WQOW


WQOW, virtual channel 18, is a dual ABC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Chippewa Valley of Western Wisconsin. The station is owned by Quincy Media. WQOW's studios are located on Friedeck Road in Eau Claire south of I-94, and its transmitter is located at the studios of rival NBC outlet WEAU on South Hastings Way in Altoona.
Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, WQOW is considered a semi-satellite of WXOW in La Crosse. As such, it simulcasts all network and syndicated programming as provided through its parent but airs separate commercial inserts, legal identifications, local newscasts and Sunday morning religious programs, and has its own website. WQOW serves the northern half of the La Crosse–Eau Claire market while WXOW serves the southern portion. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. Although WQOW maintains its own facilities, master control and some internal operations are based at the WXOW studios on County Highway 25 in La Crescent, Minnesota. DirecTV and Dish Network offer both WXOW and WQOW as of September 2010.

History

WQOW signed-on for the first time on September 22, 1980; the station was originally owned by Liberty Television, which had acquired WXOW two years earlier. For its first decade on-the-air, WXOW had been hampered by an inadequate signal in the northern half of the market. Unlike the area's other stations, WXOW's transmitter is located alongside its studios in La Crescent, Minnesota. As a result, viewers in Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley could only watch the station on cable.
Its original studios were on Business US 53/Hastings Way east of the London Square Mall and then-current interchange with WIS 93 on the southeast side of Eau Claire. Originally, WQOW was a straight simulcast of WXOW, except for identifications and commercials. However, since 1982, it has evolved into a more localized station. In 1985, WQOW was acquired by Tak Communications, which would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy six years later. A group of creditors seized Tak's assets in 1994, and the company's Wisconsin stations were purchased by Shockley Communications in 1995 as part of Tak's liquidation.
Since the new US 53 Bypass was set to be constructed on the site of WQOW's building, the station moved in January 2001, six months before it was acquired by Quincy Media. The old building's site is located approximately in the northbound lane of the bypass near the WIS 93 northbound bridge. The new building is on WIS 93 immediately south of I-94 on the south side of Eau Claire. WQOW/WXOW began operating a cable-only affiliate of The WB in 1998 known as "WBCZ".
This was seen through a simulcast on channel 15 on most systems in La Crosse and Eau Claire. It would be replaced with new second digital subchannels when it launched in the fall of 2006. After The CW Plus national service was upgraded to 720p high definition level in Fall 2012, an HD feed became available on Charter digital channel 610. WQOW began airing solely in digital, effective February 17, 2009, with the analog transmitter operating for sixty additional days broadcasting only local news and information about the digital transition.
In July 2009, Dish Network announced it would add WQOW to its local channel lineup in the Eau Claire area after previously only offering WXOW. WQOW/WXOW launched This TV simulcast on new digital third digital subchannels of the stations in February/March 2010. Following the collapse of WEAU's tower on March 22, 2011, WQOW temporarily discontinued This TV on 18.3 in order to provide space to broadcast WEAU temporarily on its subchannel until a new tower was erected.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP short nameProgramming
18.1720pWQOWABCMain WQOW programming / ABC
18.2720pWQOWCWEau Claire's CW
18.3480iWQOWDECDecades
18.4480i16:9CourtTVCourt TV
18.5480i16:9JusticeJustice Network

Programming

programming on WQOW includes The Doctors, Inside Edition, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray and Live with Kelly and Ryan, among others. The station is also a part of the Green Bay Packers and WIAA sports networks; the former allows WQOW to carry Packers preseason games and official team programming, and to brand itself as "Your Official Packers Station" for the Eau Claire market.

Newscasts

With the launch of WQOW, WXOW began to simulcast its newscasts on that station. In 1982, WQOW established a separate news operation with local newscasts focusing on Eau Claire and the surrounding areas. Since it did not operate an in-house weather department of its own, all segments originated from WXOW's studios in a tape-delayed arrangement. The effort was cancelled in March 1990 as a cost-cutting measure and, as a result, WQOW once again began simulcasting WXOW's newscasts.
It would not be until October 1996 when WQOW would relaunch its own local news operation for a second time which remain to this day. Although this incarnation of news production includes a separate weather department from WXOW, meteorologists from that station can fill-in on WQOW. In September 2011, WXOW became the second television station in the market to perform an upgrade to high definition newscast production. Included in the change was a new studio and updated graphics package. The news department at WQOW was upgraded to HD level at the same time.