Spending on TV has been climbing back toward normal in Milwaukee since the pandemic struck, and the stations are getting a windfall from a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race that will give the balance of power to either the Democrats or Republicans, depending on how the vote goes April 4.
Conservatives currently hold a 4-3 majority in the Supreme Court. “There are so many key initiatives that will be decided based on how the race ends up,” said Jan Wade, WISN president and general manager.
CNN reported, “In one of the nation’s most important political battlegrounds, the future of election laws, abortion rights and more could hinge on the outcome of an April race for a seat that will determine control of the state Supreme Court.”
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A less divisive matter in Milwaukee is the market’s emergence as a major sports town. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers have been a power for decades. The Bucks won the NBA title in 2021 and are in first place in the Eastern Conference at press time. The Brewers finished second in the National League Central last year. In college hoops, Marquette’s men had a No. 2 seed in March Madness, and the women’s team a No. 9, though both were defeated — the men in the second round, the women in the first.
“Milwaukee has really become a sports town,” said Chuck Steinmetz, WITI senior VP and general manager. “The Packers have always been a big deal, but that has translated to other sports.”
Lambeau Field is a one-and-a-half hour drive from Milwaukee. The stations were on “Aaron Rodgers watch,” as Wade put it, at press time, with the star quarterback looking to make a move.
“We definitely bleed green and gold here,” added Spectrum News 1 senior news director Diane Irving.
Hearst Television owns ABC affiliate WISN. Fox owns WITI. Weigel Broadcasting holds CBS affiliate WDJT, Telemundo station WYTU, independent WMLW and MeTV outlet WBME. Scripps has NBC affiliate WTMJ. Sinclair Broadcast Group owns The CW station WVTV, which has MyNetworkTV on a subchannel, and the public broadcaster in DMA No. 38 is WMVS.
Spectrum is the major pay TV operator in Milwaukee. It owns Spectrum News 1.
WISN and WITI are the frontrunners in the local news game. In February, WITI won the 6 a.m. battle in both live-plus-same-day household impressions and the 25-54 demo. At both 5 and 6 p.m., WISN won households and WITI took the demo. At 10 p.m., WISN averaged 49,200 household impressions, ahead of WITI’s 34,700, WDJT’s 22,400 and WTMJ’s 19,200. In the 25-54 late news race, WISN had 14,300 impressions, WITI averaged 14,000, WDJT had 5,400 and WTMJ had 5,200.
“We have four competitive stations doing news, and they all keep each other on each others’ toes,” said Wade.
Go 4 the Gold
Wade described WISN as “the big J journalists in the market,” in terms of both breaking news and investigative reporting. The branding is “Leading the Way with Important Local Coverage.”
“In terms of significant coverage, we want to be distinctive,” she said.
Known as 12 News, WISN added a 4 p.m. news hour in June 2022. While the station was last among the local players in Milwaukee to enter that time slot, WISN quickly emerged as No. 2 to WITI.
The station has been contributing to parent Hearst TV’s Very Local app, including Show Me Milwaukee, hosted by radio personality Greg Adams.
WITI has a relentless approach to mornings. Its weekday news goes from 4:30 a.m. to 10, then Real Milwaukee at 10, and an hour of news at 11. Described as “a local version of The View” by Steinmetz, with four hosts discussing what’s going on in the so-called Cream City, Real Milwaukee is in its 14th season.
“It deals with everything that’s Milwaukee,” he said. “The heart and soul of what’s happening in Milwaukee.”
With a “Because You Matter” branding, WITI, known as Fox6, welcomed Brandice Bailey as VP and news director in September. She had been assistant news director at WIS Columbia (South Carolina).
Anne Brown, general manager of WDJT, WYTU, WMLW and WBME, spent time at WITI as director of strategy and marketing before shifting to the Weigel stations. Billed as Your Hometown Station, WDJT has shifted from the ‘if it bleeds it leads’ axiom. “I’m not saying we don’t cover crime, but we do it in a different way,” she said. “What we try to do is figure out the context and figure out where it fits in stories.”
CBS 58 newscasts are meant to resemble dinner-table conversations, where perhaps a fatal stabbing is further down on the list. “We try to make sure we execute on that every day,” she said.
Jessie Garcia is the news director. CBS 58 provides 17 hours of news a week to WMLW, including 7-9 a.m. and 9 p.m. weekday news. The Telemundo station, for its part, has an 11 a.m. newscast, which rebroadcasts at 5 p.m., and a 10 p.m. one.
Milwaukee does not have a local Univision station.
Spectrum News 1’s Irving proudly noted that she’s the only news director in the market with Milwaukee roots. The cable news outlet offers solution-oriented journalism. News 1 reporters stick to their beats, be it education or business or the environment.
“We encourage our reporters not just to go out and cover events,” Irving said. “We’re not reactive — we try to be proactive with our coverage.”
Joe Poss, WTMJ VP and general manager, chose not to comment on the station.
Springtime Snow
The station professionals cited a mild winter for Milwaukee, which is about 90 miles north of Chicago, though the market got around 9 inches of snow March 25. Steinmetz mentioned the “family atmosphere” in the Lake Michigan-adjacent region. “It’s a very traditional Midwest market, with block parties and church festivals,” he said. “That’s all real and it happens here.”
Fiserv, Milwaukee Tool and Northwestern Mutual are among the major corporations calling Milwaukee home. The market was set to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was postponed due to the pandemic, then held in downsized form a month later. “It was a largely virtual event,” lamented Irving.
Milwaukee will try again with the Republican National Convention in July 2024.
WITI’s Bailey has found that there’s more going on in Milwaukee than she might’ve imagined prior to her arrival. “There’s always something to do — restaurants, sports, plays, concerts,” she said. “Any day of the week, you can find something to do. You have to try really hard to be bored.” ▪️
