WMKE-CA
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States | |
|---|---|
| Channels |
Analog: 7 (VHF) Digital: 21 (Application) |
| Affiliations | Gem Shopping Network |
| Owner | KM Communications |
| First air date | November 1985 |
| Call letters' meaning | W MilwauKEe (also the airport code for General Mitchell International Airport) |
| Former callsigns |
W08BY (1985–1994) WMKE-LP (1994–2001) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF, 1985–2000) |
| Former affiliations |
MuchMusic (1985–1990) The Box (1990–2001) MTV2 (2001–2006) America One (2006–2012) |
| Transmitter power | 3 kW |
| Height | 180 m |
| Facility ID | 35091 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°2′20.0″N 87°55′4.0″W / 43.038889°N 87.917778°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
WMKE-CA, VHF analog channel 7, is a Gem Shopping Network-affiliated television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The station is owned by KM Communications. WMKE maintains studio facilities located at 3974 South 27th Street in Milwaukee, and its transmitter is located atop the Hilton Milwaukee City Center in downtown Milwaukee (which was previously used by WVTV, channel 18, and WDJT-TV, channel 58, before both stations moved their transmitter facilities to Milwaukee's northeast side). The station's signal is directed north from that site to prevent interference with the former main digital signal of WLS-TV in Chicago (which broadcasts on virtual channel 7, although it continues to use that allocation for use as an inner-city repeater for WLS's current digital channel 44), and is localized to within Milwaukee County.
History
The station first signed on the air in November 1985, broadcasting on VHF channel 8; it offered a mix of locally produced programming, public domain movies and television series, and music videos, with the rest of its broadcast day filled by programming from the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic; MuchMusic programming was dropped in 1990, and replaced with the viewer request music network The Box. After The Box was acquired by Viacom in 2001, the station became the MTV2 affiliate. In August 2000, WMKE moved to VHF channel 7 to allow for PBS member station WMVS (channel 10) to operate its digital signal on channel 8.
In 2006, WMKE-CA dropped MTV2 as well as its Korean programming and became an affiliate of America One (the network had previously been affiliated with WMLW-CA – channel 41, now WBME-CD – and its forerunner low-power station W65BT had previously the network until 2002). In October 2012, WMKE-CA affiliated with the Georgia-based Gem Shopping Network.
The station had a construction permit to operate a low-power digital signal on UHF channel 20. This permit expired on May 21, 2012, although KM Communications has since filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to construct a digital transmitter facility on UHF channel 21.
References
External links
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