History
WISC-TV first took to the airwaves on June 24, 1956, taking over Madison's CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV (which retained ABC affiliation). During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. Despite being the state's second largest market, Madison was a "doughnut" where there could only be one VHF license due to being sandwiched between Milwaukee to the east, Wausau and Green Bay to the north, Chicago and Rockford to the south, and La Crosse/Eau Claire to the west. Having the market's only VHF signal gave channel 3 a distinct advantage over its UHF competitors, WKOW and WMTV. Until cable arrived in Madison in the 1980s, WISC was the only local station that provided a clear signal to most of the market. Not surprisingly, it has been the market leader for most of its history. There is also a low power VHF signal in the market occupying analog channel 8 W08CK.
From its early days in broadcasting through the 1970s, the station ID'd as "WISC-TV, Channel 3—Madison. Wisconsin's Leadership Station." Jerry Deane was a very popular news presenter. William "Bill" Dyke was an on-air talent in the early 1960s before he eventually became mayor of Madison.
From 1995 to 1999, WISC-TV carried select UPN programming during overnight hours, before the launch of a separate UPN station in the market, WHPN. UPN returned in 2002 on WISC's cable/digital subchannel, "UPN 14"; that channel now carries MyNetworkTV.
WISC-TV commemorated its 50th anniversary in June 2006, which merited a congratulatory mention by David Letterman on his Late Show broadcast of June 22, 2006 (its first program, he quipped, was "Good Morning, Cheddar").
At 12:30 p.m. on February 17, 2009, WISC-TV converted all regular programming to its digital signal on channel 50, or PSIP virtual channel 3.1. The analog channel 3 continued to serve as a "nightlight," broadcasting a loop of digital transition information and instructions in addition to any local news programming and emergency information, until signing off for good the final week of March 2009.
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