WUCW
Encyclopedia
WUCW is an affiliate of The CW serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota
. The station is currently owned and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
.
WUCW is perhaps best known as the station where the cult cable television
series Mystery Science Theater 3000
got its start as a local Twin Cities-area program when the station was called KTMA.
UHF
service called Spectrum
. The call sign stood for "K-Twin Metro Area". The pay-per-view
broadcasts offered by KTMA in its early days featured sports (in the form of home games of the Minnesota Twins
and Minnesota North Stars
(now the Dallas Stars
), animations like Grendizer
and film
s (including pornographic movie
s). This service lasted just two years before the station was sold to the United Cable TV Corporation, who in turn began asking for bids one year later in 1985. The owners of radio station KTWN
made a bid, and took some control of the channel for a while, broadcasting music video
s. However, the eventual owner in 1986 was the KTMA-TV Acquisition Corp., which offered $7 million for the station. The station's new general manager, Donald W. O'Connor, soon transitioned to a more traditional independent format, broadcasting a number of older syndicated programs such as The Andy Griffith Show
and Laurel and Hardy
.
Despite a major marketing campaign upon sign-on in 1987, the station was only moderately successful at pulling in viewers and advertising dollars. In 1988 attempts were made at locally-produced comedy shows. Production manager Jim Mallon
sought to fill a hole in the Sunday night lineup. He talked to his contacts in the local comedy community and ended up meeting Joel Hodgson
. After a particularly successful lunch meeting with Mallon, Hodgson created Mystery Science Theater 3000
(typically abbreviated MST3K), which began airing in November 1988.
In December of that year, KTMA attempted to create a new regional network called the Minnesota Independent Network (MIN) along with a media group based in Fargo, North Dakota
, and KXLI
channel 41 in St. Cloud, Minnesota
. The network never got off the ground, despite good intentions. Eventually KXLI was forced to go off the air for two years. KTMA was also hit hard, leading O'Connor to file for bankruptcy in July 1989. Hodgson and Mallon eventually took their show (MST3K) to the Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central), a cable television network, and later to the Sci Fi Channel
.
In 1989 a small start up home shopping network rented the TV23 studios and debuted their first broadcast on local low power stations Channels 7 & 62. This network was called Valuevision, which later became ShopNBC. ShopNBC is now seen in over 60 million homes and has sales approaching $1 billion.
Through the bankruptcy, the station still maintained its regular programming format, partially supported with infomercials, paid religious shows, daytime network shows that local affiliates didn't clear (mostly game shows from CBS and ABC), and home shopping. It moved into the former offices and studios of local PBS station KTCA in St. Paul, Minnesota in December 1989 (KTCA had constructed a new building). After nearly two more years of bankruptcy proceedings, O'Connor was dismissed as general manager by the court-appointed trustee. In November 1991, the station was purchased by Christian broadcaster Lakeland Group Television.
" or "Lakeland Group Television") in 1992, identifying the station as "Sonlight 23". The format consisted of a few hours of religion a day along with a lot of family oriented off-network sitcoms, cartoons, and old movies. The new format was not very popular, but the station held its own. Sports, this time in the form of the St. Paul Saints
, the Minnesota Timberwolves
, and the Minnesota Moose
, returned to the channel in 1994.
Around this time, KLGT began an association with WCCO-TV
At first, the station merely carried news
updates during prime time
, but in 1995, the two stations worked together on an innovative newscast known as "News of Your Choice." Essentially, two different newscasts were produced at the WCCO studios simultaneously, each one covering different stories. At regular intervals, the news anchors would say what was coming up on the other channel, allowing viewers to decide which story they were more interested in and to tune in to the appropriate channel. Due to declining ratings at WCCO at the time, the project was canceled after a year in January 1996. Also in 1995, KLGT joined the fledgling WB network as its Twin Cities affiliate.
The station was hit by the 2004 controversy surrounding the decision by corporate parent SBG to air the documentary
Stolen Honor
, which was critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
's Vietnam War
service record.
After The WB and UPN
networks merged into The CW Television Network
, KMWB became the new network's Twin Cities affiliate, and the UPN affiliate, WFTC
affiliated with MyNetworkTV
.
to their digital subchannel
, 23-2, on July 15, 2006. However, at the start of 2007, The Tube was dropped. TheCoolTV
was added on 23.2 as of October 4, 2010. The Minneapolis, MN-OTA-AVS Forum and RabbitEars.Info
report that The Country Network was added on 23.3 as of October 22, 2010.
Since 1998, programming has been consistent, with syndicated shows like The People's Court
, The Jerry Springer Show
, Elimidate
, and M*A*S*H. Today, WUCW offers first run syndicated talk reality/court shows, syndicated sitcoms, cartoons from CW4Kids, and CW programming. Until recently, the station carried Minnesota Timberwolves
basketball games.
On August 16, WUCW replaced the WB23 watermark with the CW Twin Cities watermark on its syndicated programs.
WUCW's broadcasts, like those of most Sinclair-owned stations, have been digital-only since February 17, 2009.
Ironically, despite three call letter changes, WUCW's licensee is still listed as "KLGT Licensee."
WUCW continues to support homegrown comedy, airing the first Transylvania Television special on October 12, 2007, and the new one-hour TVTV Halloween Special on October 22, 2010.
The Busy World of Richard Scarry
and Noonbory and the Super Seven
airs on weekday mornings on WUCW.
. The station also uses a network of five broadcast translators to carry the signal greater distances:
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The station is currently owned and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
.
WUCW is perhaps best known as the station where the cult cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
series Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
got its start as a local Twin Cities-area program when the station was called KTMA.
KTMA
Channel 23 signed on as KTMA on September 22, 1982, as a scrambled pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
service called Spectrum
Spectrum (TV channel)
Spectrum was a subscription TV channel in the Chicago area that existed in the early 1980s. It was a direct competitor to ON-TV and operated in the same way. It was owned and operated by United Cable.-Usage:...
. The call sign stood for "K-Twin Metro Area". The pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
broadcasts offered by KTMA in its early days featured sports (in the form of home games of the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
and Minnesota North Stars
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
(now the Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
), animations like Grendizer
Grendizer
is a super robot TV anime and manga created by manga artist Go Nagai. It is the third entry in the Mazinger trilogy. It was broadcasted on Japanese television from October 5, 1975, to February 27, 1977, and lasted 74 episodes...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s (including pornographic movie
Pornographic movie
Pornographic films are motion pictures with the purpose of promoting sexual arousal in the viewer, often featuring depictions of sexual activity. They are sold and rented out on DVD, shown through Internet and special channels and pay-per-view on cable and satellite, and in adult...
s). This service lasted just two years before the station was sold to the United Cable TV Corporation, who in turn began asking for bids one year later in 1985. The owners of radio station KTWN
KQQL
KQQL is a classic hits music formatted radio station serving the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, licensed to the suburb of Anoka...
made a bid, and took some control of the channel for a while, broadcasting music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. However, the eventual owner in 1986 was the KTMA-TV Acquisition Corp., which offered $7 million for the station. The station's new general manager, Donald W. O'Connor, soon transitioned to a more traditional independent format, broadcasting a number of older syndicated programs such as The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
and Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
.
Despite a major marketing campaign upon sign-on in 1987, the station was only moderately successful at pulling in viewers and advertising dollars. In 1988 attempts were made at locally-produced comedy shows. Production manager Jim Mallon
Jim Mallon
Jim Mallon is an American television and film producer and writer, most notable for being executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000 ...
sought to fill a hole in the Sunday night lineup. He talked to his contacts in the local comedy community and ended up meeting Joel Hodgson
Joel Hodgson
Joel Gordon Hodgson is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000 and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson. In 2007 MST3K was listed as "one of the top 100 television shows of all time" by Time.com...
. After a particularly successful lunch meeting with Mallon, Hodgson created Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(typically abbreviated MST3K), which began airing in November 1988.
In December of that year, KTMA attempted to create a new regional network called the Minnesota Independent Network (MIN) along with a media group based in Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, and KXLI
KPXM
KPXM-TV virtual channel 41 is a television station based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and owned and operated by ION Media Networks . The station is an affiliate of the Ion Television network. The station is licensed to St. Cloud, Minnesota. The KPXM Tower near the city of Big Lake KPXM-TV virtual...
channel 41 in St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...
. The network never got off the ground, despite good intentions. Eventually KXLI was forced to go off the air for two years. KTMA was also hit hard, leading O'Connor to file for bankruptcy in July 1989. Hodgson and Mallon eventually took their show (MST3K) to the Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central), a cable television network, and later to the Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
.
In 1989 a small start up home shopping network rented the TV23 studios and debuted their first broadcast on local low power stations Channels 7 & 62. This network was called Valuevision, which later became ShopNBC. ShopNBC is now seen in over 60 million homes and has sales approaching $1 billion.
Through the bankruptcy, the station still maintained its regular programming format, partially supported with infomercials, paid religious shows, daytime network shows that local affiliates didn't clear (mostly game shows from CBS and ABC), and home shopping. It moved into the former offices and studios of local PBS station KTCA in St. Paul, Minnesota in December 1989 (KTCA had constructed a new building). After nearly two more years of bankruptcy proceedings, O'Connor was dismissed as general manager by the court-appointed trustee. In November 1991, the station was purchased by Christian broadcaster Lakeland Group Television.
KLGT
Lakeland started carrying "family friendly" programming, and changed the station's call letters to KLGT (for either "lightLight
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
" or "Lakeland Group Television") in 1992, identifying the station as "Sonlight 23". The format consisted of a few hours of religion a day along with a lot of family oriented off-network sitcoms, cartoons, and old movies. The new format was not very popular, but the station held its own. Sports, this time in the form of the St. Paul Saints
St. Paul Saints
The St. Paul Saints are a professional baseball team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The Saints are a member of the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...
, the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
, and the Minnesota Moose
Minnesota Moose
The Minnesota Moose was an ice hockey team in the International Hockey League. They played in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, at the Saint Paul Civic Center. The team also played some home games at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Moose were a representative of professional hockey in Minnesota at...
, returned to the channel in 1994.
Around this time, KLGT began an association with WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV, is the CBS owned and operated television station that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Its transmitter is at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.- History :...
At first, the station merely carried news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
updates during prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
, but in 1995, the two stations worked together on an innovative newscast known as "News of Your Choice." Essentially, two different newscasts were produced at the WCCO studios simultaneously, each one covering different stories. At regular intervals, the news anchors would say what was coming up on the other channel, allowing viewers to decide which story they were more interested in and to tune in to the appropriate channel. Due to declining ratings at WCCO at the time, the project was canceled after a year in January 1996. Also in 1995, KLGT joined the fledgling WB network as its Twin Cities affiliate.
KMWB
Following the sale of the station to Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) in 1998, the call sign was again changed to KMWB ("Minnesota's WB").The station was hit by the 2004 controversy surrounding the decision by corporate parent SBG to air the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Stolen Honor
Stolen Honor
Stolen Honor is a 45-minute video documentary that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoners of war in North Vietnam, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry's Fulbright Hearing...
, which was critical of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
service record.
After The WB and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
networks merged into The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The 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...
, KMWB became the new network's Twin Cities affiliate, and the UPN affiliate, WFTC
WFTC
WFTC, channel 29, is a MyNetworkTV owned and operated television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area...
affiliated with MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
.
WUCW
On June 19, 2006, KMWB changed its call sign to WUCW to reflect its CW affiliation, and to suggest the formation of the new network itself (WB + UPN = CW). WUCW joined other Sinclair stations by adding The Tube Music NetworkThe Tube (TV channel)
The Tube Music Network was a music video network carried on free-to-air satellite television, select digital television subchannels and digital cable systems. The network's president and founder was Les Garland, a veteran of MTV and VH1. The Tube was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Tube Media Corp...
to their digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
, 23-2, on July 15, 2006. However, at the start of 2007, The Tube was dropped. TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
was added on 23.2 as of October 4, 2010. The Minneapolis, MN-OTA-AVS Forum and RabbitEars.Info
RabbitEars
RabbitEars is a website dedicated to providing information on over-the-air digital television in the United States, its territories and protectorates, and border areas of Canada and Mexico. Aside from merely listing network affiliations and technical data, TVGOS, UpdateTV, Sezmi, Mobile DTV, and...
report that The Country Network was added on 23.3 as of October 22, 2010.
Since 1998, programming has been consistent, with syndicated shows like The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
, The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
, Elimidate
ElimiDATE
elimiDATE was a television dating reality show in which one contestant chooses between four contestants of the opposite sex by eliminating them one by one in three total rounds...
, and M*A*S*H. Today, WUCW offers first run syndicated talk reality/court shows, syndicated sitcoms, cartoons from CW4Kids, and CW programming. Until recently, the station carried Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
basketball games.
On August 16, WUCW replaced the WB23 watermark with the CW Twin Cities watermark on its syndicated programs.
WUCW's broadcasts, like those of most Sinclair-owned stations, have been digital-only since February 17, 2009.
Ironically, despite three call letter changes, WUCW's licensee is still listed as "KLGT Licensee."
WUCW continues to support homegrown comedy, airing the first Transylvania Television special on October 12, 2007, and the new one-hour TVTV Halloween Special on October 22, 2010.
The Busy World of Richard Scarry
The Busy World of Richard Scarry
The Busy World of Richard Scarry is a Canadian/French animated children's television series, produced by CINAR Animation and France Animation in association with Paramount Television, which aired from 1994 to 1997, first on Showtime, later on Nickelodeon, and ran for 65 episodes...
and Noonbory and the Super Seven
Noonbory and the Super Seven
Noonbory and the Super Seven is an Canadian-South Korean animated television series produced by Daewon Media, and Cookie Jar Entertainment for Nickelodeon.-Summary:...
airs on weekday mornings on WUCW.
Broadcasting facilities
WUCW still broadcasts from the St. Paul studios, located near the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, that they moved into in 1989. The station's main transmitters are at the Telefarm installation in Shoreview, MinnesotaShoreview, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there are 25,377 people, Males: 12,303 , Females: 13,074 , 9,965 households, and 7,021 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,315.9 people per square mile . There are 10,127 housing units at an average density of 919.2 per square mile...
. The station also uses a network of five broadcast translators to carry the signal greater distances:
- K26CL 26 AlexandriaAlexandria, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 8,820 people, however the most recent count suggests a population upwards of 10,000, which is displayed on Alexandria's city limits signs. The census lists 4,047 households, and 2,011 families residing in the city. The population density was 992.5 people per...
- K31EF 31 FrostFrost, MinnesotaFrost is a city in Faribault County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 198 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
- K42AV 42 St. JamesSt. James, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 4,695 people, 1,845 households, and 1,186 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,050.3 people per square mile . There were 2,006 housing units at an average density of 876.0 per square mile...
- K14LF 14 WillmarWillmar, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 18,351 people, 7,302 households, and 4,461 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,549.9 people per square mile . There were 7,789 housing units at an average density of 657.8 per square mile...