City Madison | ||
 | ||
Branding NBC 15
NBC 15 News
.2: Madison CW
Weather & .4:
NBC 15 Weather Authority Slogan Coverage You Can Count On Channels Digital: 19 (UHF)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP) Subchannels .1: 1080i WMTVNBC
.2: 720p WMTV-CW
.3: 480i ANT-TV
.4: 480i WMTV-WX Affiliations .1: NBC
.2: The CW
.3: Antenna TV
.4: WeatherNation TV | ||
WMTV (digital channel 19 and PSIP virtual channel 15) is a television station licensed to and based in Madison, Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Gray Television and features affiliations with NBC on its main channel and The CW on its DT2 digital subchannel. WMTV's studio and transmitter are located on Forward Drive on Madison's southwest side.
History
WMTV signed on the air in July 1953 on channel 33 and was an affiliate of ABC, DuMont, and NBC. In 1956, WKOW-TV, which had the CBS affiliation, picked up the ABC affiliation from WMTV after losing CBS to then-new VHF station WISC-TV, thus resulting in WMTV becoming solely affiliated with NBC.
In 1960, WMTV switched channels from 33 to 15, where it remained until analog broadcasting ceased just before midnight on February 17, 2009. The station's over-the-air broadcasts are now on digital channel 19, though it is found through PSIP protocol on virtual channel 15.
The station's channel 19 signal is also used by Chicago's WGN-TV and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan, causing interference between it and those two stations in the easternmost and western portions of their coverage area, mainly in Walworth County, which is just outside the Madison market (though WXMI's signal is limited by the Kettle Moraine range west of Jefferson County).
On October 16, 2010, WMTV became the second commercial TV station in Madison to produce all of its newscasts in high-definition, the first being WISC-TV. On October 18, 2010, the station also began airing its flagship syndicated programs Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in HD.
WMTV .2 carried local weather mixed with The Local AccuWeather Channel on its second subchannel from the subchannel's 2007 launch until January 1, 2014, when it became affiliated with WeatherNation TV. WMTV .3 launched on April 1, 2013, carrying Antenna TV.
On September 12, 2016, WMTV added The CW network to its second subchannel, the result of an affiliation deal between Gray Television and The CW that renewed CW affiliation throughout the Gray chain and added the network to WMTV and three other stations. WeatherNation TV would relocate to new subchannel 15.4 on September 12, 2016, the same day The CW was added to subchannel 15.2. WMTV replaced WBUW as Madison's CW affiliate at the time of that station's affiliation expiry.
WMTV's studios have been on Madison's southwest side since its 1953 launch. The station broke ground for a new facility at that same address in February 2016. It is slated for completion by the following December. The old building will be demolished for parking.