Wrex - History

History

WREX began operation on October 1, 1953, as an affiliate primarily of CBS and secondarily of ABC and DuMont. The station's call letters were selected in honor of Rex N. Caster, the son of the station's founding shareholder and president L.E. Caster. Rex Caster was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army who was killed in France during World War II.

Besides serving its immediate area, WREX attracted viewers early on in its history from parts of the neighboring Madison, Wisconsin area. In fact, the two areas still share overlapping coverage among their television stations, especially in Rock County, Wisconsin (technically in the Madison television market). Until Madison's WISC-TV signed on in 1956, WREX was the only VHF station for both the Rockford and Madison areas.

During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. In 1963, the station was sold to the Gannett Company; during the mid-1960s, WREX was briefly co-owned with the Rockford Register Star. WREX became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1965, when WCEE-TV signed on the air. In 1966, WREX became the first television station in Rockford to broadcast in color.

The station was sold in 1969 to the Gilmore Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WEHT in Evansville, Indiana. Gilmore served as WREX's longest-standing owner. In 1987, Gilmore sold the station to ML Media Partners, L.P.; under their new ownership, WREX created its own Eyewitness News format, and finally added the ABC soap opera All My Children to its daytime schedule. In August 1995, Quincy Newspapers purchased WREX and switched network affiliations with WTVO.