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{{short description|Fox affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin}}
{{short description|Fox affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2012}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox Broadcast
{{Infobox television station
| call_letters = WMSN-TV
| callsign = WMSN-TV
| city =
| city =
| station_logo = Wmsn 2009.png
| logo = LOGO WMSN FOX47 solid legal.png
| logo_size = 225px
| logo_size = 250px
| logo_alt = In a gray rectangle with 3D effects, an older version of the Fox logo with a searchlight-like motif appears to the left of a numeral "47" in blue. Below it in a black rectangle, the text "WMSN-TV MADISON" appears.
⚫
| station_slogan =
| station_branding = Fox 47<br>''Fox 47 News at 9'' {{small|(newscast)}}
| branding = Fox 47
| analog =
| analog =
| digital = 49 ([[very high frequency|UHF]])<br>{{small|(to move to 18 (UHF))}}
| digital = 18 ([[very high frequency|UHF]])
| virtual = 47 ([[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]])
| virtual = 47
| other_chs =
| translators =
⚫
| subchannels =
| subchannels = {{ubl|'''.1:''' [[720p]] WMSNFOX|'''.2:''' [[480i]] COMET|'''.3:''' 480i CHARGE!|'''.4:''' 480i TBD<ref name="rei"/>}}
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''.1:''' [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] {{small|(1986–present)}}|'''.2:''' [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]] |'''.3:''' [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]|'''.4:''' [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]<ref name="rei">{{cite web|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WMSN|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WMSN#station|website=Rabbit Ears|accessdate=June 1, 2017}}</ref>}}
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''47.1:''' [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| network =
| network =
| owner = [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
| owner = [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
| licensee = WMSN Licensee, [[Limited liability company|LLC]]
| licensee = WMSN Licensee, [[LLC]]
| location = [[Madison, Wisconsin]]
| location = [[Madison, Wisconsin]]
| country = [[United States]]
| country = United States
| founded = December 8, 1983
| founded = December 8, 1983
| airdate = {{start date and age|1986|06|08|p=y}}
| airdate = {{start date and age|1986|06|08|p=y}}
| enddate =
| last_airdate =
| callsign_meaning = Madison (MSN is also the IATA code for [[Dane County Regional Airport]])
| callsign_meaning = '''''<u>M</u>'''''adi'''''<u>S</u>'''''o'''''<u>N</u>'''''
| sister_stations =
| sister_stations = ''[[Milwaukee]]:'' [[WVTV]], [[WVTV-DT2]]<br>''[[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]]:'' [[WLUK-TV]], [[WCWF]]<br>''[[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids, IA]]:'' [[KGAN]], [[KFXA]]<br>''[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]]:'' [[WUCW]]
| former_callsigns =
| former_callsigns =
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:'''<br>47 (UHF, 1986–2009)<br>'''Digital''':<br>11 ([[Very high frequency|VHF]], until 2010)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 47 (UHF, 1986–2009)|'''Digital:''' 11 ([[VHF]], until 2010), 49 (UHF, 2010–2019)}}
| former_affiliations = '''Analog/DT1:'''<br>[[Independent station (North America)|Independent]] (June–October 1986)<br>'''DT2:'''<br>[[TheCoolTV]] (2010–2012)<br>[[GetTV]] (2014–2015)<br>'''DT3:'''<br>[[ZUUS Country]] (2010–2014); [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]] (2014–2017)
| former_affiliations = [[Independent station|Independent]] (June–October 1986)
| erp = 440 kW
| effective_radiated_power = 310 [[kilowatt|kW]]<br>164 kW ([[construction permit|CP]])
| HAAT = {{convert|450|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| haat = {{convert|450|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = [[Digital terrestrial television|DT]]
| class =
| facility_id = 10221
| facility_id = 10221
| coordinates = {{nowrap|{{coord|43|3|21|N|89|32|6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}}}
| coordinates = {{coord|43|3|21|N|89|32|6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| homepage = {{Official}}
| website = {{Official}}
}}
}}


'''WMSN-TV''' is a [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]-[[network affiliate|affiliated]] [[television station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]], [[Wisconsin]], [[United States]]. It broadcasts a [[high-definition television|high definition]] [[digital terrestrial television|digital]] signal on [[ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 49 (or [[virtual channel]] 47 via [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]]) from a transmitter in Madison's Middleton Junction section. Owned by the [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], WMSN maintains studios on Big Sky Drive on Madison's west side.
'''WMSN-TV''' (channel 47) is a [[television station]] in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], United States, affiliated with the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] network. Owned by [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], the station has studios on Big Sky Drive on the west side of Madison, and its transmitter is located on South Pleasant View Road in the Junction Ridge neighborhood also on Madison's west side.


==History==
==History==
[[File:WMSN-TV Studio.jpg|thumb|left|WMSN's studios in two photographs, featuring the frontage facing the [[U.S. Route 12 in Wisconsin|Madison Beltline]] on top, and its actual front on Big Sky Drive below, along with the station's first logo in 1986 on the building, and its current logo on a lit monument sign.]]
WMSN-TV commenced broadcasting on [[1986 in television|June 8, 1986]], airing on analog UHF channel 47. It was the first new [[Commercial broadcasting|commercial station]] to launch in the Madison [[media market|market]] since [[WISC-TV]] signed on thirty years earlier. One of WMSN's earlier programs was ''Big Sky Theater'', a Saturday night presentation of classic [[feature film|movies]] (mostly [[Western (genre)|westerns]]) from the [[Drive-in theater|drive-in]] era. (The program's name was an acknowledgement to the Big Sky Drive-In Theater, which was located near the present day WMSN studios.)
WMSN-TV commenced broadcasting on June 8, 1986, airing on analog UHF channel 47. It was the first new [[Commercial broadcasting|commercial station]] to launch in the Madison [[media market|market]] since [[WISC-TV]] signed on thirty years earlier. One of WMSN's earlier programs was ''Big Sky Theater'', a Saturday night presentation of classic [[feature film|movies]] (mostly [[westerns]]) from the [[Drive-in theater|drive-in]] era. The program's name was an acknowledgement to the Big Sky Drive-In Theater, which shared a street with the newly built studios for WMSN; its next-door neighbor remains a movie theater, the [[Marcus Corporation|Marcus Point Cinema]].


The station was originally owned by Channel 47 LP, a group of investors led by Ronald J. Koeppler. On April 1, 1996, Channel 47 LP filed to sell WMSN-TV to Sullivan Broadcasting, owners of the existing [[Act III Broadcasting]] stations, for $26.5 million.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 1, 1996|title=Changing Hands|page=38|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/96-OCR/BC-1996-04-01-OCR-Page-0038.pdf|access-date=December 23, 2021}}</ref> Sullivan would later sell all of the stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group in a group deal two years later.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Morgan|first=Richard|date=February 25, 1998|title=Sinclair closes Sullivan buyout|url=https://variety.com/1998/biz/news/sinclair-closes-sullivan-buyout-1117468107/|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref>
⚫
After a few months as an [[Independent station (North America)|Independent]], the station joined Fox as a charter affiliate on October 9, 1986. Since 1994, as a result of [[Fox NFL|Fox]]'s [[National Football Conference|NFC]] football package, WMSN has been Madison's primary home for the [[Green Bay Packers]]; these broadcasts are routinely the highest-rated programs in the market during football season.


⚫
After a few months as an [[Independent station|independent]], the station joined Fox as a charter affiliate on October 9, 1986. Since 1994, as a result of [[Fox NFL|Fox]]'s [[National Football Conference|NFC]] football package, WMSN has been Madison's primary home for the [[Green Bay Packers]]; these broadcasts are routinely the highest-rated programs in the market during football season.
In 2012, Sinclair reached an affiliation deal with Fox that kept the network on WMSN and Sinclair's 18 other Fox stations through 2017.<ref>[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/59463/sinclair-reups-with-fox-gets-wutb-option Sinclair Reups With Fox, Gets WUTB Option], ''TVNewsCheck'', May 15, 2012.</ref>


⚫
==Newscasts==
⚫
In 2018, [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] required all Sinclair-owned television stations to air a message that called out "biased and fake news" and says "national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first." However, because WMSN's newscast is produced by [[WISC-TV]] (which is locally owned by [[Morgan Murphy Media]]) pursuant to a news-share agreement, WISC did not produce such a segment for WMSN, and disclaimed as such on their social media channels.<ref name= anapol>Anapol, Avery (April 2, 2018). "[http://thehill.com/homenews/media/381352-sinclair-owned-tv-station-chooses-not-to-air-media-bias-promo Sinclair-owned TV station chooses not to air media bias promo]". ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]''.</ref>
⚫
In 1999, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WKOW]] (then owned by the Shockley Communications Corporation) entered into a news share agreement with WMSN, which resulted in Madison's first nightly prime time newscast, known as ''Fox 47 News at 9''. The newscast, initially 35 minutes in length on weeknights and 30 minutes on weekends, was originally produced from a secondary set at WKOW's studios on Tokay Boulevard in Madison. The newscasts employed no WKOW on-air branding, instead using Sinclair's standard music-and-graphics packages. Although the newscasts featured appearances from additional WKOW personnel, WMSN maintained separate weeknight anchors that normally did not appear on WKOW except to fill-in when needed.

⚫
On [[New Year's Day|January 1]], 2012, WMSN's news share agreement with WKOW expired after nearly 13 years (WMSN General Manager Kerry Johnson termed the split as a "business decision"). On that same date, WMSN began a new news outsourcing agreement with WISC-TV, the [[Morgan Murphy Media]]–owned [[CBS]] affiliate in Madison; as a result, WISC cancelled its own 9 p.m. weeknight newscast it had produced for its subchannel [[TVW (WISC-TV)|TVW]],<ref>[http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/wisc-tv-now-providing-news-services-for-fox/article_c8d7ef2a-37f8-11e1-a868-0019bb2963f4.html "WISC-TV now providing news services for Fox 47,"] from ''Wisconsin State Journal'', May 1, 2012</ref> making ''Fox 47 News at 9'' the only remaining prime time newscast in the Madison market until [[WMTV]] established its own 9 p.m. newscast on its [[The CW|CW]]-affiliated subchannel in November 2016. Mirroring its agreement with WKOW, ''Fox 47 News at 9'' originates not from WMSN's studios but from WISC's Raymond Road studios, utilizes WISC's news staff (except the main news anchors), and employs studio backdrops and Sinclair's standard news graphics that help differentiate the newscasts from those on WISC. It was also during this period with WISC (in February 2016) that ''Fox 47 News at 9'' would move to a full-hour time period each night.<ref>[https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/newscasts-debuting-this-weekend-27/ Source: ChangingNewscasts.Wordpress.com], posted May 2, 2016</ref>

⚫
In 2018, Sinclair required all of its television stations to air a message that called out "biased and fake news" and says "national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first." However, because WMSN's newscast is produced by WISC-TV pursuant to the above-mentioned news-share agreement, no such segment was produced for WMSN, and was disclaimed as such on WMSN's social media channels.<ref name= anapol>Anapol, Avery (April 2, 2018). "[https://thehill.com/homenews/media/381352-sinclair-owned-tv-station-chooses-not-to-air-media-bias-promo/ Sinclair-owned TV station chooses not to air media bias promo]". ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]''.</ref>


==Technical information==
==Digital television==


===Digital channels===
===Subchannels===
The station's digital signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WMSN-TV<ref name="rei">{{cite web|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WMSN|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WMSN#station|website=Rabbit Ears|access-date=June 1, 2017}}</ref>
|-
! [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! [[Display resolution|Video]]
! [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! Short name
! [[Program and System Information Protocol#What PSIP does|PSIP Short Name]]
! Programming
! Programming<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WKOW#station RabbitEars TV Query for WKOW]</ref>
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 47.1
| 47.1 || [[720p]] || [[16:9]] || WMSN-TV || Main WMSN-TV programming / [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
| [[720p]] || rowspan="4" | [[16:9]] || WMSNFOX || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 47.2
| 47.2 || rowspan=3|[[480i]] || rowspan=2|[[4:3]] || COMET || [[Comet (TV network)|Comet TV]]
| rowspan=3|[[480i]] || Comet || [[Comet TV]]
|-
|-
| 47.3 || CHARGE! || [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]
! scope = "row" | 47.3
| Charge! || [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]
|-
|-
| 47.4 || 16:9 || TBD || [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]
! scope = "row" | 47.4
| TBD || [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]
|-
|-
|}
|}


===Analog-to-digital conversion===
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WMSN-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 47, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition [[very high frequency|VHF]] channel 11.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |format=PDF |accessdate=2012-03-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-29 }}</ref> Through the use of [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]], digital television receivers display the station's [[virtual channel]] as its former UHF analog channel 47.
WMSN-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 47, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition [[VHF]] channel 11, using [[virtual channel]] 47.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |format=PDF |access-date=March 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref> Since then, WMSN would relocate twice, to channel 49 in November 2010 and to channel 18 in October 2019.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/foxmadison/photos/a.380896246321/10157600557376322/ Source: WMSN FOX 47 News on Facebook], posted October 16, 2019</ref>


In September 2010, WMSN-TV established its first [[digital subchannel]], adding [[TheCoolTV]] music video network to subchannel 47.2. The subchannel would go dark in September 2012 at the expiration of Sinclair's carriage agreement with TheCoolTV; the channel was reactivated in July 2014 as an affiliate of [[GetTV]], which would be replaced on [[Halloween|October 31]], 2015 by Sinclair-owned sci-fi network [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]].
In September 2010, WMSN-TV established its first [[digital subchannel]], adding [[TheCoolTV]] music video network to subchannel 47.2. The subchannel would go dark in September 2012 at the expiration of Sinclair's carriage agreement with TheCoolTV. In July 2014, the channel was reactivated as an affiliate of [[GetTV]], which would be replaced on [[Halloween|October 31]], 2015 by Sinclair-owned sci-fi network [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]].


When it completed its move to a new physical channel location, WMSN would add a third subchannel, 47.3, with content from [[The Country Network]], later known as ZUUS Country. That network would be replaced in 2014 by the action-oriented [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]] network. Grit would be replaced on June 1, 2017 by another action network, Sinclair-owned [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]. On that same date, a fourth subchannel, 47.4, was activated and affiliated with [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]. Sinclair's other subchannel network, [[Stadium (sports network)|Stadium]], is carried in the market on [[WIFS]]-DT4.
When it relocated to physical channel 11 in 2010, WMSN would add a third subchannel, 47.3, with content from [[The Country Network]], later known as ZUUS Country. That network would be replaced in 2014 by the action-oriented [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]] network. Grit would be replaced on June 1, 2017, by another action network, Sinclair-owned [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]. On that same date, a fourth subchannel, 47.4, was activated and affiliated with [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]].

⚫
==Newscasts==
⚫
In 1999, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WKOW]] (then owned by the Shockley Communications Corporation) entered into a news share agreement with WMSN, which resulted in Madison's first nightly prime time newscast, known as ''Fox 47 News at 9''. The 35-minute weeknight broadcast (30 minutes on weekends) was originally produced from a secondary set at WKOW's studios on Tokay Boulevard in Madison. The newscasts employed no WKOW on-air branding, instead using Sinclair's standard music-and-graphics packages. Although the newscasts featured appearances from additional WKOW personnel, WMSN maintained separate weeknight anchors that normally did not appear on WKOW except to fill-in when needed.

⚫
On [[New Year's Day|January 1]], 2012, WMSN's news share agreement with WKOW expired after nearly 13 years (WMSN General Manager Kerry Johnson termed the split as a "business decision"). On that same date, WMSN began a new news outsourcing agreement with [[WISC-TV]], the [[Morgan Murphy Media]]-owned [[CBS]] affiliate in Madison; as a result, WISC cancelled its own 9 p.m. weeknight newscast it had produced for its subchannel [[TVW (WISC-TV)|TVW]],<ref>[http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/wisc-tv-now-providing-news-services-for-fox/article_c8d7ef2a-37f8-11e1-a868-0019bb2963f4.html "WISC-TV now providing news services for Fox 47,"] from ''Wisconsin State Journal'', 1/5/2012</ref> making ''Fox 47 News at 9'' the lone remaining prime time newscast in the Madison market. (In addition to TVW's newscast, [[WIFS (TV)|WBUW]] also aired a 9 p.m. weeknight newscast from 2003 to 2005). ''Fox 47 News at 9'' originates from WISC's Raymond Road studios, using WISC's own news set and personnel (except the main news anchor) but, just as with WKOW, employing Sinclair's standard news graphics and music packages, as well as change in the background image on the set's background image display to help differentiate the newscast from those of WISC.


==References==
==References==
Line 86: Line 92:
==External links==
==External links==
*{{Official}}
*{{Official}}
*{{TVQ|WMSN-TV}}


{{Madison TV}}
{{Madison TV}}
Line 93: Line 98:


{{DEFAULTSORT:Wmsn-Tv}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wmsn-Tv}}
[[Category:Fox network affiliates]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Charge! (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Comet (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Comet (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Charge! (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates]]
⚫
[[Category:Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
[[Category:TBD (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:TBD (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1986]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1986]]
[[Category:Television stations in Madison, Wisconsin|MSN-TV]]
[[Category:Television stations in Madison, Wisconsin|MSN-TV]]
⚫
[[Category:Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in Wisconsin]]

Latest revision as of 06:39, 16 April 2024

WMSN-TV
In a gray rectangle with 3D effects, an older version of the Fox logo with a searchlight-like motif appears to the left of a numeral "47" in blue. Below it in a black rectangle, the text "WMSN-TV MADISON" appears.
Channels
BrandingFox 47
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedDecember 8, 1983
First air date
June 8, 1986 (38 years ago) (1986-06-08)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 47 (UHF, 1986–2009)
  • Digital: 11 (VHF, until 2010), 49 (UHF, 2010–2019)
Independent (June–October 1986)
Call sign meaning
Madison (MSN is also the IATA code for Dane County Regional Airport)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID10221
ERP440 kW
HAAT450 m (1,476 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°3′21″N 89°32′6″W / 43.05583°N 89.53500°W / 43.05583; -89.53500
Links
Public license information
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

WMSN-TV (channel 47) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Big Sky Drive on the west side of Madison, and its transmitter is located on South Pleasant View Road in the Junction Ridge neighborhood also on Madison's west side.

History

[edit]
WMSN's studios in two photographs, featuring the frontage facing the Madison Beltline on top, and its actual front on Big Sky Drive below, along with the station's first logo in 1986 on the building, and its current logo on a lit monument sign.

WMSN-TV commenced broadcasting on June 8, 1986, airing on analog UHF channel 47. It was the first new commercial station to launch in the Madison market since WISC-TV signed on thirty years earlier. One of WMSN's earlier programs was Big Sky Theater, a Saturday night presentation of classic movies (mostly westerns) from the drive-in era. The program's name was an acknowledgement to the Big Sky Drive-In Theater, which shared a street with the newly built studios for WMSN; its next-door neighbor remains a movie theater, the Marcus Point Cinema.

The station was originally owned by Channel 47 LP, a group of investors led by Ronald J. Koeppler. On April 1, 1996, Channel 47 LP filed to sell WMSN-TV to Sullivan Broadcasting, owners of the existing Act III Broadcasting stations, for $26.5 million.[2] Sullivan would later sell all of the stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group in a group deal two years later.[3]

After a few months as an independent, the station joined Fox as a charter affiliate on October 9, 1986. Since 1994, as a result of Fox's NFC football package, WMSN has been Madison's primary home for the Green Bay Packers; these broadcasts are routinely the highest-rated programs in the market during football season.

Newscasts

[edit]

In 1999, ABC affiliate WKOW (then owned by the Shockley Communications Corporation) entered into a news share agreement with WMSN, which resulted in Madison's first nightly prime time newscast, known as Fox 47 News at 9. The newscast, initially 35 minutes in length on weeknights and 30 minutes on weekends, was originally produced from a secondary set at WKOW's studios on Tokay Boulevard in Madison. The newscasts employed no WKOW on-air branding, instead using Sinclair's standard music-and-graphics packages. Although the newscasts featured appearances from additional WKOW personnel, WMSN maintained separate weeknight anchors that normally did not appear on WKOW except to fill-in when needed.

On January 1, 2012, WMSN's news share agreement with WKOW expired after nearly 13 years (WMSN General Manager Kerry Johnson termed the split as a "business decision"). On that same date, WMSN began a new news outsourcing agreement with WISC-TV, the Morgan Murphy Media–owned CBS affiliate in Madison; as a result, WISC cancelled its own 9 p.m. weeknight newscast it had produced for its subchannel TVW,[4] making Fox 47 News at 9 the only remaining prime time newscast in the Madison market until WMTV established its own 9 p.m. newscast on its CW-affiliated subchannel in November 2016. Mirroring its agreement with WKOW, Fox 47 News at 9 originates not from WMSN's studios but from WISC's Raymond Road studios, utilizes WISC's news staff (except the main news anchors), and employs studio backdrops and Sinclair's standard news graphics that help differentiate the newscasts from those on WISC. It was also during this period with WISC (in February 2016) that Fox 47 News at 9 would move to a full-hour time period each night.[5]

In 2018, Sinclair required all of its television stations to air a message that called out "biased and fake news" and says "national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first." However, because WMSN's newscast is produced by WISC-TV pursuant to the above-mentioned news-share agreement, no such segment was produced for WMSN, and was disclaimed as such on WMSN's social media channels.[6]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WMSN-TV[7]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
47.1 720p 16:9 WMSNFOX Fox
47.2 480i Comet Comet TV
47.3 Charge! Charge!
47.4 TBD TBD

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

WMSN-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 47, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 11, using virtual channel 47.[8] Since then, WMSN would relocate twice, to channel 49 in November 2010 and to channel 18 in October 2019.[9]

In September 2010, WMSN-TV established its first digital subchannel, adding TheCoolTV music video network to subchannel 47.2. The subchannel would go dark in September 2012 at the expiration of Sinclair's carriage agreement with TheCoolTV. In July 2014, the channel was reactivated as an affiliate of GetTV, which would be replaced on October 31, 2015 by Sinclair-owned sci-fi network Comet.

When it relocated to physical channel 11 in 2010, WMSN would add a third subchannel, 47.3, with content from The Country Network, later known as ZUUS Country. That network would be replaced in 2014 by the action-oriented Grit network. Grit would be replaced on June 1, 2017, by another action network, Sinclair-owned Charge!. On that same date, a fourth subchannel, 47.4, was activated and affiliated with TBD.

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WMSN-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 1, 1996. p. 38. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Morgan, Richard (February 25, 1998). "Sinclair closes Sullivan buyout". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "WISC-TV now providing news services for Fox 47," from Wisconsin State Journal, May 1, 2012
  5. ^ Source: ChangingNewscasts.Wordpress.com, posted May 2, 2016
  6. ^ Anapol, Avery (April 2, 2018). "Sinclair-owned TV station chooses not to air media bias promo". The Hill.
  7. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WMSN". Rabbit Ears. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  9. ^ Source: WMSN FOX 47 News on Facebook, posted October 16, 2019
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