Discover Wisconsin is a weekly, non-fictional,

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

which encourages

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It features profiles of cities, events, and tourist attractions throughout the state. The program is written, directed, and produced in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, and is billed as the longest running tourism

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

in the United States. The program has won 20 National Television Awards, and has received 8

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations, winning once in 2012 for its 25th Anniversary Special.

History

Wisconsin fisherman Dick Rose and future Wisconsin governor,

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

, came up with the idea for a show in 1986 to promote tourism to Wisconsin. Discover Wisconsin Television (DW-TV) began in 1987, initially airing on one affiliate in Wausau. The show began as a private partnership with Thompson's administration, and has since become entirely private under the company nam
Discover MediaWorks
The show is based out of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and Eagle River, and it reaches more than 600,000 viewers throughout the Midwest. This by a combination of network, cable, and satellite stations, as well as online-only sources such a
YouTube
and Roku. DW-TV is regularly viewed on cable stations throughout the U.S. including markets in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Episodes may require a year or more to film and produce before airing, as they often showcase events in a community or region across different times of the year. Hosts on the show have included Stephanie Klett (1992 Miss Wisconsin and future state Secretary of Tourism), Rick Rose,

Emmy Fink Emmeline Katherine "Emmy" Fink is an American broadcast television reporter and presenter. She hosted the tourism show ''Discover Wisconsin'' from 2011–2013, as well as other programs in that state. Biography Fink was born in Yorkville, Wisc ...

, Mariah Haberman, Eric Paulsen, Jake Zimmerman, Collin Geraghty, Marie Justice, Carol Crowe, Susan Shannon, Abbey Maillette, Libby Amato, and Jack Taylor.

Radio

A companion radio program called Discover Wisconsin Radio began in 1993. It is broadcast on over 40 stations in Wisconsin and surrounding states. The program runs Monday to Friday every week on its affiliate stations.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Discover Wisconsin
Culture of Madison, Wisconsin American travel television series