 and the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, when a modern and glassy image campaign was launched and established on the rest of Journal's stations, with some font and branding differences depending on market (the latter 2009 package has also taken the same direction, launched on WTMJ and spread to the rest of the chain). 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
- Let's Look at the News (1947–1948)
- News and Views (1948)
- Around the Town with the WTMJ-TV Cameraman (1949)
- News Caravan (6 p.m. newscast; 1949–1956)
- Milwaukee Gas Light Company Newsreel (10 p.m. newscast; 1950–1954)
- Weather and News (1957–1966)
- Channel 4 Report (1966–1968)
- News 4 (1966–1978 and 1986–1990)
- News 4 Milwaukee (1978–1986)
- News 4 Tonight at 10 (10 p.m. newscast; 1986–1990)
- NewsChannel 4 (1990–1992)
- Today's TMJ4 (1992–present; incorporated Live at xx:00 titling for all newscasts in 2004)
Station slogans
- "Channel 4, Milwaukee's Team" (1988–1992; used with Frank Gari's "Pride Inside" image campaign)
- "Milwaukee's 24-Hour News Channel24 Hour News SourceThe 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
" (1990–1992; WISN-TV also used a "24 Hour News Source" format from 1989–1996) - "Real Life, Real News; Today's TMJ4" (1992–1994)
- "Touch Today's TMJ4" (1994–2004)
- "Breaking News, Accurate Weather" (2004–2009)
- "Trust Today's TMJ4" (2004–present)
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Charles Benson - Sundays at 5 and 10 p.m.; also weekday reporter
- Steve Chamraz - weekdays at 3, 3:30, 4, and 4:30 p.m.; also 10 p.m. reporter and investigative reporter
- Courtny Gerrish - weekdays at 3, 3:30, 4 and 4:30 p.m.
- Mike Jacobs - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Susan Kim - weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak"
- Carole Meekins - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Tom Murray - weekend mornings "Live at Daybreak"; also weekday reporter
- Vince Vitrano - weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak" and noon
- Shelley Walcott - Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.; also weekday reporter
Storm Team 4
- John Malan (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Michael Fish - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
- Brian Gotter (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekdays at noon, 3, 3:30, 4 and 4:30 p.m.
- Jesse Ritka - meteorologist; weekend mornings "Live at Daybreak"
- Scott Steele (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak"
Sports team
- Lance Allan - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Rod Burks - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
- Jessie Garcia - sports reporter; also from The Mike McCarthy Show
Reporters
- Lacey Crisp - general assignment reporter
- Cody Holyoke - general assignment reporter
- Rob Koebel - investigative reporter
- Melissa McCrady - general assignment reporter
- Nick Montes - general assignment reporter
- Caitlin Morrall - morning traffic reporter
- Jay Olstad - general assignment reporter
- Annie Scholz - general assignment reporter
- Keller Russell - general assignment reporter
- Jermont Terry - general assignment reporter
Chopper 4
- Joshua Mock - helicopter pilot
- Mark Was - photojournalist
The Morning Blend
- Molly Fay - co-host
- Tiffany Ogle - co-host
Notable former on-air staff
- Contessa BrewerContessa BrewerContessa Brewer is an American host for the MSNBC weekend program Caught on Camera.-Biography:Brewer was born in in Parsonsfield, Maine, and graduated from Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine in 1992. She graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public...
- weekend anchor/reporter (1999–2003; former midday anchor at MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
) - Catherine HeenanCatherine HeenanCatherine Heenan is a television news anchor and reporter at KRON-TV in San Francisco. Currently she co-anchors the station's hour-long newscast from four to five PM. Born in Indiana, she spent many summers growing up in Northern Ireland and England...
- anchor/reporter (1978–1989; now at KRON-TVKRON-TVKRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
) - Terry Meeuwsen - anchor and former Miss AmericaMiss AmericaThe Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
(1978–1986; left to be a full time mother, now co-host of The 700 ClubThe 700 ClubThe 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
)
Logos
The first station logo was used from 1962-1967.The second station's logo used from 1967–1975 and again in early 1977 to promote conversion to color; has some similarities to the future 'Sailboat 4'.
The station's 1976 logo, used to salute the Bicentennial.
The 'Tube 4', was used from mid-1977 until 1980.
This was the first station logo that used the 'Sailboat 4 logo'. It did not have the 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...
peacock until May 8, 1986. This logo was used from 1980-1992.
The final logo used the 'Sailboat 4 logo'. This was the first Today's TMJ4 logo that had the 'Sailboat 4 logo' which is seen in the logo before that. This logo began in 1992 and ended in 2004.
This logo is the current logo that has been used since July 2004. The current logo has the 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...
peacock.
Station cameo appearances
- WTMJ's logo is shown on the top of the scoreboard in the 1989 film Major LeagueMajor League (film)Major League is a 1989 American satire comedy film written and directed by David S. Ward, starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, and Corbin Bernsen. Made for US$11 million, Major League grossed nearly US$50 million in domestic release...
, which was filmed at Milwaukee County StadiumMilwaukee County StadiumMilwaukee County Stadium was a ballpark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1953 to 2000. It was primarily used as a baseball stadium for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers, but was also used for football games, ice skating, religious services, concerts and other large events...
; the stadium was used as a stand-in for Cleveland's Municipal StadiumCleveland StadiumCleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football...
, where the Cleveland IndiansCleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
played at the time the film was produced. The Indians are also interviewed by a WTMJ reporter, which for the purpose of continuity in the film, was a Cleveland TV station.
- WTMJ is also announced in the final scene of the final episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
as Mike NelsonMike Nelson (character)Mike Nelson is a fictional character in the comedy science fiction television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Portrayed by actor/head writer Michael J. Nelson, Mike is a likable, sometimes dim temp worker from Wisconsin who comes to work for the mad scientists Dr...
and the robots are sitting in a Milwaukee-area apartment on a Saturday afternoon, when The Crawling Eye comes on TV, the first movie seen on the nationally syndicated version of MST3K.
Further reading
- Dick Golembiewski, Milwaukee Television History: The Analog Years, Marquette University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0874620559.