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59-673: WCCO-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Minnesota , is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota , United States, serving as the CBS outlet for the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios on South 11th Street along Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis ; its transmitter is located at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota . WCCO-TV's programming

118-571: A barter in some cases. Viacom (1952%E2%80%932005) The original phase of Viacom Inc. (derived from "Video & Audio Communications") was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City . It began as CBS Television Film Sales , the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom

177-717: A crawl at the KCCO transmitter for broadcast every fifteen minutes), CBS disclosed that KCCO would shut down December 30, 2017. WCCO-TV remains available on cable and satellite providers in the Alexandria area; Selective TV, Inc. , a local translator collective, announced on December 22, 2017, that it had struck a deal to add WCCO to its lineup. In addition, the broadcast signal of WCCO-TV is extended by way of eight translators : Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,

236-642: A loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters . WCCO-TV operates a satellite station northwest of the Twin Cities area: It formerly operated a second satellite station: Both of these stations were founded by the Central Minnesota Television Company and maintained primary affiliations with NBC and secondary affiliations with ABC from their respective sign-ons until

295-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

354-531: A new company, Midwest Radio and Television , with CBS as a minority partner. The call letters of channel 4 were changed to WCCO-TV to match its new radio sibling on August 17 (the WTCN-TV call sign appeared again in the market the following year on the new channel 11 ). CBS was forced to sell its minority ownership stake in the WCCO stations in 1954 to comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership limits of

413-624: A new station using the WTCN-TV calls (now known as KARE-TV ) picked up the ABC affiliation, retaining it from its 1953 sign on until 1961 when it became an independent station ; it has been affiliated with NBC since 1979. Twin Cities Newspapers sold off its broadcast holdings in 1952, with channel 4 going to the Murphy and McNally families, who had recently bought the Twin Cities' dominant radio station, WCCO, from CBS. The stations merged under

472-484: A sister company headed by Freston under the Viacom name. The split was approved by Viacom's board on June 14, 2005, and took effect on December 31. The second iterations of CBS Corporation and Viacom began trading on January 3, 2006. On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their re-merger deal ; the combined company would be called ViacomCBS, with Bob Bakish as president and CEO and Shari Redstone as

531-502: A streaming news service, CBSN Minnesota (now CBS News Minnesota) on December 12, 2019, as part of a rollout of similar services (each a localized version of the national CBSN service across the CBS-owned stations). On September 5, 2022, WCCO premiered an hour-long 4 pm newscast called The 4 . The stations' signals are multiplexed : WCCO-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009,

590-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

649-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

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708-519: Is also seen on full-power satellite station KCCW-TV (channel 12) in Walker (with transmitter near Hackensack ). Nielsen Media Research treats WCCO-TV and KCCW-TV as one station in local ratings books, using the identifier name WCCO+ . From 1987 until 2017, WCCO-TV operated a second satellite, KCCO-TV (virtual and VHF digital channel 7) in Alexandria (with transmitter near Westport ). WCCO

767-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

826-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

885-488: Is one of three owned-and-operated network affiliates in the Twin Cities market, the others being Fox O&O KMSP-TV (channel 9) and MyNetworkTV O&O WFTC (channel 9.2). WCCO-TV's roots originate with a radio station, but not WCCO (830 AM). Radio station WRHM , which signed on the air in 1925, is the station to which WCCO-TV traces its lineage. In 1934, two newspapers—the Minneapolis Tribune and

944-506: The Saint Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch —formed a joint venture named "Twin Cities Newspapers", which purchased the radio station and changed its call letters to WTCN. Twin Cities Newspapers later expanded into the fledgling FM band with WTCN-FM , and shortly thereafter to the then-new medium of television with the launch of WTCN-TV on July 1, 1949, becoming Minnesota's second television station, broadcasting from

1003-507: The Black Hills showing Mount Rushmore to the world. The station began telecasting color programs in 1955. In September 1983, WCCO relocated its operations from its longtime studios on South 9th Street to the present location at South 11th Street and Nicollet Mall. The network gained full ownership of WCCO-TV in 1992, when it acquired what was by then known as Midwest Communications. In 2000, Viacom bought CBS, and WCCO became part of

1062-549: The Blockbuster Video chain in 1994. The acquisition of Paramount Communications on July 7, 1994, made Viacom one of the world's largest entertainment companies. Also in 1993, WTXX entered into a part-time local marketing agreement with Viacom's NBC station WVIT . The Paramount and Blockbuster acquisitions gave Viacom access to large television holdings: An archive of programming controlled by Aaron Spelling 's company which included, along with his own productions ,

1121-648: The Dayton , San Francisco , Nashville and Seattle metropolitan areas. Several of these were originally independent systems that CBS acquired in the 1960s. The division was known as Viacom Cablevision until the early 1990s, when it was renamed to Viacom Cable . By 1995, Viacom Cable had about 1.1 million subscribers. Viacom sold the division to TCI in 1995. Viacom's cable assets are now part of Comcast . In March 2005, Viacom announced that it would split into two companies – one would contain Viacom's "slow-growth" assets;

1180-546: The National Football League , the station, via CBS , which held the rights to broadcast NFL games, became the 'unofficial' home station of the team. This partnership continued through the 1993 season , at which time most games were moved to WFTC . Today, most Vikings games are on KMSP-TV ; since 1998, WCCO airs at least two Vikings games each season when the Vikings host an AFC team, or, since 2014, with

1239-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

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1298-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

1357-488: The parent company of CBS, the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation , which had been renamed CBS Corporation in 1997. Viacom was split into the second incarnations of CBS Corporation and Viacom — both remained under National Amusements ownership — in 2005; the split was structured with the second CBS Corporation being the original Viacom's legal successor , and the second Viacom being an entirely new company. The two companies eventually re-merged in 2019, leading to

1416-481: The FCC's spectrum incentive auction , but was expected to engage in a channel-sharing agreement. In a request for a waiver of requirements that KCCO broadcast public service announcements related to the shutdown (as the station no longer had the capability to originate separate programming, such announcements would also need to air on WCCO-TV and KCCW-TV despite not being relevant outside of KCCO's viewing area; CBS inserted

1475-529: The Radio City Theater at 50 South 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Robert Ridder became president of WCCO-TV in 1949. Channel 4 has been a primary CBS affiliate since its sign on; it is the only major commercial station in the Minneapolis–St. Paul market not to have changed its primary affiliation. However, it had a secondary affiliation with ABC during its early years, from 1949 to 1953, until

1534-791: The Redstone family maintained 71-percent voting control of the company through National Amusements' holdings of Viacom's stock. In 2002, Viacom's MTV Networks International bought independently run Dutch music video channel TMF , which at the time was broadcasting in Belgium and the Netherlands . In June 2004, MTVNI bought VIVA Media AG , the German equivalent to MTV. The same month, plans were announced to dispose of Viacom's interest in Blockbuster later that year by means of an exchange offer;

1593-439: The Twin Cities market in nearly all time slots, from its morning show to the 10 p.m. news. WCCO leads by large margins in overall households, though compared to the 25–54 demographic, the numbers are much more competitive with NBC affiliate KARE. WCCO began broadcasting local newscasts in high-definition on May 28, 2009, becoming the third major network station in the Twin Cities (behind KARE and KMSP) to do so. WCCO-TV launched

1652-647: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

1711-656: The Viacom Television Stations Group. In 2006, Viacom Television Stations Group was renamed CBS Television Stations when Viacom split into two companies. During the 1980s, a cable-exclusive sibling station was created to supplement WCCO, with its own slate of local and national entertainment programming. This was known as WCCO II , but by 1989, it had evolved into the Midwest Sports Channel , focusing on regional sporting events. It continued under CBS ownership until 2000, when it

1770-463: The company had set up its own division Viacom Pictures, to produce its feature films for television, most notably Showtime . Sumner Redstone , via his theater chain operator National Amusements , acquired a controlling interest in Viacom on June 10, 1987. Redstone made a string of large acquisitions in the early 1990s, announcing plans to merge with Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western ), parent of Paramount Pictures , in 1993, and buying

1829-766: The company purchased WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut , changing its call letters to WVIT . Two years later Viacom added the Sonderling Broadcasting chain, giving it radio stations in New York City , Washington, D.C. , Houston , and San Francisco , and one television station, WAST (now WNYT ) in Albany, New York . In 1983 Viacom purchased KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana , and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York , in separate transactions. This

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1888-447: The core cable business and the company would ride herd on diverse enterprises as Viacom's pay-per-view venture, Viewer's Choice, Satellite Direct, Inc. and SMA TV, and handle strategic planning and new business development for Viacom Networks Group, and would develop merchandising, licensing and home video business around the two Viacom subsidiaries it was currently operating, Showtime-The Movie Channel, Inc. and MTV Networks . In 1989,

1947-429: The day, except for separate commercials and inserts placed into channel 4's newscasts. However, in 2002, WCCO-TV ended KCCO/KCCW's local operations and shut down the Alexandria studio, converting the two stations into full-time satellites. Since then, channel 4 has identified as "Minneapolis–St. Paul/Alexandria/Walker", with virtually no on-air evidence that KCCO and KCCW were separate stations. CBS sold KCCO's spectrum in

2006-499: The division was incorporated as Viacom , and spun off on January 1, 1971, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies (the rules were later repealed). Viacom expanded its activities throughout the decade with a launch of a production unit, and later acquired the rights to various features from various studios. In addition to CBS TV series syndication rights, Viacom also held cable systems with 90,000 cable subscribers, at that time

2065-567: The entity ViacomCBS. The sale was completed on December 4, 2019, resulting in CBS Television Stations, including WCCO-TV, becoming subsidiaries of ViacomCBS. On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS changed its name to Paramount Global . On August 14, 2023, Wendy McMahon , a former creative services director at WCCO-TV, was named CBS News and Stations president. In 1961, with the establishment of the Minnesota Vikings of

2124-468: The formation of ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount Global . Viacom originated on March 16, 1952 — when CBS founded its broadcast syndication division, CBS Television Film Sales . It renamed as CBS Films in October 1958. On December 1, 1967, it again renamed as CBS Enterprises Inc. . On July 6, 1970, it announced that CBS Enterprises would be spun out from its parent company, and the same month

2183-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

2242-695: The institution of the new 'cross-flex' rules, any games that are moved from KMSP-TV. In 1992, WCCO provided coverage of Super Bowl XXVI and that year's Final Four , which were hosted at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome . Since 2023 , WCCO has aired select Minnesota Golden Gophers football games as a part of a new deal between CBS and the Big Ten Conference . WCCO presently broadcasts 38 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). WCCO leads

2301-428: The joint venture. Around the same time, Viacom bought MTV Networks , which owned MTV , VH-1 , and Nickelodeon . This led to Viacom becoming a mass media company rather than simply a distribution company, and completed in 1986. In 1987, Viacom sought to expand its horizons by launching the new Viacom Network Enterprises division, which was led by Ronald C. Bernard, in order to develop and exploit properties outside of

2360-478: The largest in the US. In 1976, Viacom launched Showtime , a pay movie channel, with Warner-Amex taking a half-share ownership. The company went into original programming production starting in the late 1970s until the early 1980s with middling results. The company expanded in 1977 to launch a unit for program acquisitions and prime-time network programming. Viacom's first broadcast station acquisition came in 1978 when

2419-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

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2478-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

2537-422: The next two years selling off its non-UPN affiliated stations to various owners. In 1997, Viacom exited the broadcast radio business, albeit temporarily, when it sold the majority of its stations to Chancellor Media, a predecessor company of iHeartMedia . On September 7, 1999, Viacom announced their acquisition of CBS Corporation in a $ 35.9 billion deal. In addition to being the largest media merger in history at

2596-495: The offices of president and chief operating officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him. The existing Viacom would become the second CBS Corporation as it was headed by Moonves and kept CBS, Simon & Schuster , and Paramount Network Television (now known as CBS Studios ), among other assets; while MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Paramount Pictures would spin-off to

2655-523: The official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 32, using virtual channel 4. As part of the SAFER Act , WCCO-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through

2714-519: The other would consist of the company's "high-growth" divisions – under National Amusements' control because of a stagnating stock price. The internal rivalry between CBS chairman Les Moonves and MTV Networks chief executive officer Tom Freston , and the controversy of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show were also seen as factors. After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as chairman and CEO, decided to split

2773-565: The owners of the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. As with CBS Cable, it was immediately integrated into MTV Networks, causing some outcry among BET workers in the Washington, D.C., area (where BET was based before the merger). As a result, BET was separated from MTV Networks, into a division known as BET Networks . Although a majority economic interest in Viacom was held by independent shareholders,

2832-526: The pre-1973 ABC and NBC libraries under Worldvision Enterprises and Republic Pictures ; and an expanded group of television stations which merged Viacom's five existing outlets into Paramount's seven-station group . Viacom used some of these stations to launch the UPN network, which started operations in January 1995 as a joint venture with Chris-Craft Industries . Shortly afterward, Viacom/Paramount spent

2891-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

2950-534: The spinoff of Blockbuster was completed in October. Also in 2002, Viacom acquired the remaining shares of Infinity Broadcasting radio chain, which resulted in Viacom's return to operating radio stations after it originally exited the broadcast radio business in 1997. In April 2003, Viacom acquired the remaining ownership shares of Comedy Central from then- AOL Time Warner , integrating Comedy Central into MTV Networks. From its formation until 1995, Viacom operated several cable television systems generally located in

3009-424: The summer of 1982, when both stations switched to CBS. KCMT had originally broadcast from a studio in Alexandria, with KNMT operating as a satellite station of KCMT. Central Minnesota Television sold both stations to Midwest Radio and Television in 1987, at which point they adopted their present call letters and became semi-satellites of WCCO-TV. Until 2002, the two stations simulcast WCCO-TV's programming for most of

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3068-632: The time, the purchase effectively reunited Viacom with its former parent, CBS. The merger was completed in May 2000, bringing CBS's cable channels TNN (now Paramount Network ) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's MTV Networks wing, as well as CBS's production and distribution units Eyemark Entertainment (formerly Group W Productions ) and King World under the main wing. The merger also folded Viacom's broadcast group, now consisting entirely of UPN stations, into CBS's owned-stations division. In 2001, Viacom completed its purchase of BET Holdings,

3127-492: The time. In 1959, WCCO became the first station in the midwest to have a videotape machine; it came at a cost of $ 50,000 and one part-time employee was hired to operate the machine. On July 23, 1962, WCCO-TV was involved in the world's first live international broadcast via the Telstar satellite; the station's mobile units provided the feed for all three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, for a program originating from native land in

3186-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

3245-934: Was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company went under Sumner Redstone 's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements . At the time of its split, Viacom's assets included the CBS and UPN broadcast networks, the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, local radio station operator CBS Radio , cable channels such as MTV , Nickelodeon , Comedy Central , BET and Showtime , outdoor media operator Viacom Outdoor , television production and distribution firm King World Productions , and book publisher Simon & Schuster . It also owned its IP holding subsidiary Viacom International and brand licensor Westinghouse Licensing Corporation . In 2000, Viacom acquired

3304-406: Was announced that MSC and sibling RSN Home Team Sports were to be sold. HTS went to Comcast , while MSC was sold to Fox Entertainment Group and became part of Fox Sports Net , becoming Fox Sports North . It had been an FSN affiliate since 1997. On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to sell CBS Radio to Entercom, currently the fourth-largest radio broadcasting company in the United States. The sale

3363-426: Was completed on November 17, 2017, and was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust so that it was tax-free. While CBS shareholders retain a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom, now Audacy , is the surviving entity, with WCCO radio and its sibling stations separated from WCCO-TV. On August 13, 2019, National Amusements announced that Viacom and CBS Corporation would recombine their assets, forming

3422-617: Was followed in 1986 with CBS-owned KMOX-TV in St. Louis ; with the purchase, that station's call letters were changed to KMOV . Also in 1983, Viacom reacquired its premium channel Showtime, and later merged it with Warner-Amex's The Movie Channel forming Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc . Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, Viacom syndicated several shows produced by Carsey-Werner Productions , namely The Cosby Show , A Different World and Roseanne . In 1985, Viacom acquired Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. from Warner-Amex, ending

3481-678: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

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