WFRV-TV
Encyclopedia
WFRV-TV is a CBS
-affiliated television station
licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin
, and serving Green Bay, the Fox Valley
, and Northeastern Wisconsin
. The station broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 39 (PSIP channel 5.1) from a transmitter north of the Brown County town of Morrison
. The station is currently owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group
.
WFRV also operates semi-satellite WJMN-TV
(UHF digital channel 48 or virtual channel 3), which is licensed to Escanaba, Michigan
and covers the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan
. WFRV/WJMN's master control
and all internal operations for both stations originate from WFRV's Green Bay facilities; WJMN does maintain an engineering operation and an advertising sales office in Marquette
.
Programming on WFRV and WJMN includes the full CBS lineup; syndicated programming including Entertainment Tonight
, Anderson
, Ellen
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
; and Green Bay Packers
-related programming (WFRV is the Packers' "official station" and carries Packers' pre-season broadcasts and the weekly Larry McCarren's Locker Room
during the season).
affiliate WNAM-TV, originally broadcasting on UHF channel 42 from Neenah
/ Menasha
and serving as sister to the radio station with the same call sign
. By the late 1950s, the station moved their city of license
to Green Bay
and their studios to Little Chute
. The station would also change frequency (to VHF channel 5), call sign (to WFRV), and, in 1959, network affiliation (to NBC
). (In 1958, the station was also part of the short-lived Badger Television Network
alongside Milwaukee's
WISN-TV
and Madison's
WKOW-TV.) WFRV's early claims to fame included being the first TV station in Northeastern Wisconsin to broadcast in color (doing so after joining NBC), the first station to cover a live lunar eclipse
in 1959 (a studio camera was wheeled to the station parking lot and aimed at the moon), and Green Bay's first color local news broadcasts (beginning in 1965).
In the mid-1960s, WFRV was acquired by the Norton Group, a company owned by the Norton family of Kentucky
, who also owned Louisville
's WAVE
. (The Norton Group would change its name to Orion Broadcasting by 1969.) One of the Norton Group's early decisions was to move WFRV's transmitter: Other Green Bay stations had their transmitters on Scray's Hill in the Ledgeview
section of the town of Glenmore
, located just south of Green Bay and one of the highest geographical points in the area; WFRV's transmitter, however, was located further south (a legacy from its original days in Neenah/Menasha), so turning antennas southward to pick up WFRV inconvenienced viewers—and in turn put the station at a disadvantage. Accordingly, the Nortons gained permission from the Federal Communications Commission
to move Channel 5's transmitter to Glenmore.
On October 7, 1969, WFRV expanded into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
by signing on semi-satellite WJMN-TV
in Escanaba
. WJMN's creation was the result of The Norton Group's earlier agreement with the FCC to move WFRV's tower, as the station had to address short-spacing issues with another Channel 5 station, Chicago's WMAQ-TV
(every analog channel allocation in the Green Bay and Wausau
media markets were shared by a Chicago television station). As part of the agreement to transmit from Glenmore, Orion Broadcasting launched WJMN so that WFRV's service to the U.P. and far Northeastern Wisconsin could continue, and so that a 2nd station in central Upper Michigan could be added (before WJMN, WLUC-TV
was the only commercial station serving the U.P.).
Orion Broadcasting would merge with Cosmos Broadcasting (a subsidiary of The Liberty Corporation) in 1981. Two years later, in April 1983, WFRV would affiliate with ABC for the second time (NBC would move to WLUK-TV
). Later in the 1980s, WFRV was sold to Midwest Radio and Television
, owned by the Murphy and McNally families, who also owned the WCCO
stations in Minneapolis-St Paul. The Murphys and McNallys would announce a sale of Midwest to CBS
in summer 1991; the sale was completed in early 1992, and on March 15 of that year, WFRV became become a CBS owned-and-operated station
(ABC would move to Green Bay's longtime CBS affiliate, WBAY-TV
); this swap would make WFRV one of the few stations in the United States to be affiliated with all of the Big Three television networks
(ABC, NBC, and CBS) during its lifetime.
By 2001, WFRV would change its longtime Orion Broadcasting-era logo, used since the mid 1970s, for an earlier version of their current logo. One year later, in 2002, WFRV would become the first station in the Green Bay market to begin digital broadcasts. By 2003, WFRV would adopt the mandate CBS dictated for its stations, identifying themselves as "CBS 5" and adopting a green-and-gold logo to reflect their connection to the Green Bay Packers
(WFRV would begin airing Packer pre-season broadcasts in 2003). The station's current blue-and-yellow logo and graphic scheme was unveiled on July 10, 2006, along with a new news set to coincide with the return to the station of former reporter/anchor Tammy Elliott.
The week of April 16-18, 2007, Liberty Media
(a media company unrelated to The Liberty Corporation) completed an exchange transaction with CBS Corporation pursuant to which Liberty Media exchanged 7.6 million shares of CBS Class B common stock valued at $239 million dollars for a subsidiary of CBS that held WFRV and approximately $170 million in cash. WFRV and WJMN would then become owned-and-operated stations of Liberty Media, the only over-the-air TV properties they have owned. In May 2007, operations of the stations' websites would move from CBS Television Stations
Digital Media Group to a redesigned site powered by Inergize Digital Media (then a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications
now a division of Newport Television
). By Summer 2007, WFRV would drop the CBS Mandate, slowly transitioning from "CBS 5" to simply "Channel 5," their identifier before 2003.
In September 2008, WFRV became the first station in Green Bay to upgrade their master control
for pre-recorded network and syndicated high definition programming; Oprah, Ellen, and Entertainment Tonight are currently aired in HD on WFRV, while a character generator
allows the station to place 16:9
bulletin crawls for weather and news over the programming. WFRV would transition to digital-only broadcasting at midnight on February 17, 2009 (during a Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson commercial break); it would air a lop of nightlight
programming until March 3, when their analog service was completely discontinued. As of October 2009, WFRV gained the capability to create and air 16:9 advertising, promotions, and news graphics, though standard definition cameras were used for newscasts until their June 2011 conversion to high-definition
; before that newscast upgrade, graphics were displayed in the 16:9 format with weather conditions filling the left and right pillarbox spaces during 4:3-formatted newscasts.
On April 7, 2011, Nexstar Broadcasting Group
announced it would acquire WFRV and WJMN-TV
from Liberty Media. The $20 million deal was approved by the FCC
on June 28, 2011 and closed 3 days later on July 1, when Nexstar tapped Joseph Denk to become vice president and general manager of both stations; Denk replaces Perry Kidder, who announced his retirement shortly after the sale was announced (Kidder had spent 37 years with WFRV and WJMN). The web site URL and operations of WFRV and WJMN also changed to Nexstar's in-house format (they had been maintained by Broadcast Interactive Media since April 2010); in the case of WFRV, the web address changed from WFRV.com to WeAreGreenBay.com.
In addition to their main studios on East Mason Street in Green Bay, WFRV also has a Fox Valley bureau in Little Chute
, located on Patroit Drive near US 41 freeway
. The Valley bureau also has a second Doppler weather radar
tower to provide extended radar coverage for the station's weather operation.
WFRV's 5PM and 6PM newscasts have audio simulcasts on radio stations in the Fond du Lac
-Oshkosh
areas (on WRPN 1600 AM
) as well as in the Marinette
-Menominee
area (on WHYB 103.7 FM
). All WFRV newscasts are simulcast live on WJMN, which apart from occasional on-location reports from the Upper Peninsula currently has no separate news programming for the U.P.; when Nexstar completes its purchase of the stations, it plans for separate U.P. newscasts on WJMN.
On June 23, 2011, after a six-month upgrade process, WFRV became the first station in the Green Bay market to broadcast newscasts in high-definition; the changeover to HD includes an upgrade in the "Storm Team 5" weather technology, including real-time street-level radar.
Storm Team 5 Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, and serving Green Bay, the Fox Valley
Fox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
, and Northeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. The station broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 39 (PSIP channel 5.1) from a transmitter north of the Brown County town of Morrison
Morrison, Wisconsin
Morrison is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,651 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Lark, Morrison, and Wayside are located in the town.-Geography:...
. The station is currently owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
.
WFRV also operates semi-satellite WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Escanaba. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter in unincorporated Northern Delta County south of the Alger County line. The station can also be seen on...
(UHF digital channel 48 or virtual channel 3), which is licensed to Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
and covers the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
. WFRV/WJMN's master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
and all internal operations for both stations originate from WFRV's Green Bay facilities; WJMN does maintain an engineering operation and an advertising sales office in Marquette
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern...
.
Programming on WFRV and WJMN includes the full CBS lineup; syndicated programming including Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, Anderson
Anderson (TV series)
Anderson is an American first-run syndicated talk show that is hosted by CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper, who also serves as co-producer in his first foray into daytime talk television. The show debuted on September 12, 2011, and is distributed by Warner Bros...
, Ellen
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
; and Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
-related programming (WFRV is the Packers' "official station" and carries Packers' pre-season broadcasts and the weekly Larry McCarren's Locker Room
Larry McCarren's Locker Room
Larry McCarren's Locker Room is a live talk show hosted by WFRV-TV sports director and former Green Bay Packer Larry McCarren. Every week during football season, Larry hosts a Packers player...
during the season).
History
The station began life on May 21, 1955 as ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WNAM-TV, originally broadcasting on UHF channel 42 from Neenah
Neenah, Wisconsin
Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...
/ Menasha
Menasha, Wisconsin
Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...
and serving as sister to the radio station with the same call sign
WNAM
WNAM is an Adult Standards formatted radio station licensed to Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin, that serves the Appleton-Oshkosh area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media.-External links:*...
. By the late 1950s, the station moved their city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
and their studios to Little Chute
Little Chute, Wisconsin
Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,476 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Chute is located at ....
. The station would also change frequency (to VHF channel 5), call sign (to WFRV), and, in 1959, network affiliation (to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
). (In 1958, the station was also part of the short-lived Badger Television Network
Badger Television Network
The Badger Television Network was a three-station television network in Wisconsin during 1958. The three stations were WISN-TV , WFRV-TV , and WKOW-TV ....
alongside Milwaukee's
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
WISN-TV
WISN-TV
WISN-TV, virtual channel 12.1 , is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin serving as an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha...
and Madison's
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
WKOW-TV.) WFRV's early claims to fame included being the first TV station in Northeastern Wisconsin to broadcast in color (doing so after joining NBC), the first station to cover a live lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...
in 1959 (a studio camera was wheeled to the station parking lot and aimed at the moon), and Green Bay's first color local news broadcasts (beginning in 1965).
In the mid-1960s, WFRV was acquired by the Norton Group, a company owned by the Norton family of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, who also owned Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
's WAVE
WAVE (TV)
WAVE aka "WAVE 3" is the NBC television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Raycom Media, the station broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville...
. (The Norton Group would change its name to Orion Broadcasting by 1969.) One of the Norton Group's early decisions was to move WFRV's transmitter: Other Green Bay stations had their transmitters on Scray's Hill in the Ledgeview
Ledgeview, Wisconsin
Ledgeview is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,363 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Kolb and Pine Grove are located in the town.-Geography:...
section of the town of Glenmore
Glenmore, Wisconsin
Glenmore is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Shirley is located in the town.-Geography:...
, located just south of Green Bay and one of the highest geographical points in the area; WFRV's transmitter, however, was located further south (a legacy from its original days in Neenah/Menasha), so turning antennas southward to pick up WFRV inconvenienced viewers—and in turn put the station at a disadvantage. Accordingly, the Nortons gained permission from the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
to move Channel 5's transmitter to Glenmore.
On October 7, 1969, WFRV expanded into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
by signing on semi-satellite WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Escanaba. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter in unincorporated Northern Delta County south of the Alger County line. The station can also be seen on...
in Escanaba
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
. WJMN's creation was the result of The Norton Group's earlier agreement with the FCC to move WFRV's tower, as the station had to address short-spacing issues with another Channel 5 station, Chicago's WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
(every analog channel allocation in the Green Bay and Wausau
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
media markets were shared by a Chicago television station). As part of the agreement to transmit from Glenmore, Orion Broadcasting launched WJMN so that WFRV's service to the U.P. and far Northeastern Wisconsin could continue, and so that a 2nd station in central Upper Michigan could be added (before WJMN, WLUC-TV
WLUC-TV
WLUC-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Marquette. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter on South Helen Lake Road southeast of Republic in rural Marquette County. The station can also be seen...
was the only commercial station serving the U.P.).
Orion Broadcasting would merge with Cosmos Broadcasting (a subsidiary of The Liberty Corporation) in 1981. Two years later, in April 1983, WFRV would affiliate with ABC for the second time (NBC would move to WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
). Later in the 1980s, WFRV was sold to Midwest Radio and Television
Midwest Radio and Television
Midwest Radio and Television was a broadcasting company based in the Upper Midwest United States.Its history dates back to August 1952, when the original owners of WTCN-AM-FM-TV decided to sell the stations. While the radio stations went to a separate owner, WTCN-TV was sold to the owners of WCCO...
, owned by the Murphy and McNally families, who also owned the WCCO
WCCO
WCCO, which stands for "Washburn Crosby Company", the forerunner to General Mills, may refer to:*WCCO , a radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...
stations in Minneapolis-St Paul. The Murphys and McNallys would announce a sale of Midwest to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in summer 1991; the sale was completed in early 1992, and on March 15 of that year, WFRV became become a CBS owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
(ABC would move to Green Bay's longtime CBS affiliate, WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV is the ABC television affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin, broadcasting on UHF digital channel 23 from a transmitter located in the town of Ledgeview, Wisconsin, and master control based in its building in downtown Green Bay...
); this swap would make WFRV one of the few stations in the United States to be affiliated with all of the Big Three television networks
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
(ABC, NBC, and CBS) during its lifetime.
By 2001, WFRV would change its longtime Orion Broadcasting-era logo, used since the mid 1970s, for an earlier version of their current logo. One year later, in 2002, WFRV would become the first station in the Green Bay market to begin digital broadcasts. By 2003, WFRV would adopt the mandate CBS dictated for its stations, identifying themselves as "CBS 5" and adopting a green-and-gold logo to reflect their connection to the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
(WFRV would begin airing Packer pre-season broadcasts in 2003). The station's current blue-and-yellow logo and graphic scheme was unveiled on July 10, 2006, along with a new news set to coincide with the return to the station of former reporter/anchor Tammy Elliott.
The week of April 16-18, 2007, Liberty Media
Liberty Media
Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate and the control is exercised by company Chairman John C. Malone, who owns a majority of the voting shares....
(a media company unrelated to The Liberty Corporation) completed an exchange transaction with CBS Corporation pursuant to which Liberty Media exchanged 7.6 million shares of CBS Class B common stock valued at $239 million dollars for a subsidiary of CBS that held WFRV and approximately $170 million in cash. WFRV and WJMN would then become owned-and-operated stations of Liberty Media, the only over-the-air TV properties they have owned. In May 2007, operations of the stations' websites would move from CBS Television Stations
CBS Television Stations
The CBS Television Stations are a group of television stations owned by CBS Corporation. As of 2009, CBS Corporation owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: 14 are the key stations of the CBS Television Network ; nine are aligned with the CW Television Network, which is co-owned by CBS with Time...
Digital Media Group to a redesigned site powered by Inergize Digital Media (then a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
now a division of Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
). By Summer 2007, WFRV would drop the CBS Mandate, slowly transitioning from "CBS 5" to simply "Channel 5," their identifier before 2003.
In September 2008, WFRV became the first station in Green Bay to upgrade their master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
for pre-recorded network and syndicated high definition programming; Oprah, Ellen, and Entertainment Tonight are currently aired in HD on WFRV, while a character generator
Character generator
A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text...
allows the station to place 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
bulletin crawls for weather and news over the programming. WFRV would transition to digital-only broadcasting at midnight on February 17, 2009 (during a Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson commercial break); it would air a lop of nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
programming until March 3, when their analog service was completely discontinued. As of October 2009, WFRV gained the capability to create and air 16:9 advertising, promotions, and news graphics, though standard definition cameras were used for newscasts until their June 2011 conversion to high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
; before that newscast upgrade, graphics were displayed in the 16:9 format with weather conditions filling the left and right pillarbox spaces during 4:3-formatted newscasts.
On April 7, 2011, Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
announced it would acquire WFRV and WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Escanaba. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter in unincorporated Northern Delta County south of the Alger County line. The station can also be seen on...
from Liberty Media. The $20 million deal was approved by the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
on June 28, 2011 and closed 3 days later on July 1, when Nexstar tapped Joseph Denk to become vice president and general manager of both stations; Denk replaces Perry Kidder, who announced his retirement shortly after the sale was announced (Kidder had spent 37 years with WFRV and WJMN). The web site URL and operations of WFRV and WJMN also changed to Nexstar's in-house format (they had been maintained by Broadcast Interactive Media since April 2010); in the case of WFRV, the web address changed from WFRV.com to WeAreGreenBay.com.
News Operations
Little Chute, Wisconsin
Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,476 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Chute is located at ....
, located on Patroit Drive near US 41 freeway
U.S. Route 41 in Wisconsin
In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Highway 41 runs north–south the eastern side of the state. It enters from Illinois at Pleasant Prairie, and runs north to its northern terminus at the Michigan border at Marinette, WI.-Route description:US-41 is a freeway for nearly 70% of its route...
. The Valley bureau also has a second Doppler weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
tower to provide extended radar coverage for the station's weather operation.
WFRV's 5PM and 6PM newscasts have audio simulcasts on radio stations in the Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The name is French for bottom of the lake, for it is located at the bottom of Lake Winnebago. The population was 42,203 at the 2000 census...
-Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
areas (on WRPN 1600 AM
WRPN (AM)
WRPN is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. The station is currently owned by Radio One Communications, LLC...
) as well as in the Marinette
Marinette, Wisconsin
Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,749 at the 2000 census.Marinette is the principal city of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marinette County, Wisconsin and Menominee...
-Menominee
Menominee, Michigan
Menominee is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,131. It is the county seat of Menominee County. Menominee is the fourth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Escanaba...
area (on WHYB 103.7 FM
WHYB
WHYB is a radio station licensed to Menominee, Michigan and serving the areas of Menominee, neighboring Marinette, Wisconsin, and the immediate border area of Upper Michigan and Northeast Wisconsin...
). All WFRV newscasts are simulcast live on WJMN, which apart from occasional on-location reports from the Upper Peninsula currently has no separate news programming for the U.P.; when Nexstar completes its purchase of the stations, it plans for separate U.P. newscasts on WJMN.
On June 23, 2011, after a six-month upgrade process, WFRV became the first station in the Green Bay market to broadcast newscasts in high-definition; the changeover to HD includes an upgrade in the "Storm Team 5" weather technology, including real-time street-level radar.
Ratings
For most of its history, WFRV-TV's newscasts have been competitive with longtime leader WBAY-TV and runner-up WLUK-TV in most time slots although WFRV's newscasts have usually been in third place.Current on-air staff
Anchors- Wendy Kuschel - Weekday mornings and noon
- Erin Davisson - Weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 pm
- Tom Zalaski - Weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 pm
- Chelly Boutott - Weekends
Storm Team 5 Meteorologists
- Tom Mahoney (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 pm - Dave Miller (AMS Seal of Approval) - Weekends
- Justin Steinbrinck (AMS Seal of Approval) - Weekday mornings and noon
Sports
- Larry McCarrenLarry McCarrenLaurence "Larry" Anthony McCarren is a former American football center who played for twelve seasons in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers. He earned the nickname the "Rock" after he started 162 consecutive games, which is the team's fourth longest consecutive games start...
- weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 pm- Larry McCarren's Locker RoomLarry McCarren's Locker RoomLarry McCarren's Locker Room is a live talk show hosted by WFRV-TV sports director and former Green Bay Packer Larry McCarren. Every week during football season, Larry hosts a Packers player...
host
- Larry McCarren's Locker Room
- Burke Griffin - weekend evenings and Inside Lambeau co-host
- Inside Lambeau Co-Host and High School Sports Xtra host
- Ryan Popkey - reporter and photographer
- producer and fill-in anchor
Reporters
- Mike Austin - Agriculture
- Olga Halaburda
- Terry Kovarik
- Bret Lemoine
- Donald Robinson
- Caroline Rowland
- Heather Sawaski
- Millaine Wells
Past on-air staff
- Jay JohnsonJay W. JohnsonJay W. Johnson was the director of the United States Mint, Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin, and a former television news anchor in the Green Bay area....
- anchor 1982–1987; served as WLUK-TVWLUK-TVWLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
anchor from 1988 to 1996, and later represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional districtWisconsin's 8th congressional districtWisconsin's 8th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in northeastern Wisconsin. The district includes Green Bay and Appleton. It is currently represented by Reid Ribble, a Republican. Ribble defeated incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen for...
(1997-1999) and served as director of US MintUnited States MintThe United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
in 2000-2001. Deceased October 17, 2009. - Rob StaffordRob StaffordRob Stafford is a Chicago television anchor and a former correspondent for NBC's Dateline NBC newsmagazine.- Early life and education :...
- later at Dateline NBCDateline NBCDateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
and now weeknight anchor at WMAQ-TVWMAQ-TVWMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
Newscast titles
- The World Today and The World Tonight (mid-1960s)
- Report to Wisconsin (1967-1971)
- Channel 5 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1971-2001) - NewsChannel 5 (2001-2003)
- CBS 5 News (2003-2007)
- Channel 5 News (2007-present)
Station slogans
- "5 Country Is Your Country" (1970s)
- "The Best News and More" (mid 1980s)
- "The Look of a Leader!" (mid 1990s)
- "Your News Source" (2001-2003)
- "Working for You" (2003-2007)
- "Where The News Starts With You" (2007-2011)
- "The Area's First and Only HD Newscast" (2011-present)