WLAX (channel 25), licensed to
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
, United States, and WEUX (channel 48), licensed to
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Chippewa Falls is a city located on the Chippewa River in Chippewa County in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 14,778 in the 2021 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the county seat of Chippewa Cou ...
, are
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 ...
s affiliated with 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 and serving the La Crosse–
Eau Claire market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
. The stations are owned by
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
. WLAX maintains studios at Interchange Place in La Crosse and a transmitter in
La Crescent, Minnesota
La Crescent is a city in Houston and Winona counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 5,276 at the 2020 census.
La Crescent is located in the northeast portion of Houston County; the northern edge of the city falls into Winon ...
, while WEUX has offices on
WIS 93 in Eau Claire and a transmitter southeast of
Colfax.
WLAX in La Crosse went on the air in November 1986, after two sales of the permit, as the original independent station in the market.
Family Group Broadcasting
Family Group Broadcasting, L.P. was a Delaware-incorporated, Florida-based television and radio broadcasting company. A small company, based in and around Tampa Bay, the company operated from the early 1980s to about 1997. Throughout its history, ...
, which put the station on the air, attempted to build the Eau Claire-area station but fell into bankruptcy before it could do so. Aries Telecommunications of
Green Bay bought WLAX and the then-unbuilt WEUX in 1991, with WEUX beginning broadcasting in 1993. Grant Broadcasting acquired the pair in 1996, and Nexstar acquired Grant's stations in 2014. The stations air a 9 p.m. local newscast produced by local
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
WEAU
WEAU (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States, serving the La Crosse–Eau Claire market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on S ...
.
History
![WLAXTVStudio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/WLAXTVStudio.jpg)
Construction of WLAX
Channel 25 had been assigned to La Crosse since 1966 and almost saw use in the late 1960s when two groups proposed to start a second station in the city. Midcontinent Broadcasting Company was approved in December 1967 to build a satellite of its
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 ...
station,
WKOW-TV
WKOW (channel 27) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Allen Media Broadcasting. The station's studios are located on Tokay Boulevard on Madison's west side, and its transmitter is locate ...
, in La Crosse.
WKOW and La Crosse radio station
WKTY
WKTY (580 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, the station serves the La Crosse area. The station is owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting and features programming from Westwood On ...
had both applied for channel 19, causing WKOW to shift its application to channel 25 before WKTY withdrew after the WKOW-TV grant, citing its inability to obtain network affiliation given that the WKOW station would provide La Crosse with its first full-time
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
service. WKOW then sought to move its station,
WXOW-TV
WXOW (channel 19) is a television station in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Allen Media Broadcasting. The station's studios and transmitter are located on County Highway 25 in La Crescent, Minnesota.
WQOW ...
, back to channel 19.
No party filed for channel 25 until 1980, when a group of local investors under the name Quarterview Inc. applied for channel 25.
While some of the same investors built local radio station
WISQ (100.1 FM),
the permit was granted in 1982.
Quarterview did not build the station. It sold the permit in 1984 to TV-26 Inc., owner of
WLRE-TV in
Green Bay.
That station then filed for bankruptcy reorganization and was purchased, along with the channel 25 construction permit, by
Family Group Broadcasting
Family Group Broadcasting, L.P. was a Delaware-incorporated, Florida-based television and radio broadcasting company. A small company, based in and around Tampa Bay, the company operated from the early 1980s to about 1997. Throughout its history, ...
in 1985.
Family Group handled the construction process. The call sign on the permit was changed from WWQI to WLAX; land was purchased at the La Crosse market antenna farm in
La Crescent, Minnesota
La Crescent is a city in Houston and Winona counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 5,276 at the 2020 census.
La Crescent is located in the northeast portion of Houston County; the northern edge of the city falls into Winon ...
(though it ultimately used an existing tower
); and programming was purchased for the first
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 ...
in the market. After delays, WLAX signed on on November 10, 1986.
Construction of WEUX
The addition of a channel 48 station at Chippewa Falls had been planned since the mid-1980s. Pat Bushland of Bushland Radio Specialties, owner of radio station
WCFW, was first to apply for the station in 1984.
Family Group Broadcasting then also filed for the channel in September 1986;
helped by its favorable
comparative hearing
The comparative hearing process was used by the United States Federal Radio Commission from 1927 to 1934 and its successor, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), from 1934 to 1994 for the evaluation of mutually exclusive applications for bro ...
status as not already owning a station in Chippewa Falls, it prevailed in a settlement with Bushland in 1987 and announced plans to build it as an extension of WLAX.
Family Group struggled to find an antenna site. In 1988, the company switched to a proposed location near Colfax only to face rejection from the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA). Meanwhile, the company's financial picture was dimming rapidly. In 1989, the company filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Two attempts, one before and one after the bankruptcy, to sell the station group to Krypton Broadcasting fell through. In February 1990, Aries Telecommunications agreed to buy part of the company: WLAX, the WEUX construction permit, and WGBA-TV (the former WLRE-TV). However, the sale took most of the year to be completed after one of Family Group's creditors, television programming supplier
MCA Television
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUnive ...
, objected to the repayment plan only to be overruled by a bankruptcy judge.
After the deal was consummated in October 1991,
the FCC approved a key modification of the WEUX construction permit, allowing construction to finally proceed at a site near
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
.
The station finally began broadcasting on February 9, 1993.
A new tower was built for WEUX at Colfax in 1995, housing a new transmitter facility broadcasting at the increased effective radiated power of 1.5 million watts.
Grant Broadcasting
Grant Broadcasting System II (also referred to as Grant Communications and Grant Company) was an owner of various television stations in the United States, Based in Roanoke, Virginia.
Grant Broadcasting was founded in 1990 by Milton Grant (May 1 ...
acquired WLAX/WEUX from Aries in 1996.
Modern history
From March 2011 to January 2012, WLAX in La Crosse and
WQOW
WQOW (channel 18) is a television station in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Chippewa Valley as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Entertainment Studios, Allen Media Broadcasting, the station has studios ...
in Eau Claire provided temporary transmission of WEAU after its tower at
Fairchild Fairchild may refer to:
Organizations
* Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company
* Fairchild Camera and Instrument
* List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies
* Fairchild Fash ...
collapsed in an ice storm.
On November 6, 2013,
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
announced that it would purchase the Grant stations, including WLAX/WEUX, for $87.5 million.
The sale was completed on December 1, 2014.
Newscasts
In 1995, WLAX/WEUX began carrying two-minute newsbreaks before 6 and 10 p.m.
and a monthly community affairs program, ''Impact''.
Beginning August 28, 2006, WLAX/WEUX began airing a 30-minute nightly 9 p.m. newscast, produced by WEAU at its studios.
Technical information
WLAX and WEUX broadcast two shared channels (Fox and
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operati ...
) as well as two unique
diginets each from
Scripps Networks
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
. In 2016, when Nexstar reached a group deal for carriage of the then-Katz Broadcasting diginets, separate offerings were launched from each transmitter.
Both stations discontinued analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009. While the
national digital TV transition was delayed to June, all of the major commercial stations in La Crosse and Eau Claire converted on the original airdate.
References
External links
*
WEAU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wlax
Television channels and stations established in 1986
1986 establishments in Wisconsin
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
Fox network affiliates
MeTV affiliates
Laff (TV network) affiliates
Grit (TV network) affiliates
Nexstar Media Group