WTMJ also expanded its local infrastructure during the construction freeze. By 1951, the station was broadcasting one hundred hours of television per week, while lining up commercial sponsorships from corporations like Gettelman Brewing Company, Gimbels, and Boston Store. WTMJ-TV’s live television programming in this period included a morning show, ethnic variety programs, sporting events, home economics shows, and weather reports. As a result, WTMJ-TV solidified its position as the region’s market leader. Accordingly, between 19, WTMJ-TV was the only television station airing content in Wisconsin. įrom September 1948 to April 1952, the FCC issued a licensing freeze on all television applications while it deliberated a variety of regulatory issues. Its telecast of a half-hour ABC Midwest variety show produced in Chicago was the first major network television program broadcast in Milwaukee. In 1948, WTMJ-TV began airing network programming from NBC, CBS, and ABC in addition to its own original content. The station had previously held public demonstrations at the Milwaukee Home Show and at local department stores in 1947, playing a key promotional role for commercial television in the area. It aired a live TV dedication ceremony from its multipurpose “Radio City” studios on Capitol Drive. On December 3, 1947, WTMJ-TV became the first commercial television station to broadcast in Wisconsin. WTMJ-TV ( W The Milwaukee Journal) was born after the FCC approved the Journal Company’s second commercial TV construction permit in December 1946. In 1936, the Journal Company’s experimental High-Fidelity “Apex” station was the first to broadcast original VHF programming in the nation.

It first began experimenting with television frequencies during the late 1920s.

The Journal Company led the charge towards television broadcasting in Milwaukee. Each required a construction permit from the FCC, for which competition was fierce. Milwaukee officially received its first non-experimental VHF channels-3, 6, 8, and 10-from the FCC in February 1946. For this reason, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) petitioned for commercial, as opposed to experimental, UHF channel assignments. The potential for color broadcasting on the higher UHF frequencies proved a point of contention for communications companies as the government set television standards in the 1940s. Among other provisions, the standards recommended manufacturers produce 525-line television sets, called for the contracting of eighteen black and white VHF channels, and required commercial TV stations to broadcast at least thirty hours per week. This came after decades of invention and experimentation on the part of hobbyists, manufacturers, the FCC, and FM radio stations. On January 27, 1941, the National Television System Committee (NTSC), comprised of the Radio Manufacturers Committee and the FCC, recommended technical standards for commercial analog television. Furthermore, the city provided the first regular schedule of color broadcasts by an educational station in the nation. Milwaukee stations hired the first female program and news directors in a major television market. The Milwaukee Journal Company filed the first FCC application for a commercial television construction permit in America on November 5, 1938. The city was also home to several television firsts. It played a central role in the battle to determine which television frequency-VHF (Very High Frequency) or UHF (Ultra High Frequency)-would serve as the industry standard. Milwaukee holds a unique place in television history. In the new millennium, Milwaukee television moved into the digital age and the open web, where traditional network and cable companies compete with individual content producers broadcasting on social media websites like YouTube and Vimeo. Programming emphasis for local network affiliates shifted to a more entertainment-oriented news, weather, and sports format. During the cable era of the 1980s and 1990s, the television industry in the regions again expanded, making it increasingly harder for the three network affiliated stations WTMJ-TV (NBC), WISN-TV (ABC), and WITI-TV (CBS) to compete for ratings. In the 1960s and 1970s, the rush to build new stations in the area slowed and a period of market stability set in. At least fourteen commercial and public television networks competed for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) construction permits and then viewers in Milwaukee during that era. The city’s local networks were pioneers broadcasting on both the VHF and UHF frequencies. Television debuted in Milwaukee during the medium’s “Golden Age” from the late 1940s through the early 1960s.

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