Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota United States |
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City | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Branding | WCCO 4 (general) WCCO 4 News (newscasts) |
Slogan | Minnesota's most-watched station (General) |
Channels |
Digital: 32 (UHF) Virtual: 4 () |
Subchannels | 4.1 CBS 4.2 Decades |
Translators | (see article) |
Affiliations | CBS (O&O) (Secondary through 1953) |
Owner |
CBS Corporation (CBS Television Licenses, LLC) |
First air date | July 1, 1949 |
Call letters' meaning | derived from sister station WCCO radio (Washburn Crosby COmpany) |
Sister station(s) | KMNB, KZJK, WCCO |
Former callsigns | WTCN-TV (1949–1952) |
Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1949–2009) |
Former affiliations |
Secondary: ABC (1949–1953) |
Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
Height | 432 m (1,417 ft) |
Facility ID | 9629 |
Transmitter coordinates | 45°3′44″N 93°8′21″W / 45.06222°N 93.13917°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | minnesota |
WCCO-TV, UHF digital channel 32 (virtual channel 4), is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and serving the Twin Cities television market. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation. WCCO-TV's studios are located on South 11th Street in downtown Minneapolis, and its transmitter is located at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.
WCCO-TV's programming is also seen on two full-power satellite stations: KCCO-TV (channel 7) in Alexandria, Minnesota; and KCCW-TV (channel 12) in Walker, Minnesota.
WCCO-TV's roots originate with a radio station, but not the one with which it is affiliated today. 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 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 the then-new medium of television with the launch of WTCN-TV on July 1, 1949 as Minnesota's second television station, broadcasting from the Radio City Theater at 50 South 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis. It has always been a primary CBS affiliate since its sign on. However, it also had a secondary affiliation with ABC during its early years from 1949-1953 when another incarnation of WTCN-TV (now known as KARE of which it also had the ABC affiliation from its sign on in 1953 until 1961 when it became an independent station).