- For the related radio station with the same call letters, see WTMJ (AM)
WTMJ is an AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting at 620 AM. It is a 50,000-watt station airing a format of news, talk and sports. WTMJ is owned by Journal Broadcast Group, which also owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and sister station WLWK-FM.Because of the station's power and...
WTMJ-TV is a television station located in
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...
, and the flagship station of the Journal Broadcast Group. When WTMJ-TV began broadcasting on December 3, 1947, it was the first television station in Wisconsin, and the fifteenth commercial station to go on the air in the United States. Its signal now covers most of southeastern
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
and parts of northeastern
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, including
RacineRacine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. As of the 2006 census, the city had a population of 81,592.- History :...
,
KenoshaKenosha is a city in and the county seat of Kenosha County, United States. The city motto is "Great Town - Great People - Great Lake". With an estimated 2006 population of 96,240, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. The city lies on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, south of...
,
SheboyganSheboygan is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 50,792 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and
WaukeshaWaukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. As of the 2008 population estimate, Waukesha had a total population of 68,008, and was the largest community in the county. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...
. Its transmitter is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin approximately 8 miles (13 km) north of downtown Milwaukee. WTMJ-TV transmits its signal from an antenna in height.
The station's current slogan is "Today's TMJ4". The station also provides engineering assistance for ION Network affiliate
WPXEWPXE-TV, digital channel 40, is the Ion Television O&O station for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the city of license thirty miles south in Kenosha...
(Channel 55); previously WPXE aired WTMJ newscasts on a half-hour delay in the evening and shared some programming with Channel 4, however this deal was ended in July 2005. It is the only station in the Milwaukee market to have never switched affiliations in its history.
History
The Journal Company's first television license was granted in September 1931 for experimental station W9XD, using a low-definition
electromechanicalMechanical television was a television system that used mechanical or electromechanical devices to capture and display images. However, the images themselves were usually transmitted electronically and via radio waves. The reason for this dual nature of mechanical television lies in the history of...
system. The station conducted field tests from 1931 to 1933, before converting its facilities to experimental high-fidelity
apexApex was an experimental radio broadcasting system introduced in the United States in 1934 that used high frequencies between roughly 25 and 42 MHz to achieve high fidelity sound with less static and distortion than AM stations experience...
radio unit W9XAZ in 1934. Its license was withdrawn by the FCC in 1938 as part of an effort to limit licenses to stations actively engaging in the development of television. No publicly announced television programming was broadcast by W9XD during this experimental period.
The Journal Company obtained in September 1941 one of the first commercial television construction permits issued by the FCC, under the call letters WMJT (Milwaukee Journal Television), and built a new broadcast facility by August 1942. But the U.S.
War Production BoardThe War Production Board was established as a government agency on January 16, 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt.The purpose of the board was to regulate the production and allocation of materials and fuel during World War II in the United States...
halted the manufacture of television and radio broadcasting equipment for civilian use from April 1942 to August 1945, suspending the company's television plans.
On December 3, 1947
WTMJ-TV (WTMJ standing for
We're
The
Milwaukee
Journal) went on the air, becoming the first commercial television station in Wisconsin, and the fourth commercial station in the
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
. When the station began
broadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
in 1947, there were only 500 television sets in Milwaukee, jumping to 2,050 by the following April. WTMJ had affiliated with the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
television network since sign on, although it also carried programming from
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
,
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
, and
Du MontThe DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
before those networks had their own affiliated stations in Milwaukee. WTMJ is the only station in Milwaukee to be affiliated with the same network since it signed on. It is currently NBC's second-longest tenured affiliate, behind only
KSD-TV (now KSDK)KSDK, Channel 5, is the NBC-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KSDK is owned and operated by Gannett Company, and the station's transmitter is located in Marlborough, Missouri. The station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its former analog channel assignment...
in
St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
(which had signed on in January of that year).
WTMJ originally transmitted on channel 3 and shifted to Channel 4 on July 11, 1953 to avoid interference with
Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo is the largest city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 76,145...
's WKZO-TV (now
WWMTWWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan that is licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter at Gun Lake southeast of Wayland along the Barry and Allegan County line. Owned by Freedom Communications, the station...
), which is nearly directly across
Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The second largest of the Great Lakes by volume The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area , it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin,...
. This was a part of the FCC's complete revision of the Table of Channel Assignments as issued in its Sixth Report and General Order issued on April 14, 1952. This move forced the CBS affiliate on channel 4 in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
(now
WBBM-TVWBBM-TV digital channel 12 is the CBS owned and operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located within the CBS 2 Broadcast Center located in The Loop at 22 W Washington Street. The facilities are part of the development at 108 North State Street...
), the first commercially-licensed TV station outside of the Eastern Time Zone to move to channel 2. It had done so on July 5.
WTMJ was one of the first stations in the country to purchase color equipment, and in December 1953, they broadcast the
color televisionThe history of television is both complex and far-reaching, involving the work of many inventors and engineers in several countries over many decades. Initially, work proceeded along two different but overlapping lines of development: those designs employing both mechanical and electronic...
program
Amahl and the Night VisitorsAmahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed on December 24, 1951 in New York City, at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast live on television as the...
from
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
, when only two prototype color sets existed in Milwaukee. The city's first color TV sets were sold in March 1954, and by July 1954 WTMJ broadcast their first local color program originating from their studios,
The Grenadiers, becoming the third local station in the U.S. with live color capability. By November 1, 1956, all locally produced WTMJ-TV programs were in color. About 3000 color sets existed in Milwaukee in February 1957.
On April 7, 2009, the station became the first in Milwaukee to convert their local programming operations to full high definition with a soft launch starting with that day's
Live at Daybreak .
In the early morning hours of June 19, 2009 at about 12:20 AM, WTMJ's transmitter failed during a severe thunderstorm . That afternoon, WTMJ began broadcasting on one of WBME-TV's subchannels (49.2).
The ownership remains under Journal Broadcast Group. As such, WTMJ is one of the few non-O&O television stations in the country that has had the same callsign, owner and primary network affiliation throughout its history. In August 2004 Green Bay's NBC affiliate,
WGBAWGBA-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area of northeastern Wisconsin that is licensed to Green Bay. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from a transmitter east of Shirley in Brown County...
(Channel 26), was bought by Journal and became a sister station to WTMJ, along with LMA partner
WACYWACY-TV is a television station in the Green Bay-Fox Cities, Wisconsin, market. The station's studios are located at 1391 North Road, Green Bay, Wisconsin, with its transmitter some 25 miles southwest in the town of Glenmore, Wisconsin...
.
Digital television
| Channel |
Programming |
| 4.1 |
WTMJ-TV |
| 4.2 |
Storm Team 4 |
| 4.3 |
TheCoolTV theCoolTV is an over-the-air digital subchannel television network in the United States launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized by station, along with the three hours per week of FCC-required E/I programming, with...
, powered by 94-5 Lake FM |
On March 1, 2006, WTMJ launched its local version of the
NBC Weather PlusNBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially-sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
service called
TMJ4 Weather Plus, a 24-hour weather channel which features a mix of local/national forecasts and weather, and features WTMJ's meteorologists. The station airs over
DTVDTV may refer to:* Direct-to-video , a method of film release which skips the theatre screening process and makes the movie readily available for home viewing* Digital television* C64 Direct-to-TV, a Commodore 64 self-contained within a joystick...
Channel 4-2, and previously on
Time WarnerTime Warner Cable is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. Its corporate headquarters are located in New York, NY, and has other corporate offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado...
Digital CableDigital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
over Channel 104 throughout Southeastern Wisconsin.
Charter CommunicationsCharter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 5.7 million customers in 29 states. It is the third-largest cable operator in the U.S., behind Comcast and Time Warner Cable...
, the other main local cable provider, never carried TMJ4 Weather Plus. In June 2006, the station changed their weather branding on the main newscasts from "Storm Team 4" to "TMJ4 Weather Plus", as had most stations airing the service. With the November 2008 end of the Weather Plus service, the weather branding has returned to using the former "Storm Team 4" name; the subchannel also took on the same branding as the
Storm Team 4 Channel on January 1.
Analog to Digital Conversion
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion took place for the station on June 12, 2009 at 12 noon (with a short two-hour nightlighting period after), WTMJ-TV continued digital broadcasts on its current pre-transition channel number, 28. However, through the use of
PSIPThe Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch by...
, digital television receivers currently display WTMJ-TV's
virtual channelIn telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel in North America, is a channel designation which differs from the actual radio channel or frequency on which the signal travels....
as 4.
Programming
WTMJ broadcasts all of NBC's schedule, with the exception of some older made-for-TV movies bought by Channel 4 which are used to pre-empt NBC movies or Saturday night programming for additional local advertising revenue several times a year. However, this practice is nothing new, for they also had a reputation of pre-empting or delaying a handful of NBC shows in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s (NBC's Daytime gameshow and soap opera lineup, moving
Sanford and SonSanford and Son was an American sitcom that premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons. The final original episode aired on March 25, 1977. The show was based on the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son....
to Saturday nights in the 1970s and airing the syndicated
FameFame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name and was hugely popular during its first few seasons. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York...
in place of
Gimme a Break and
Mama's FamilyMama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It ended its run on that network in May 1984 when it was cancelled, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In June 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for...
on Thursday nights during the 1983-1984 TV season were examples of this). But its most controversial move would come in 1979 when it asked NBC permission to delay
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk and variety show airing on NBC since 1954. Tonight is the third longest-running entertainment program in U.S...
to 11pm so it could carry reruns of
MaudeMaude is a half-hour American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978....
. They would try again in 1984, attempting to ask for a
Tonight Show move to 11:30pm so it could air reruns of
Trapper John, M.D.Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, about a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
after the late news starting in September of that year. NBC refused again, and the program was moved to then-independent
WVTVWVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and serves as Southeast Wisconsin's CW affiliate. The station broadcasts from the Milwaukee Public Television tower on Milwaukee's northeast side with WMVS/WMVT, along with WCGV , WVTV's sister station...
(Channel 18), where it aired at 10:30pm from September 1984-September 1988, when WTMJ decided to cede to NBC and air the program at its regular time. The station also delayed
Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC from 1993 to 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and stand-up comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 a.m....
to 12:05am from the program's beginning in 1993 until 2001.
WTMJ decided to pre-empt the entire run of the primetime
pokerPoker is a sport from the family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bets and how many rounds of betting are allowed...
game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
Face the AceFace the Ace is a poker-themed game show on the NBC television network. The show is hosted by Steve Schirripa, a regular cast member on the HBO television series The Sopranos.-Production:...
in August 2009, replacing the series with station-slotted
paid programmingInfomercials are long-format television commercials, typically five minutes or longer. Infomercials are also known as paid programming . This phenomenon started in the United States where infomercials were typically shown overnight --outside of peak hours...
, the first time any Milwaukee station has pre-empted a significant portion or all of an entire primetime network series since the early 1990's. It is unknown if moral objections by WTMJ management (as sister station WGBA carried the series) or ratings concerns played into the pre-emption.
The station's sole syndicated programs are
Cold Case FilesCold Case Files is a 1999—present documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent...
on weekdays and late weekend evenings and weekend runs of
Stargate AtlantisStargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1 created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner after the release of Stargate...
repeats and
The Outdoorsman, by far being the station with the lowest amount of syndicated shows in the market. WTMJ had been the long-time Milwaukee home for
Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy!Jeopardy! is an American quiz show featuring trivia in topics such as history, literature, the arts, pop culture, and science. The show has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.The...
from their premieres in the early 80s until fall 2005, when both shows moved to WDJT, and was the first station to air
OprahThe Oprah Winfrey Show is a United States syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey, and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history...
until an en-masse deal with Hearst's television stations in 1994 moved the show to WISN. WTMJ (and WPXE during the LMA years) had aired
Martha StewartMartha Helen Stewart is an American business magnate, television host, author and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
's
Martha Stewart LivingMartha Stewart Living is a magazine and a television show featuring entertaining and home decorating guru Martha Stewart. Both the magazine and the television program focus on the domestic arts. Martha Stewart Living began as a quarterly magazine in 1990, published by Time Inc..and is currently...
and then
MarthaMartha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is a syndicated American daytime television talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. It began airing in September 2005. It is hosted by Martha Stewart, and each episode includes several segments related to cooking, interior design, gardening, crafts, and...
until September 2007, when
Martha moved to WISN.
Currently WTMJ airs
Today in two segments; the original 7 am–9 am block, followed by
The Morning Blend, then the final two hours of
Today from 10 am–noon, leading into the relocated hour-long
Live at Noon newscast and
Days of Our Lives, which moved to 1 pm on September 10, 2007.
The station is also the 'official station' of the
Green Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League and are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.The Packers are the last vestige of "small town...
for the Milwaukee market, giving it rights to air the team's non-nationally televised preseason games.
WFRVWFRV-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Green Bay, Wisconsin. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter north of Morrison...
(Channel 5) in Green Bay is the overall 'official station' for the Packers. WTMJ airs shows involving the team, including the
head coachA head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing sports men and women. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
's weekly show, which airs on Tuesday nights at 6:30. Because of the Summer Olympics occurring in 2004 and 2008, which are not allowed any pre-emptions by the network, WTMJ has sub-licenced some preseason games to other stations; in 2004 to then-LMA partner WPXE, and in 2008 to
CWThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate
WVTVWVTV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and serves as Southeast Wisconsin's CW affiliate. The station broadcasts from the Milwaukee Public Television tower on Milwaukee's northeast side with WMVS/WMVT, along with WCGV , WVTV's sister station...
(Channel 18).
The Morning Blend
The station produces a locally-produced program called
The Morning Blend, which premiered on September 12, 2006 at 10 am, and now airs at 9am after
Todays expansion to four hours. The show is hosted by former local reporters Allison de Castro and Molly Fay. This was WTMJ's first attempt at a local show besides news or public affairs since 1979, when the short-lived A New Day
aired, co-hosted by 1973 Miss WisconsinThe Miss Wisconsin competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Wisconsin in the Miss America pageant. Wisconsin has once won the Miss America crown.- Winners :...
/Miss AmericaThe Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
winner (and current 700 Club
co-host) Terry Anne MeeuwsenTerry Anne Meeuwsen is an American television personality and singer. She is also known for winning the Miss America pageant in 1973....
and KGO-TVKGO-TV, channel 7, based in San Francisco, California, is an owned-and-operated television station of The Walt Disney Company subsidiary ABC...
& AM/San Francisco newsman/radio host (and former WTMJ TV reporter) Pete WilsonPeter James "Pete" Wilson was an American broadcaster born in Wisconsin. For more than 20 years prior to his death, he worked in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was not related to the former California governor of the same name....
(now deceased).
Morning Blends format is based on
Daytime, a show from
TampaTampa is a Gulf Coast city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of the state of Florida in the United States. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. The population of Tampa in 2000 was 303,447...
's NBC affiliate
WFLA-TVWFLA-TV is the NBC affiliated television station for the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida market on the state's west coast. The station is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Media General. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida...
(Channel 8) which was controversial when launched, because some segments of the program (such as how-to or cooking blocks) were paid for by local businesses, which paid for mentions of their products on air; however WFLA failed to make this clear (they have since changed it so that paid segments are disclaimed). WTMJ's version features a mix of paid and unpaid segments. All segments which promote a certain product or company are clearly disclaimed on air, and the show's talent has no connection to WTMJ's newsroom. Also, the sales and advertising departments produce the show, while the news department has no interest in the program. The hosts of
The Morning Blend do not report any news, ceding any breaking events to the Daybreak staff in the news studio, and the show is pre-empted in such cases the news takes up the full hour (such as a weather emergency).
In June 2008, the program also began to air on sister station WGBA in Green Bay due to that station cutting some morning news programming, also at 9 am. The show competes with WLUK (Channel 11)'s
Living with Amy in that market.
News Operation
Since the launch of the extended
Today Show in September 2007, the station's programming focus has shifted very heavily towards local news, as replacement
syndicatedIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows to multiple individual stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in countries where television is scheduled by networks with local affiliates, particularly in the United States...
programming for
MarthaMartha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is a syndicated American daytime television talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. It began airing in September 2005. It is hosted by Martha Stewart, and each episode includes several segments related to cooking, interior design, gardening, crafts, and...
,
Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. Three contestants compete against each other to solve a word puzzle, similar to those seen in the game hangman...
and
Jeopardy!Jeopardy! is an American quiz show featuring trivia in topics such as history, literature, the arts, pop culture, and science. The show has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.The...
after their moves to other stations in the market, and the August 2008 ending of
MontelThe Montel Williams Show was a syndicated talk show hosted by Montel Williams.On January 30, 2008 it was announced that The Montel Williams Show would stop production on new episodes at the end of the 2007-08 television season...
have failed to spark viewer interest outside of local/network hours. As of September 8, 2008, the station launched a 3PM news hour, and before then on August 25, extended the 6PM newscast to a full hour (except Tuesday nights for
Mike McCarthyMichael John McCarthy is the head coach of the National Football League's Green Bay Packers.-College:McCarthy was a tight end at Baker University, an NAIA school located in Baldwin City, Kansas.-College:...
's coach's show during the NFL season) before NBC primetime with the move of
ExtraExtra is an entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
to WITI's late night schedule, giving the station eight hours of local news every weekday tying WITI's daily news output.
Daybreak, Live at 6:00 and Live at 10:00 are available on
Time Warner CableTime Warner Cable is an American national cable television company that operates in 27 states and has 31 operating divisions. Its corporate headquarters are located in New York, NY, and has other corporate offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; and Denver, Colorado...
's
VODVideo on Demand or Audio Video on Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand....
service, "Wisconsin on Demand 411" throughout southeastern Wisconsin, two hours after each program's original airing and for three days after. Also available through this service are specific WTMJ reports, I-Team investigations and consumer stories, along with Sunday public affairs program
Sunday Insight with Charlie Sykes.
Some of WTMJ's morning and noon newscasts aired on Green Bay sister station
WGBAWGBA-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area of northeastern Wisconsin that is licensed to Green Bay. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from a transmitter east of Shirley in Brown County...
(Channel 26) since July 14, 2008, after that station ended their own newscasts at 5 am, 9 am, and the first half-hour of the noon newscast. Since January 2009, the morning simulcast has been cancelled and turned into a WGBA-produced rolling weather block called
Non Stop Weather due to a lack of interest by northeastern Wisconsin residents in Milwaukee area news.
Live at Noon has moved to WGBA's LMA partner
WACYWACY-TV is a television station in the Green Bay-Fox Cities, Wisconsin, market. The station's studios are located at 1391 North Road, Green Bay, Wisconsin, with its transmitter some 25 miles southwest in the town of Glenmore, Wisconsin...
(Channel 32) in order to allow Channel 26 to carry more
paid programmingInfomercials are long-format television commercials, typically five minutes or longer. Infomercials are also known as paid programming . This phenomenon started in the United States where infomercials were typically shown overnight --outside of peak hours...
due to financial struggles.
All sportscasts are provided by WTMJ; station staff continues to film video and freelance announcers (some formerly with WGBA) provide commentary for Green Bay sporting events on WGBA.
On April 7, 2009, WTMJ became the first station in Milwaukee to broadcast local news in high definition. With the change to HD came new music,
High Velocity from
615 Music615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles...
and new graphics from Renderon Broadcast Design, the main graphics company for all Journal Broadcast Group stations.
Current On-Air Talent
Current Anchors
- Charles Benson - Saturdays at 5, 6 and 6:30, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10PM (also weekday reporter)
- Courtny Gerrish - weekdays at 3, 3:30, 4 and 4:30PM
- Mike Jacobs - weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10PM
- Susan Kim - weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak"
- George Mallet - weekdays at 3, 3:30, 4, and 4:30PM (also 10PM reporter)
- Melissa McCrady - weekend mornings "Live at Daybreak" (also weekday reporter)
- Carole Meekins - weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10PM
- Diane Pathieu - weekdays at noon (also morning reporter)
- Vince Vitrano - weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak" and noon
- Shelley Walcott - Saturdays at 5, 6 and 6:30, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10PM (also weekday reporter)
Reporters
- Aaron Diamant - investigative reporter
- Michael George - general assignment reporter
- Lauren Leamanczyk - general assignment reporter
- Lisa Manna - traffic reporter
- Tom Murray - general assignment reporter
- Jay Olstad - general assignment reporter
- Heather Shannon - general assignment reporter
- Melanie Stout - general assignment reporter
- Mick Trevey - general assignment reporter
Storm Team 4
- John Malan (AMS
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10PM
- Michael Fish - Meteorologist; weekend mornings "Live at Daybreak"
- Brian Gotter (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekdays at noon, 3, 3:30, 4 and 4:30PM
- Craig Koplien (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "Live at Daybreak"
- Scott Steele - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 5, 6 and 6:30, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10PM
Sports Team
- Lance Allan - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10PM
- Rod Burks - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 5, 6 and 6:30, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10PM
- Jessie Garcia - sports reporter (also from The Mike McCarthy Show)
Former On-Air Talent
- Silvia Acevedo - reporter (now a commentator at WTMJ-TV
WTMJ-TV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the flagship station of the Journal Broadcast Group. When WTMJ-TV began broadcasting on December 3, 1947, it was the first television station in Wisconsin, and the fifteenth commercial station to go on the air in the United States...
)
- Contessa Brewer
Contessa Brewer is an American news anchor, and currently working for MSNBC.-Biography:She graduated from Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine in 1992. She joined MSNBC in September 2003 after working for WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter...
- reporter (now midday anchor at MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States and available in both the US and Canada. Its name is a combination of "MSN" and "NBC"....
)
- Claudia Coffey - anchor (2003-2005; now at WTTG-TV in Washington D.C.)
- John Drury
John Drury was an anchorman from Chicago, IL. He appeared on both WGN-TV and WLS-TV. Upon his retirement came the news that he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease...
- 10PM anchor (1955–1962; deceased)
- Mike Gousha - anchor (1981–August 25, 2006; retired from anchoring in late 2006; currently political coverage director for WISN-TV
WISN-TV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha. WISN is an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its transmitter is located within Lincoln Park...
and host of statewide public affairs program UpFront with Mike Gousha)
- Kevin Hunt - sportscaster (currently at KPNX
KPNX is a full-service television station, serving the Phoenix, Arizona television market as the NBC affiliate. Its studios and offices are located in Phoenix, and its transmitter is on South Mountain in Phoenix, but it is licensed to the suburb of Mesa. It is owned by the Gannett Company, which...
in PhoenixPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
)
- Paul Joseph - chief meteorologist (1970–2006; retired on August 18, 2006; currently doing local advertising for a window company)
- Vivian King - reporter (currently director of public affairs for Roundy's
Roundy's Supermarkets is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based supermarket chain with 151 stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $3.9 billion, Roundy's is ranked as number 33 among "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" for the 2007 and as the seventy-eighth...
)
- Tami Kou - anchor (1999-2005; now an account manager, crisis consultant and lead media trainer at LaBreche in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities,...
)
- Dennis Krause - sports director (1987–2005; now at Time Warner Cable Sports 32
Time Warner Cable Sports 32 is a regional sports network operated by the Milwaukee and Eastern Wisconsin cable franchise of Time Warner Cable. Broadcasting on Channel 32 exclusively on Time Warner systems in the Milwaukee and Green Bay/Fox Cities areas, the channel launched in February 2007...
and Milwaukee BucksThe Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They play in the National Basketball Association . The current franchise owner is Herb Kohl.- Early years :...
radio color commentatorA color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The term is of North American origin. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy and injury reports...
)
- Mike LaPoint - weather forecaster (2004–2006; currently meteorologist of WPXI-TV
WPXI digital channel 48 is the NBC television affiliate based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. Its transmitter is located on the north side of Pittsburgh...
in Pittsburgh, PAPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
)
- Erik Loney - reporter; (currently reporter/fill in anchor at KXLY-TV
KXLY-TV is the ABC network affiliate in Spokane, Washington. KXLY-TV is owned by Spokane Television Group, a subsidiary of Morgan Murphy Media, it is one of five local Spokane TV stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider.- History :KXLY-TV signed on the air in early 1953, as...
in Spokane, WA)
- Judy Marks - weather forecaster/movie presenter
- John Mercure - general assignment/investigative reporter (?-2009; now a corporate communications manager at Assurant Health)
- Ty Milburn - field reporter (now at NY1
NY1 is an American twenty-four-hour cable-news television channel focusing on the five boroughs of New York City, New York...
)
- Mike Miller - anchor/reporter (now at WISN-TV
WISN-TV is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha. WISN is an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its transmitter is located within Lincoln Park...
)
- Jim Ott - morning/weekend meteorologist (1976–2006; retired on April 30, 2006 to pursue political office; won election to the Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two comprise the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....
in November 2006 as a Republican representing the 23rd District, consisting of MequonMequon is a city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It had a population of 21,823 at the 2000 census, and an estimated population of 23,820 in 2006...
, ThiensvilleThiensville is a village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,254 at the 2000 census. It was founded by its namesake, John Henry Thien....
, and portions of extreme northern Milwaukee County)
- Hank Stoddard - sports director (1967–1994; now retired)
- Bill Taylor - anchor (1972–2002; retired)
- Erick Weber - anchor (?-2007; now at WKMG
WKMG may refer to:*WKMG-TV, a television station licensed to Orlando, Florida, United States*WKMG , a radio station licensed to Newberry, South Carolina, United States...
in Orlando, FloridaOrlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region...
)
- Lynise Weeks - consumer reporter (1993–2005; deceased)
- Paul Zandt - chief/morning meteorologist (retired in 2004)
News/Station Presentation
WTMJ was formerly known as "News 4 Milwaukee", and then shortened down to "News 4", with the late news known as "News 4 Tonight at 10". The newscast name was changed to "Newschannel 4" from 1990 until July 1992, when the "Today's TMJ4" imaging was inaugurated during coverage of the
1992 Summer OlympicsThe 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992.-Host city selection:...
. The first generation of the branding lasted until July 2004 and the
2004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, when a modern and glassy image campaign fit for HDTV was launched, which since has been established on the rest of Journal's stations, with some font and branding differences depending on market. The 'sailboat 4' logo was retired, and the music for the station became more elaborate and grand, though the former theme was retained. Currently, the station brands its news as
Live at [Time of Day], with the morning newscast going by the title
Live at Daybreak.
Newscast Titles
- News 4 Milwaukee (1970-1986)
- News 4 (general)/News 4 Tonight at 10 (10PM newscast; 1986-1990)
- NewsChannel 4 (1990-1992)
- Today's TMJ4 (1992-present; incorporated Live at xx:00 titling for all newscasts in 2004)
- Current Titles: Live at Daybreak, Live at 11:00, Live at 11:30, Live at 3:00, Live at 3:30, Live at 4:00, Live at 4:30, Live at 5:00, Live at 6:00, Live at 6:30, Live at 10:00, Live at 6:30 Saturday, Live at 6:00 Saturday, Live at 5:00 Saturday and Sunday, Live at 10:00 Saturday and Sunday
- Former Titles: Daybreak Early Edition, The Daybreak Report, The 11:30 Report, First 4 News, TMJ4 News Now, The 5:00 Report, The 6:00 Report, The 10:00 Report, The Weekend Report at 5, The Weekend Report at 6, The Weekend Report at 10 (all from 1992-2004), Live at 11 (2004-2007)
Station Slogans
- TV-4, Proud as a Peacock! (1979-1981; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- TV-4, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- Your Number 1 News Station (late 1980s-1990)
- Channel 4, Milwaukee's Team (late 1980s-1990; used with Frank Gari's "Pride Inside" image campaign)
- Real Life. Real News. (1990-1992)
- Touch Today's TMJ4 (1992-2004)
- Breaking News, Accurate Weather (2004-present; primary slogan)
- Trust Today's TMJ4 (2004-present; secondary slogan)
Station Cameo Appearances
- WTMJ's logo
A logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
is shown on the top of the scoreboard in the 1989 film Major LeagueMajor League is a 1989 American satire comedy film written and directed by David S. Ward starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, and Corbin Bernsen. Made for US$11 million, Major League grossed nearly US$50 million in domestic release...
, which was filmed at Milwaukee County StadiumMilwaukee County Stadium was a ballpark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1953 to 2000. It was primarily used as a baseball stadium for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers, but was also used for football games, ice skating, religious services, concerts and other large events...
; the stadium was used as a stand-in for ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
's Municipal StadiumCleveland Stadium was a baseball and American football stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438 for baseball and 81,000 for football...
, where the Cleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field . The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
played at the time the film was produced. The Indians are also interviewed by a WTMJ reporter, which for the purpose of continuity in the film, was a Cleveland TV station.
- WTMJ is also announced in the final scene of the final episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000, often abbreviated MST3K, is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc...
as Mike Nelson and the robots are sitting in a Milwaukee-area apartment on a Saturday afternoon, when The Crawling Eye comes on TV, the first movie seen on the nationally syndicated version of MST3K.
External links
Further reading
- Dick Golembiewski, Milwaukee Television History: The Analog Years, Marquette University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0874620559.