WACY-TV (channel 32) is an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, serving the
Green Bay area. It is owned by the
E.W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
alongside
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
affiliate
WGBA-TV
WGBA-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Appleton-licensed independent station WACY-TV (channel 32). Both stations share studi ...
(channel 26). Both stations share studios on North Road near Airport Drive/
WIS 172 in the Green Bay suburb of
Ashwaubenon, while WACY-TV's transmitter is located in the
Shirley section of
Glenmore, Wisconsin
Glenmore is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,135 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated communities of Glenmore and Shirley are located in the town.
Geography
The Town of Glenmore, in Brown County, is l ...
.
History
Early history and troubles
The station first signed on the air on March 7, 1984 as WXGZ-TV, and was the first television station licensed to and based out of Appleton; it was originally owned by Appleton Midwestern Television. The ''
Appleton Post-Crescent
''The Post-Crescent'' is a daily newspaper based in Appleton, Wisconsin. Part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, it is primarily distributed in numerous counties surrounding the Appleton/Fox Cities area.
History
''The Appleton Crescent'' was ...
'' reported on January 31 that the station began operations by testing its signal, although it formally began programming on March 7. WXGZ originally operated as an
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
during its first three years, showing off-network sitcoms and other syndicated programming. On October 6, 1986, under the "Super 32" moniker, WXGZ became a charter affiliate of the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network. The station continued to essentially program itself under the regulations of an independent station as the network's only program at the time was the late night talk program ''
The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''; prime time programming followed in 1987. After joining Fox, WXGZ became the first station in the Green Bay/Appleton
television market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
to begin broadcasting in
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
.
A noted local personality on WXGZ was "Oscor the
Clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
" (played by Wayne Lowney), who served as the mascot of the WXGZ children's lineup and hosted a Sunday morning program starting in 1986 called ''Oscor's Place'', a show whose major sponsor was
Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese (formerly known as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza and simply Chuck E. Cheese's) is an American family entertainment center and pizza restaurant chain founded in 1977 by Atari's co-founder Nolan Bu ...
's predecessor brand,
ShowBiz Pizza Place. Outside of Fox programming, WXGZ was noteworthy for airing the successful first-run syndicated programs ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and ''
The Arsenio Hall Show
''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall.
There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...
''.
By November 1991, Appleton Midwestern Television ran into financial problems and declared
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
. 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
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
, 1992, ending its eight-year history with a half-hour retrospective featuring on-air and behind-the-scenes footage at the station. WXGZ staff announcer Ed Myers and
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Roy Smith said the last of the station's goodbyes, after which WXGZ closed operations. The next morning, fellow independent station
WGBA-TV
WGBA-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Appleton-licensed independent station WACY-TV (channel 32). Both stations share studi ...
(channel 26) became the market's new Fox affiliate, and acquired some of WXGZ's syndicated programming inventory (including ''Arsenio'' and ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'').
After WXGZ's shut down, the station's license was left in the hands of a holding company from March to August 1992, at which point it was bought by Ace TV Incorporated. Channel 32 remained off-the-air for two years with occasional word that the station intended to begin broadcasting again "in the near future."
Revival as WACY-TV
WXGZ's license to operate was put back into use in June 1994. License holder Ace TV, Inc., a corporation solely owned by Shirley A. Martin, put WXGZ back on the air with the help of WGBA and its then-owner Aries Telecommunications, who arranged to put WACY on solid financial footing through the entrance of a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
with Ace TV, allowing WGBA to operate and program WXGZ through its studios and sell advertising time for the station.
At the outset, programming on WXGZ (whose logo was an
ace of spades as a nod to its owner) consisted of second-run airings of off-network reruns (including such series as ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'', ''
St. Elsewhere
''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...
'' and ''
Newhart''), along with select airings of
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
baseball and
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
basketball games (which WGBA previously aired but no longer had room to run due to its own commitments with Fox). By the fall of 1994, first-run syndicated programming would be included on WXGZ's schedule, including ''
Family Feud'' and programming from the
Prime Time Entertainment Network syndication service. On January 16, 1995, WXGZ became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
). The station also maintained a secondary affiliation with
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
for the network's first four years before WIWB (channel 14, now
WCWF) became the Green Bay market's WB affiliate in June 1999.
By August 1995, the station – which would change its
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
that month to WACY-TV – benefited from WGBA's affiliation switch to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
(due to
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Suring-licensed CW affiliate WCWF (channel 14). Both stations share studi ...
, channel 11, joining Fox). With WGBA now committed to NBC and its programming lineup, programs that WGBA no longer had room to broadcast were moved over to WACY, including some syndicated programming (most notably reruns of ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'') and daytime children's programming. With this move, WACY adopted the "WACkY 32" branding for its kids' lineup (running roughly 6–11 a.m. and 1–5 p.m.), which over the years would include ''
Garfield and Friends'', ''
Scooby-Doo'', ''
Dennis the Menace'', ''
Pokémon
(an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise.
In terms of ...
'', ''
Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...
'' and ''
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog''; programs from the
UPN Kids
''UPN Kids'' was an American children's programming block that aired on UPN from September 10, 1995 to September 5, 1999. Airing on Sunday mornings, the block aired for one hour (10:00 to 11:00am), then two hours the following year (9:00 to 11: ...
,
BKN
Bohbot Entertainment was an American advertising and marketing company specializing in the children's market founded in 1985, and had traded under various different names over the years. The company produced and distributed programming under thei ...
and
The Disney Afternoon blocks (as well as from
Kids' WB as the Green Bay television market did not have a full-time WB affiliate); and
educational and informational-compliant programs like ''
The New Zoo Revue
''New Zoo Revue'' is an American half-hour children's television show that ran in first-run syndication from 1972 to 1977.
Concept
The 196-episode musical comedy-format show conveyed the concepts of cooperation and guidance for living in contempo ...
''. The live character "Cuddles the Clown" provided host continuity for "WACkY 32" programming. The station's children's lineup would dwindle over the years, thanks in part to increased cable competition from cable channels such as
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
and
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
and the decreased financial justification of airing a more-than-necessary amount of children's programming, although it would continue to air UPN's ''
Disney's One Too
Disney's One Too (later known as Disney's Animation Weekdays) was an American two-hour Sunday-to-Friday children's programming block that aired on UPN (and sometimes in syndication) from September 6, 1999 to August 31, 2003. A spin-off of the ''Di ...
'' until the network discontinued its daily children's block in 2003. After that, WACY would rely on general syndicated entertainment and infomercials for its daytime lineup.
One of WACY's most durable programs was called ''Who, What, When, Where'', a show hosted by
Oshkosh public-access television personalities Jim C. Hoffman and
Dan Davies
Daniel Joseph "Dan" Davies (born December 25, 1965) is an American actor, screenplay writer and producer who wrote, co-produced and starred in the 2010 comedy film Ed Gein, the Musical, about the cannibalistic murderer and graverobber, Ed Gein ...
. ''Who, What, When, Where'' featured various interviews, advertisements (notably Ron and Lloyd's supermarket and
WNAM radio), and entertainment sketches performed by Davies. The show would be rechristened ''N.E.W. Now'' (for "North East Wisconsin") in early 1997, its last year on the air. Later local shows on WACY included the legal affairs show ''It's the Law'', produced by Hoffman and hosted by Oshkosh attorney George W. Curtis, and the Sunday morning
polka music
Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.
History
Etymology
The term ...
show ''Polka, Polka, Polka'', which originated from a
Manitowoc supper club/dance hall (''Polka, Polka, Polka'' now airs on WCWF).
In 2004,
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
-based
Journal Communications
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
(owner of that city's
WTMJ-TV), purchased WGBA from Aries Telecommunications for $43.25 million. As part of the deal, Journal would take over the local marketing agreement with WACY, as well as acquire the option to purchase channel 32 from Ace TV if the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) ever relaxed or waived its media ownership rules to allow the purchase.
MyNetworkTV affiliation (2006–2022)
![WACY-WGBA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/WACY-WGBA.JPG)
On February 22, 2006,
News Corporation announced the launch of a new "sixth" network called
MyNetworkTV, which would be operated by
Fox Television Stations and its syndication division
Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created to compete against another upstart network that would launch at the same time that September,
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
(an amalgamated network that was originally consisted primarily of UPN and The WB's higher-rated programs) as well as to give UPN and WB stations that were not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates another option besides converting to independent stations. WACY reached a turning point with the pending loss of UPN programming, as a result of the shutdown of the network and The CW's launch. The CW chose WIWB as its Green Bay affiliate, as that station's then-owner
ACME Communications had a deep relationship with WB management (ACME's founder
Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner is an American former television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 ...
was a former president of The WB). On March 22, 2006, WACY announced that it would affiliate with MyNetworkTV, bringing channel 32's affiliation with a Fox-owned network full-circle.
After the 2005–06 television season ended, WACY began distancing itself from UPN, reducing its carriage of the network's programming on Monday through Thursdays to only one hour per night during the summer of 2006, with
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s filling the dropped second hour. WACY severed ties with UPN completely on September 4 (the night prior to MyNetworkTV's debut), leaving WIWB to air the balance of UPN programming as a transitional secondary affiliation alongside its WB shows (including weekend airings of ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
'' and ''
WWE Friday Night SmackDown'').
After affiliating with MyNetworkTV, WACY adopted a new branding in late-July 2006, becoming "My New 32"—with "New" referring to both the "new" network, and as an abbreviation of "Northeast Wisconsin"—and in the process downplaying the WACY call sign (aside from official
station identification) and abandoning the ace of spades logo that the station used in some form since its return to the air in 1994.
As far back as the latter years of WACY's UPN affiliation, the station aired a weekly high school football game featuring local schools on Friday nights in the fall (billed as ''Friday Night Thunder''), with select
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UW-Green Bay, UWGB, or Green Bay) is a public university in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with regional campuses in Marinette, Wisconsin, Marinette, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Shebo ...
men's and women's basketball games added in 2007. All sports broadcasts on WACY featured WGBA's sports anchors, while visual presentation depended on 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 part due to the addition of ''SmackDown'' to MyNetworkTV's Friday night lineup and also due to a lean financial period for the stations during the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, at a time when WGBA's news and sports staff were cut back due to budget concerns, WTMJ began to take control of several of WGBA's newscasts, and
infomercials occupied portions of WACY's programming schedule. Sports broadcasts would return to WACY in August 2011 under the ''N.E.W. Sports Showdown'' banner, featuring both high school sports as well as
St. Norbert College
St. Norbert College (SNC) is a private Norbertine liberal arts college in De Pere, Wisconsin. Founded in October 1898 by Abbot Bernard Pennings, a Norbertine priest and educator, the school was named after Saint Norbert of Xanten. In 1952, the co ...
athletics (added in 2011) and
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers baseball (added in the spring of 2013).
A late-night feature that aired on WACY's weekend lineup was the movie program ''Ned the Dead''. Hosted by the ghoulish "Ned" (played by local actor and radio personality Steve Brenzel), the show – which began on WLUK-TV in the 1980s as ''Ned the Dead's Chiller Theater'' before eventually moving to WACY – featured presentations of B-movies (mainly sci-fi or horror features from the 1950s), with "Ned" providing wraparound segments of comic relief. Over the years, ''Ned'' would move toward airings of low-budget color films and additional segments of Ned and his colorful troupe of sidekicks. Though ''Ned the Dead'' would move around WACY's schedule during its time on the station, the show aired mainly at 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays and was sponsored by the Van Vredee's chain of local furniture/appliance stores (Brenzel serves as the stores' spokesperson). ''Ned the Dead'' ended its WACY run on December 12, 2010.
2012 full purchase of station by Journal
In May 2012,
Journal Communications
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
commenced on a plan to purchase WACY from Ace TV, Inc. for $4.65 million. Although Journal obtained the option to purchase WACY when it bought WGBA in the mid-2000s, it could not proceed with a purchase of WACY due to FCC duopoly limits placed on markets such as Green Bay/Appleton, which has fewer than eight independently owned full-power television stations. In paperwork filed with the FCC on May 3, 2012, Journal included a "failing station waiver" that would allow it to purchase WACY and keep it on the air, an avenue that
LIN TV Corporation used in purchasing Green Bay's WCWF in 2011 and creating a
duopoly
A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
with WLUK-TV. As the petitioner, Journal needed to prove in its waiver request that WACY was in an economically non-viable position (reasoning that LIN also cited in its purchase of WCWF).
The FCC would approve Journal's request of WACY's license transfer on September 4, 2012, specifically citing two points Journal had included in its request: The financial and operational status of WACY before the grandfathered LMA commenced in 1994 (and which Journal inherited when it bought WGBA in 2004), and WGBA's ability to "produce and broadcast
n WACY
N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
programming that furthers the public interest," programming that WACY would otherwise not have been able to produce. Also cited was channel 32's bankruptcy as WXGZ.
On October 23, the deal was consummated. It was the third station that Journal acquired through a failed station waiver, after
KNIN-TV
KNIN-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Caldwell, Idaho, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Boise area. It is owned by Gray Television, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with the E. W. Scripps ...
in
Boise and
KWBA in
Tucson.
Summer 2013 Time Warner Cable carriage dispute
After several extensions of the original June 30, 2013 expired agreement, and the invocation of the
sweeps
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
rule disallowing cable providers from pulling the main signal of a carried station during local sweeps periods (which includes July), the main signals of WGBA and WACY were pulled off
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
systems in the market at midnight on July 25, 2013. The MeTV subchannel had been pulled earlier on July 10 as those were not under the same protection under the sweeps rule. WTMJ was also affected in the Milwaukee market, along with Journal stations in
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
and
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
. The main effect of the blackout on Time Warner Cable systems was the carriage of three Packers preseason games on WTMJ and WGBA, which were blacked out on the provider due to the dispute, though the games were still available via the
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
simulcast using the Packers Television network camera positions produced for Milwaukee's
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
affiliate
WYTU-LD
WYTU-LD (channel 63) is a low-power television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language Telemundo network. Owned by Weigel Broadcasting (as the company's only Telemundo affiliate), it is sister to CBS ...
(channel 63/49.4), which is carried on the subchannel tier in the Green Bay market (and was simulcast on WACY), with the suggestion to listen to English play-by-play via either
WTMJ radio from Milwaukee or the local FM stations in Green Bay or Appleton carrying Packers Radio Network coverage. The later replays of the games were also available via replays on
NFL Network through the week.
A
class action lawsuit
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
was also filed by viewers against Time Warner Cable on August 8 under grounds of
breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...
. Journal Broadcast Group has also made claims via its website detailing their version of the carriage dispute that TWC was distracted due to the other dispute involving
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
's
Television Stations group and
Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's pay television, premium cable television television channel, channels, including its flagship service Showtime (TV network), Showtime. It is a subsidiary of me ...
premium channel suites.
By August 15, WGBA and WACY's channel slots on Time Warner Cable were replaced with a simulcast of
GSN, with
Starz Kids & Family
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consists ...
airing on the channel 994 subchannel slot usually carrying MeTV. Journal Broadcast Group also asked state authorities to intervene in their dispute with Time Warner Cable.
Journal and Time Warner Cable came to an agreement for carriage on September 20, 2013 to last at least through the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
, returning WGBA and WACY to their lineups as of 7 p.m. that evening. However, Journal conceded that the analog and
cable-ready
Cable-ready is a designation which indicates that a TV set or other television-receiving device (such as a VCR or DVR) is capable of receiving cable TV without a set-top box.
The term originated with analog TV, which uses different frequencies f ...
positions were less important than carriage in the high definition tier, so while WGBA's high definition signal remained on channel 1007, the standard definition signal moved to channel 13, WACY's former SD slot, with WACY shifting to channel 83 with high definition coverage coming at the start of the year. However, MeTV subchannel 26.2 remained removed from Time Warner systems, though southern portions of the Green Bay market already receive MeTV Milwaukee flagship
WBME-CD
WBME-CD, virtual channel 41 (UHF digital channel 17), is a low-power, Class A MeTV owned-and-operated television station licensed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, it is sister to CBS affi ...
(channel 41) on the basic lifeline tier.
Sale to the E. W. Scripps Company
On July 30, 2014, the
E. W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
announced that it would acquire Journal Communications in an all-stock transaction. The combined firm would retain their broadcast properties, including WTMJ-TV and its radio siblings, with the print assets being
spun off as Journal Media Group. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 12, 2014, with shareholders of the two companies approving it on March 11, 2015; the merger/spin-off between Journal and Scripps formally closed on April 1.
E. W. Scripps and Time Warner Cable announced a new multi-year carriage agreement on February 1, 2016 that includes WGBA and WACY, along with WACY's new subchannels also coming to Time Warner in addition to those of WGBA.
In October 2021, WACY-TV began to discontinue the "MyNew32" branding (and its secondary "My32" branding used since 2016) in favor of the on-air "TV 32" branding, downplaying their affiliation with MyNetworkTV.
Return to independence (2022–present)
On June 3, 2022, WACY ended their affiliation with MyNetworkTV with no public notice, and returned to being an unaffiliated independent station for the first time since January 1995. The station replaced MyNetworkTV programming with ''
Dateline'' (which it had also carried with MyNetworkTV) and ''
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
''.
Programming
Occasionally as time permits, WACY-TV may carry network programming from NBC should WGBA-TV preempt any shows for special programs, or extended breaking news or severe weather coverage; to date, it has not done so.
Syndicated programming on WACY-TV includes ''
Sherri Sherri may refer to:
*Sherri (name)
* ''Sherri'' (2009 TV series), an American sitcom starring Sherri Shepherd
* ''Sherri'' (talk show), a syndicated daytime show hosted by Sherri Shepherd that premiered in 2022
See also
* Shari (disambiguation)
* ...
'', ''The Simpsons'', ''
Two and a Half Men'' and ''
The Kelly Clarkson Show
''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and segm ...
''.
Locally-produced programming includes the
cooking show ''Mad Dog & Merril's Midwest Grillin'' (Mad Dog and Merril are longtime Northeast Wisconsin-based cooking experts). The station also airs local high school and college sports, under the umbrella title of ''N.E.W. Sports Showdown''. The same title is also used for a broad schedule of professional minor league sports carried by the station, including the
United States Hockey League
The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...
's
Green Bay Gamblers
The Green Bay Gamblers are a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). They play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, at the Resch Center.
History Professional hockey in Gre ...
. Beginning with the
2017–18 season, the station also broadcasts
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
games involving the Oshkosh-based
Wisconsin Herd
The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena.
History
On June 29, 2016, it was anno ...
, which is owned by the Milwaukee Bucks and affiliates with that team.
Until 2016 when WCWF acquired local rights to the
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state basketball and hockey championships, it carried those tournaments for the Green Bay market. Unique for an
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
station, it also simulcasts
Spanish-language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
coverage of preseason
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
football produced by Milwaukee Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD for the convenience of over-the-air viewers; both WACY and WYTU-LD have availability on local cable systems. In August 2016, WACY instead carried the English production of two Packers games from the team's network locally, due to WGBA's must-carry commitments to the 2016 Summer Olympics from NBC. It carried the Packers Family Night scrimmage in August 2021 due to the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, which were
postponed
Postponed (foaled 4 April 2011) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won one minor race as a two-year-old before establishing himself as a useful middle-distance performer in the following year with wins in the Glasgow S ...
because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
On June 15, 2020, WACY debuted a half-hour weeknight 9 p.m. newscast produced by WGBA, titled ''My News at 9'' with a repeat of ''NBC 26 Tonight'' (originally aired at 6:30 p.m. on WGBA) at 9:30 p.m. The title remains unchanged even after the station's MyNetworkTV disaffiliation.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed:
WACY transmitted one
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
, main channel 32.1, until August 12, 2015; on that date, the station added subchannels affiliated with
Grit and
Escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...
, a move that was part of an affiliation deal Scripps announced with the networks' owner,
Katz Broadcasting, the previous May (as of October 2017, Scripps now owns Katz as a subsidiary company). Escape rebranded as Court TV Mystery on September 30, 2019, complementing sister network
Court TV
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
, carried locally on WGBA-DT4. On July 1, 2021, two new digital subchannels were added,
Defy TV on 32.4 and
TrueReal on 32.5. In December 2021, WGBA-TV 26.3 and WACY-TV 32.2 traded digital subchannels, with WGBA-TV 26.3 becoming Grit (formerly Laff) and WACY-TV 32.2 becoming Laff (formerly Grit).
Analog-to-digital conversion
WACY-TV shut down its analog signal, over
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 32, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 27.
Through the use of
PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 32.
One week after the transition, Journal chose to suffix all of their owned television stations with the "-TV" suffix as part of the FCC's one-time allowance during the transition to allow stations to suffix either "-TV" or "-DT" to their call signs if not previously included on their permanent digital channel; this included WACY despite its separate ownership by ACE TV at the time, which became WACY-TV in FCC correspondence and on-air station identifications on June 17, 2009.
References
External links
Official website for WACY-TV, "TV 32"
{{EWS CORP
Independent television stations in the United States
Laff (TV network) affiliates
Ion Mystery affiliates
Court TV affiliates
TrueReal affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1984
ACY-TV
E. W. Scripps Company television stations
1984 establishments in Wisconsin