| Green Bay/Appleton, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Branding | NBC 26 (general) NBC 26 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | NBC 26, More Colorful (general) In Your Corner(newscasts) |
| Channels | Digital: 41 (UHF) Virtual: 26 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 26.1 NBC 26.2 Me-TV |
| Owner | Journal Broadcast Group |
| Founded | December 31, 1980 |
| Call letters' meaning | Green Bay/Appleton |
| Sister station(s) | WACY-TV, WTMJ-TV, WTMJ-AM, WLWK-FM |
| Former callsigns | WLRE (1980-1985) |
| Former channel number(s) | 26 (UHF analog, 1980-2009) |
| Former affiliations | DT1: Indep. (1980-1992) Fox (1992-1995) DT2:TheCoolTV (2010-2011) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 367 m |
| Facility ID | 2708 |
| Website | nbc26.com |
WGBA-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northeastern Wisconsin's Fox River Valley licensed to Green Bay. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 (PSIP virtual channel 26) from a transmitter in the Shirley section of De Pere. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink channel 7. There is a high definition signal offered on CenturyLink digital channel 126 and Time Warner Cable digital channel 1007. Owned by the Journal Broadcast Group, the station operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WACY-TV (owned by Ace TV Incorporated) through a local marketing agreement (LMA).
The two share studios on North Road along Airport Drive/WIS 172 in Ashwaubenon (with a Green Bay postal address). Syndicated programming on WGBA includes: Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, Family Feud, and America's Funniest Home Videos. The second and third shows can also be seen as part of MyNetworkTV's Tuesday night prime time lineup on WACY.
Contents |
The station's digital signal is broadcast on UHF channel 41, and is multiplexed:
| Channel | Format | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WGBA programming / NBC |
| 26.2 | 480i | 4:3 | Me-TV Green Bay-Appleton |
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WGBA continued to broadcast its digital signal on channel 41 and continues to identify via PSIP as virtual channel 26.[1]
WGBA's subchannel is carried on Time Warner Cable's Northeastern Wisconsin systems over digital channel 994. Some Time Warner markets where both WTMJ and WGBA are transmitted to viewers instead air WTMJ's Live Well Network subchannel, depending on where an individual market falls in terms of ACNielsen classifications, though those systems also already carry Me-TV flagship WBME-TV from Milwaukee on the basic lifeline tier under must-carry rules.
The subchannel previously carried TheCoolTV. On September 7, Journal and Weigel Broadcasting announced that WGBA would carry the classic television network Me-TV beginning October 1, 2011.[2][3]. Me-TV replaced TheCoolTV on 26.2, as Journal has brought a lawsuit against TheCoolTV's parent company for non-payment of services; WTMJ-TV, along with Journal's other stations dropped the network on October 1, 2011 to carry Live Well Network or Me-TV, depending on market[4][5][6].
In addition to its main signal, WGBA operates two translators to extend the station's coverage northward. The translators are a remnant of the analog era when it was Green Bay's only major UHF commercial television station. The station in fact had to keep a post office box address open for years and advertise an offer of a free pamphlet describing installation of a UHF television antenna to interested viewers until the early 90's.
During that period, residents of Northern Door County and the southern portion of Michigan's Upper Peninsula could easily receive the three Green Bay network stations on VHF and WFRV semi-satellite WJMN-TV from Escanaba, Michigan, along with PBS member station WNMU from Marquette, Michigan, but not WGBA and Wisconsin Public Television's WPNE-TV (Channel 38). Although its calls do not reflect this, W22BW channel 22 is officially licensed as a Class A station. Before it became an NBC affiliate, WGBA was repeated in Michigan's Upper Peninsula on W02AM channel 2 in Gwinn, W09BA channel 9 in Felch, W49AF channel 49 in Crystal Falls, and W56BF channel 56 in Iron Mountain. The last translator was encrypted and part of the now-defunct over-the-air cable system in the area.
| Call letters | Channel | City of license | Transmitter location |
|---|---|---|---|
| W22BW | 22 | Sturgeon Bay | north of downtown |
| W31BK | 31 | Menominee, Michigan | northeast of downtown |
The station signed-on as WLRE on December 31, 1980 broadcasting an analog signal on UHF channel 26. The call letters stood for station co-founder Lyle R. Evans. It was Green Bay's first Independent outlet as well as the first new commercial station to sign-on in the area in 25 years. In late-1984, the station's partnership was dissolved in a bankruptcy court in which investors lost money. In 1985, it was bought by Family Group Broadcasting Incorporated for only pennies on the dollar. On October 3 of that year, the call letters were changed to WGBA-TV.[7] The station, then known on-air as "TV 26", was well known in its early years for children programming host "Cuddles the Clown" who stayed with the station until it acquired an NBC affiliation and moved to WACY before retiring.
In the wake of a bankruptcy, Green Bay's original Fox affiliate WXGZ went dark February 14, 1992. WGBA became the new affiliate the following day changing its identification to "Fox 26". In 1994 during the first year of NFL on Fox, the station had to contract with ABC affiliate WBAY-TV to do a pregame show before Green Bay Packers games since it lacked a local sports department. WGBA relaunched WXGZ with Ace TV though a local marketing agreement in June 1994. That station became a charter affiliate of UPN and changed its call letters to WACY-TV in 1995.
WGBA became an NBC affiliate in August 1995 in the wake of WLUK-TV's switch to Fox after an ownership change and the network's acquisition of the NFL's National Football Conference contract enabling the station to be the Packers' home station. WGBA then became known on-air as "NBC 26". As an NBC affiliate, it struggled to find a constant identity. Green Bay's other three stations have been been on-the-air since the 1950s and had loyal audiences. Relief did not come until October 2004 when the Journal Broadcast Group bought it for $43.2 million after Aries Telecommunications sold the station. Journal had long wanted a station in Northeastern Wisconsin alongside its flagship station, WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, that market's NBC affiliate and dominant news station.
The purchase also included the LMA with WACY. Although Journal has wanted to buy WACY outright, this had been unlikely since Green Bay has only six full-power stations (not enough to legally permit a duopoly). However in September 2010, WLUK owner LIN TV Corporation exercised an option to purchase CW affiliate WCWF from ACME Communications, and asked for a "failing station waiver" which would allow LIN to own WLUK and WCWF, which is possible if the petitioner can prove the station is in an economically non-viable position. Because WCWF was hampered for years by several factors, including low cable carriage and an analog signal originating more towards their city of license, Suring than Green Bay, the waiver was granted in February 2011. It is unlikely however Journal could argue the same for WACY, as ACE TV has maintained the license without incident since 1995 and WACY has always transmitted from Glenmore with good cable coverage, making a failing station waiver difficult to attain.
Since being acquired by Journal, WGBA and WTMJ have become close sister stations and now share the same news theme and graphics package. The stations share resources which allows WGBA to use WTMJ's resources for breaking news, live events, and sports coverage. This became more evident in 2008 when WGBA outsourced sports and weekend weather reports to WTMJ and simulcasted WTMJ's morning and noon newscasts for a short time. Prior to November 2010, WGBA did not utilize any subchannel services at all and never associated with NBC Weather Plus. The station finally launched a new second digital subchannel in that month carrying TheCoolTV (an automated music video network) which began airing on the WTMJ subchannel since the summer of 2009. The establishment of WGBA-DT2 marks the second commercial station in the market to launch a subchannel service after WBAY. TheCoolTV was replaced with Me-TV on October 1, 2011.
On September 7, Journal and Weigel Broadcasting announced that WGBA would carry the classic television network Me-TV on a subchannel, with cable coverage currently unknown[8].
During NBC coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics, WGBA established a news department and began airing local newscasts every night at 6 and 10. Current Fox Business Network journalist Ashley Webster was the station's first News Director and weeknight anchor. Eventually as the operation grew, the station added shows in other dayparts. On June 3, 2008, Journal announced WGBA's sports department would shut down and the sports team, Ted Stefaniak and John Burton, would be laid-off by the company. All sports segments now pre-taped in advance originate from WTMJ's facilities (on East Capitol Drive/WIS 190 in Milwaukee's Far North Side section) using its personnel. WGBA's staff continues to film sports video and freelance announcers (some formerly with this station) provide commentary for Green Bay sporting events.[9]
On July 14, 2008 due to low ratings and inconsistent viewership, WGBA discontinued its weekday morning show and noon newscast while leting go some of its staff. In place of those shows, WTMJ's Live at Daybreak and Live at Noon newscasts were simulcasted on this station with local weather cut-ins from WGBA in Green Bay. In January 2009, the weekday morning simulcast was cancelled and turned into a WGBA-produced rolling weather block called Non-Stop Weather. WTMJ's weekday noon broadcast later moved to WACY in order to allow WGBA's carriage of paid programming, which for a time in 2008, filled some of the station's early afternoon schedule due to syndicated program cancellations or low ratings. The midday news on WACY and paid programming on WGBA were eventually dropped as well.
On April 7, 2009, WTMJ became the first station in Milwaukee to upgrade local broadcasts to high definition. However, the pre-taped nightly sports and weekend weather segments originating from WTMJ were not included in the change. This is because WGBA has not yet converted its news department or syndicated programming to high definition (though none of WGBA's syndicated programs are even offered in HD at the present time).[10] On July 24, it was announced some of WGBA's reporter and photojournalist jobs would be eliminated and the remaining staff would be retrained as "one man band" videojournalists handling reporting, camera work, and editing stories themselves. In September 2009, Bonnie Kirschman was let go and she was the final employee to remain with WGBA's news operation since the 1996 launch.
In mid-August 2009, the weekday morning weather block was canceled entirely with Better moving to the 5 a.m. hour followed by encores of the previous night's NBC 26 News Live at 10 broadcast and Early Today before Today. On January 10, 2011, WGBA brought back a weekday morning show under the slightly revised title of NBC 26 News Today from a new morning-exclusive set. In addition to its main studios, the station operates a Fox Cities Bureau in Downtown Appleton on West College Avenue. WGBA operates its own weather radar at the main facilities in Ashwaubenon.
+ denotes personnel based at WTMJ
Anchors
NBC 26 Precision Weather Team
Sports
Videojournalists
Contributors
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