WBUW

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WBUW
Janesville/Madison, Wisconsin
Branding	Madison's CW
Channels	57 (UHF) analog, 32 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	ACME Communications
Founded	1999
Call letters meaning	Warner Brothers (former network) - University of Wisconsin (alludes to being in Madison)
Former callsigns	WJNW (prior to first broadcast), WHPN (1999-2002)
Former affiliations	UPN (1999-10/2002) The WB (10/2002-9/2006)
Website	MadisonsCW.com

WBUW, channel 57, Madison's CW, is an affiliate of The CW and serves south central Wisconsin, including Madison, with transmitter located in Madison, Wisconsin. Channel 57's original construction permit was granted on May 2, 1998 with as WJNW, however, the station never signed on the air until July 5, 1999 as WHPN-TV. With the transmitter located approximately ten miles west of Janesville, the stations UPN affiliation served both Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois. In Madison, UPN previously aired overnight on WISC (Channel 3).

In 2002, ACME Communications would purchase the station. As that station group is run by Jamie Kellner, a founder of The WB and CEO of the former network, along with TBS, it was expected that WHPN would switch to The WB. This took place in October 2002, with former WB affiliate/WISC-owned cable channel WB14 taking UPN and changing their name to UPN14. Channel 57 changed their calls once more to WBUW. In 2004, the station moved its transmitter to Madison on a new tower with WMTV (Channel 15). This move extend their coverage area throughout south central Wisconsin.

On March 8, 2006, WBUW was confirmed as Madison's CW affiliate, with UPN14 taking the affiliation for MyNetworkTV, and then changing their name to My Madison TV. WBUW will probably not change their call letters to fit their new affiliation; Green Bay sister station WIWB decided not to change their calls to avert audience confusion, and all other ACME stations have retained their WB-era calls.

[edit] Station Programming

WBUW programming consists mainly of network programming from The WB and syndicated fare such as Maury and reruns of The King of Queens, That 70s Show, and Friends. WBUW also carries the youth-oriented morning show The Daily Buzz (which is co-owned by WBUW's owner, ACME Communications).

WBUW was confirmed as Madison's CW affiliate as of March 8, 2006, with cable/digital station UPN14 joining My Network TV.

In September 2003, WBUW got into the local news game with The WB57 Nine O'Clock News. Produced by local NBC station WMTV, the 35-minute newscast did include local/national news headlines, weather recaps, and one-minute sports reports, but emphasized entertainment and lifestyle features during the balance of the program (Friday editions of the newscast normally ended with in-studio performances by local musicians). E-mail contests and sweeps-month "free gas giveaways" were also included. Despite the stations' efforts, the newscast never gained ratings ground against 9PM newscasts from both WMSN and WISC's cable/digital offshoot, UPN14. The WB57 Nine O'Clock News ended its run in December 2005, as WBUW ended its relationship with WMTV and opted for syndicated programming.[1][2]

[edit] Station Logo History

Channel 57's logo under UPN affilliation and the former WHPN call letters; used from 1999 until October 2002.

WBUW's first WB logo, used from October 2002-September 2004.

Final WB era logo for WBUW, in use from September 2004-September 2006.

Channel 57's current logo, under CW affiliation.

[edit] External links

• Station Website
• WBUW's page on MySpace
• Madison Capital Times article about WBUW and UPN14 competing for the CW affiliation
• Madison Capital Times article about WBUW joining CW
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WBUW