WBUW

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WBUW
Janesville/Madison, Wisconsin
Branding	Madison's CW
Channels	57 (UHF) analog, 32 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	ACME Communications
Founded	1999
Call letters meaning	Warner Brothers (former network) - University of Wisconsin (alludes to being in Madison)
Former callsigns	WJNW (prior to first broadcast), WHPN (1999-2002)
Former affiliations	UPN (1999-August 2002) The WB (August 2002-September 2006)
Website	MadisonsCW.com

WBUW (Channel 57 and Digital 32) is Madison's CW, a television station affiliated with the The CW and serving Madison and South Central Wisconsin, with its transmitter located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Channel 57's original construction permit was granted on May 2, 1998 with the call letters WJNW; however, the station didn not sign on until July 5, 1999 as WHPN-TV. With a transmitter located approximately ten miles west of Janesville, the station served as UPN affiliate for both the Madison and Rockford, Illinois TV markets. (In Madison, UPN previously aired during overnight hours on WISC Channel 3).

In 2002, WHPN would be purchased by ACME Communications, a station group run by Jamie Kellner, a founder of The WB Television Network and former CEO of that network and TBS. In relation to the sale, WHPN would change affiliations to The WB in August 2002 and adopt the WBUW call letters (while Madison's former WB affiliate, WISC-owned cable channel WB14 taking UPN and changing their name to "UPN14"). In 2004, WBUW moved its transmitter to Madison on a new tower with WMTV (Channel 15). This move extend their coverage area throughout south central Wisconsin.

On March 8, 2006, WBUW was confirmed as Madison's CW affiliate, with UPN14 taking the affiliation for MyNetworkTV. WBUW did not change their call letters to fit their new affiliation, nor did the other former WB stations owned by ACME Communications (in an effort to avoid audience confusion during the network realignment).

[edit] Station Programming

WBUW programming consists mainly of network programming from The CW and syndicated fare such as Maury and reruns of The King of Queens, That 70s Show, and Friends. WBUW also carries the youth-oriented morning show The Daily Buzz (which is co-owned by WBUW's owner, ACME Communications).

In September 2003, WBUW got into the local news game with The WB57 Nine O'Clock News. Produced by local NBC station WMTV, the 35-minute newscast did include local/national news headlines, weather recaps, and one-minute sports reports, but emphasized entertainment and lifestyle features during the balance of the program (Friday editions of the newscast normally ended with in-studio performances by local musicians). E-mail contests and sweeps-month "free gas giveaways" were also included. Despite the stations' efforts, the newscast never gained ratings ground against 9PM newscasts from both WMSN and WISC's cable/digital offshoot, UPN14. The WB57 Nine O'Clock News ended its run in December 2005, as WBUW ended its relationship with WMTV and returned syndicated programming to the time slot.[1][2] Local content did resume after the network change to The CW, in the form of "Buzzed Into Madison," short features (approximately 2 minutes in length) on local news, events, and businesses reported by Emmy Fink.

[edit] Station Logo History

Channel 57's logo under UPN affilliation and the former WHPN call letters; used from 1999 until August 2002.	WBUW's first WB logo, used from August 2002-Early 2005.	WB57 Nine O'Clock News advertisement, circa 2004.	Final WB era logo for WBUW, in use in 2005 and 2006.
Channel 57's current logo, under CW affiliation.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for WBUW
• Station Website
• Madison Capital Times article about WBUW and UPN14 competing for the CW affiliation
• Madison Capital Times article about WBUW joining CW

ACME Communications
WIWB (Green Bay) - WBUW (Madison) - KWBQ/KRWB (Albuquerque/Roswell) - WBDT (Dayton) - WBXX (Knoxville) - WBUI (Decatur) - KASY (Albuquerque)