WISC-TV

WISC-TV is a commercial television station serving Madison, Wisconsin, and the surrounding south-central Wisconsin region. Broadcasting on virtual channel 3, the station is affiliated with CBS on its primary signal and operates TVW, its second digital subchannel and a MyNetworkTV affiliate. WISC-TV also maintains a substantial local news operation under the News 3 Now brand and distributes news, weather, sports, community programming, and other video content through its Channel 3000 digital platform. The station began broadcasting on June 24, 1956, taking Madison’s CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV. It was established by Morgan Murphy Stations, the broadcasting arm of the Evening Telegram Company of Superior, Wisconsin. That ownership lineage has continued from the station’s launch to the present, although the parent company later divested its newspaper interests, moved its headquarters to Madison, and adopted the Morgan Murphy Media trade name. WISC-TV is consequently the group’s flagship television property and one of the longest-running locally owned commercial stations in the Madison market. Its channel assignment gave WISC-TV an important early competitive advantage. Madison was historically a market in which the principal VHF assignments of neighboring cities constrained the availability of strong VHF channels. WISC-TV’s channel 3 signal was the market’s only VHF television service, helping the station establish a leading position against UHF competitors WKOW-TV and WMTV. The arrival of cable and later digital broadcasting reduced the technical significance of that distinction, but WISC-TV retained a prominent role in local television and continued to emphasize its Wisconsin and Madison identity. WISC-TV has remained a CBS affiliate for almost its entire history. It briefly carried programming from the NTA Film Network during the late 1950s and maintained a secondary UPN relationship at different points. Its digital and cable companion, originally launched as WiSC2 in 1996, evolved into the Television Wisconsin Network, or TVW. TVW carried The WB beginning in 1998, later became a UPN outlet, and then joined MyNetworkTV in 2006 after the creation of The CW and the shutdown of UPN and The WB. The subchannel eventually returned to the TVW name while continuing its MyNetworkTV affiliation. The station has invested heavily in local journalism and digital distribution. In 1998, it partnered with Internet Broadcasting Systems to launch Channel 3000, one of the region’s earliest dedicated television-station news websites. Its news output includes morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and late-night programs, along with weather updates and specialized community-oriented coverage. In 2015, its Live at Four program was expanded and moved from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m. In 2008, WISC-TV became the first commercial television station in Wisconsin to produce all of its newscasts in high definition. In 2019, the station introduced a new studio and rebranded its broadcasts as News 3 Now, aligning its on-air presentation more closely with its digital operations and the broader Morgan Murphy Media station group. WISC-TV also uses TVW to carry selected CBS programs when the main channel is occupied by breaking news, severe-weather coverage, or special programming. The subchannel has carried syndicated entertainment, college and high-school sports, local productions, rebroadcasts of WISC newscasts, and weather information. In 2024, the station carried selected Milwaukee Bucks games under an arrangement involving Weigel Broadcasting and Bally Sports Wisconsin, distributing some games on the primary CBS channel and others through WISC-DT2. WISC-TV remains an active, locally focused broadcast and digital media operation.

WISC-TV signed on in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 24, 1956. Its launch transferred the market’s CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV, which retained ABC. The station was created by Morgan Murphy Stations, the broadcasting division of the Evening Telegram Company of Superior, Wisconsin. WISC radio and WISC-TV were initially sister operations. The ownership chain has remained unusually continuous: the company later sold its print properties, moved its corporate headquarters to Madison, and adopted the Morgan Murphy Media name, but continued to own channel 3. The station benefited from its VHF channel assignment. Madison’s television market was historically surrounded by larger markets whose VHF channels had already been assigned, making channel 3 the market’s only VHF signal. This gave WISC-TV a technical and promotional advantage over UHF competitors WKOW-TV and WMTV. Cable television later reduced the practical difference between VHF and UHF reception, yet WISC-TV maintained a leading local presence and used the slogan “Wisconsin’s Leadership Station” to reinforce that identity. The station has remained affiliated with CBS throughout its history, apart from a brief late-1950s relationship with the NTA Film Network and later secondary-network arrangements. WISC-TV’s secondary programming operation developed through several stages. In January 1995, the main station began carrying UPN programming on a delayed overnight basis after its CBS late-night schedule. That arrangement ended in 1999 when a separate Janesville-licensed station became Madison’s full-time UPN outlet. Meanwhile, WISC launched a cable-oriented companion service called WiSC2 on January 1, 1996. The service initially offered general entertainment, syndicated series, children’s programming, community affairs, regional sports, and a limited amount of local news. Its early distribution was constrained because it was not immediately carried by Marcus Cable in much of Madison, although it reached some surrounding communities through cable and a low-power transmitter. The service was renamed the Television Wisconsin Network, or TVW, in 1998 and became a Madison-area affiliate of The WB. The affiliation improved its cable distribution and gave the market a locally branded outlet for WB programming. TVW also carried syndicated shows, Wisconsin Badgers sports, and locally produced programming. In September 2000, WISC began simulcasting TVW on digital subchannel 3.2, making the service available over the air to viewers with digital television equipment. The channel was branded WB14 on cable systems beginning in 2001, reflecting its cable position. In August 2002, WISC-DT2 became Madison’s UPN outlet after an affiliation and ownership-related transition involving the former WHPN-TV. The subchannel adopted the UPN14 identity and provided over-the-air access to UPN programming. In 2006, after the planned creation of The CW and the closure of UPN and The WB, WISC announced that WISC-DT2 would join the newly created MyNetworkTV. The subchannel began using the My Madison TV identity when the network launched in September 2006, while briefly carrying delayed UPN programming until UPN ceased operations. It returned to the TVW name in 2009, retaining MyNetworkTV as its network relationship and presenting syndicated entertainment, sports, local productions, news rebroadcasts, and weather content. Local news has become central to WISC-TV’s identity. The station launched its Channel 3000 news website in 1998 through a partnership with Internet Broadcasting Systems. It expanded its television news schedule with morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and late-night broadcasts, as well as a dedicated Live at Four program focused on community stories and people in Madison, Dane County, and south-central Wisconsin. The program moved from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m. and expanded to one hour in October 2015. WISC-TV also produced a short UPN14 evening news update beginning in 2004; this became a half-hour broadcast in 2005 and ended in 2011 after WISC entered a news-sharing arrangement to produce WMSN-TV’s 9 p.m. newscast. The station completed its transition to high-definition newscasts on October 26, 2008, after beginning to produce selected HD news features earlier that year. In 2011, it began offering free on-demand news segments through the Roku platform. Following Super Bowl LIII in February 2019, WISC-TV introduced a new studio and rebranded its newscasts as News 3 Now. The new presentation was intended to connect the station’s broadcast and digital operations and to establish a design language shared across Morgan Murphy Media’s stations. WISC-TV completed its analog shutdown in February 2009, initially retaining digital transmission on UHF channel 50 while continuing to identify over the air as channel 3. After the FCC incentive auction, Morgan Murphy Media sold the station’s UHF spectrum for just under $50 million, according to the reference material. WISC-TV subsequently moved its digital transmission to VHF channel 11 while retaining virtual channel 3. In more recent programming activity, TVW has carried displaced syndicated and locally produced shows, including regional talk and entertainment programs, while WISC-TV has continued to use both channels for local news, weather, sports, CBS programming, and network substitution. In 2024, the station carried selected Milwaukee Bucks games through an arrangement involving Weigel Broadcasting and Bally Sports Wisconsin.

1. 2024Selected Milwaukee Bucks games air on WISC

   The station carries ten Bucks games across its primary channel and TVW.

   Source
2. 2019News 3 Now launches

   The station introduces a new studio and rebrands its local newscasts as News 3 Now.

   Source
3. 2017Spectrum auction transition announced

   WISC-TV’s owner sells the station’s UHF spectrum and plans a move to VHF transmission.

   Source
4. 2015Live at Four expands

   The community-focused newscast moves to 4 p.m. and expands to one hour.

   Source
5. 2009Analog broadcasting ends

   The station ends regular analog transmission and continues digital broadcasting under virtual channel 3.

   Source
6. 2008Newscasts move to full high definition

   WISC-TV begins producing all of its newscasts in HD.

   Source
7. 2006WISC-DT2 joins MyNetworkTV

   The subchannel becomes the Madison-area charter affiliate of MyNetworkTV.

   Source
8. 2002WISC-DT2 becomes a UPN outlet

   The subchannel adopts the UPN14 identity and becomes Madison’s UPN affiliate.

   Source
9. 2000TVW begins digital-subchannel simulcast

   WISC-DT2 begins carrying TVW over the air on digital channel 3.2.

   Source
10. 1998TVW and Channel 3000 are established

    WiSC2 is renamed TVW and becomes a WB affiliate; WISC-TV also launches its dedicated online news service.

    Source
11. 1996WiSC2 launches

    The station launches a cable-oriented companion entertainment channel.

    Source
12. 1995Secondary UPN carriage begins

    WISC-TV starts carrying UPN programming on a delayed overnight basis.

    Source
13. 1956WISC-TV signs on

    The station begins broadcasting on June 24 and assumes Madison’s CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV.

    Source

A locally owned Madison television station positioned around CBS network programming, regional news leadership, Wisconsin sports, weather service, and community-oriented digital journalism.

• WISC-TV CBS servicebroadcast television1956

  The primary WISC-TV service carries CBS network programming alongside local news, weather, public-service coverage, syndicated content, paid programming, and selected sports. It serves Madison and the surrounding south-central Wisconsin market from studios on Raymond Road, with transmission facilities in Madison’s Junction Ridge area. The service has retained virtual channel 3 since its 1956 launch and continues to use local journalism as its core identity.

• TVWdigital television subchannel1996

  TVW is WISC-TV’s second digital subchannel, broadcast as WISC-DT2. It began as WiSC2 in 1996, later carried The WB and UPN, and became a MyNetworkTV affiliate in 2006. The channel has also offered syndicated entertainment, local productions, regional sports, news rebroadcasts, weather updates, and substitute carriage for CBS programs preempted on the main channel. Its branding has included WB14, UPN14, My Madison TV, and TVW.

• News 3 Nowlocal television news2019

  News 3 Now is WISC-TV’s local news operation, covering Madison, Dane County, and south-central Wisconsin. Its schedule includes morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and late-night newscasts, plus the community-focused News 3 Now Live at Four program. The operation also supplies weather updates for the station’s digital subchannel and publishes video and written reporting through Channel 3000.

• Channel 3000digital news platform1998

  Channel 3000 is WISC-TV’s digital news platform and website. Launched in 1998 through a partnership with Internet Broadcasting Systems, it provides local reporting, weather information, video, live coverage, and other digital extensions of the station’s broadcast operation. The platform helped establish WISC-TV as an early regional television broadcaster with a dedicated online news presence.

• 2019News 3 Now rebrand

  Madison · Dane County · South-central Wisconsin

  WISC-TV introduced a new studio, sonic package, and graphic system after Super Bowl LIII, changing the News 3 identity to News 3 Now. The initiative emphasized digital publishing and more deeply reported local stories.

  Outcome. The branding was also designed for rollout across Morgan Murphy Media’s station portfolio.

  Source
• 200650th anniversary recognition

  Madison · South-central Wisconsin

  WISC-TV marked its fiftieth anniversary in June 2006 with station-focused commemorative activity. The anniversary also received an on-air mention from David Letterman on The Late Show.

  Outcome. The anniversary reinforced WISC-TV’s identity as a long-established Madison broadcaster.

  Source

• 2019News 3 Now identity and studio launchOther

  WISC-TV sought to connect its broadcast journalism with its digital publishing operation and present a shared identity across Morgan Murphy Media stations.

  What changed. The station launched a new studio, updated its sonic and graphic presentation, and renamed its newscasts News 3 Now.

  Aftermath. The new identity became the station’s principal local-news brand and emphasized community engagement and digital storytelling.

  Source
• 2017Spectrum auction and channel transitionStrategy

  The FCC incentive auction created an opportunity for broadcasters to sell UHF spectrum and move to another assigned transmission position.

  What changed. Morgan Murphy Media sold WISC-TV’s UHF spectrum for just under $50 million according to the reference material, with the station moving its digital transmission to VHF channel 11 while preserving virtual channel 3.

  Aftermath. WISC-TV continued operating under its established channel 3 identity after the technical transition.

  Spectrum auction proceeds. just under $50 million (2017 announcement concerning the FCC 2016 incentive auction)

  Source
• 2008Conversion to full-HD newscastsGeneration change

  High-definition production was becoming an important competitive feature for local television news.

  What changed. WISC-TV converted all of its newscasts to high-definition video.

  Aftermath. The station became the first commercial television station in Wisconsin identified in the reference material as offering all-HD newscasts.

  Source
• 2006Move of WISC-DT2 to MyNetworkTVStrategy

  The creation of The CW and the planned closures of UPN and The WB required secondary affiliates to select new network relationships.

  What changed. Morgan Murphy Media designated WISC-DT2 as the Madison-area charter MyNetworkTV affiliate and introduced the My Madison TV identity.

  Aftermath. The subchannel retained a network-based entertainment role while continuing to carry local, syndicated, and sports programming.

  Source
• 1998Launch of the Channel 3000 digital news platformStrategy

  Internet distribution was emerging as an extension of local television news, while few regional stations had dedicated news websites.

  What changed. WISC-TV partnered with Internet Broadcasting Systems to establish Channel 3000.

  Aftermath. The platform became a continuing digital outlet for WISC-TV news, weather, video, and live coverage.

  Source

• 2024WISC-TV carries selected Milwaukee Bucks games

  WISC-TV aired ten Milwaukee Bucks games through an arrangement involving Weigel Broadcasting and Bally Sports Wisconsin, with games divided between the main channel and WISC-DT2.

  Product launchOther
  Source
• 2019WISC-TV rebrands its news operation as News 3 Now

  After Super Bowl LIII, WISC-TV launched a new studio and changed the News 3 identity to News 3 Now, emphasizing digital integration and deeper local storytelling.

  CampaignProduct generation
  Source
• 2019TVW adds programming displaced from WIFS

  TVW acquired selected syndicated and locally produced programs that had been displaced when WIFS changed its programming format.

  Other
  Source
• 2017Morgan Murphy sells WISC spectrum in FCC auction

  The station’s owner successfully sold its UHF spectrum in the FCC’s 2016 broadcast incentive auction and subsequently moved WISC-TV’s digital transmission to VHF channel 11 while retaining virtual channel 3.

  Regulation
  Source
• 2008WISC-TV introduces all-HD newscasts

  WISC-TV began producing all of its newscasts in high definition, becoming the first commercial television station in Wisconsin identified in the reference material as doing so.

  Product generation
  Source
• 2006WISC-DT2 becomes a MyNetworkTV affiliate

  The station announced that its second digital subchannel would become Madison’s charter MyNetworkTV affiliate following the planned shutdown of UPN and The WB.

  Product generation
  Source
• 1998Channel 3000 news website launches

  WISC-TV partnered with Internet Broadcasting Systems to create a dedicated online news service, placing the station among early television broadcasters with a regional news website.

  Product launch
  Source
• 1956WISC-TV begins broadcasting in Madison

  WISC-TV signed on June 24 and assumed Madison’s CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV.

  Other
  Source

1. WISC-TV
2. WISC-TV official website