WMOW

{{About|the television station in Crandon, Wisconsin|the protest known alternately as the "Women's March on Washington" and abbreviated as "WMOW"|2017 Women's March}}

{{infobox television station

| callsign = WMOW

| above = Satellite of WAOW, Wausau, Wisconsin

| logo = Wmow 2014.png

| logo_size = 200px

| branding = WMOW 4; News 9 WAOW

| digital = 13 (VHF)

| virtual = 4

| affiliations = {{ubl|4.1: Catchy Comedy|4.2: ABC|for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}}}

| founded = December 4, 1998

| airdate = {{start date and age|2001|2|9|p=y}}

| location = Crandon, Wisconsin

| country = United States

| callsign_meaning = Metonga Lake WAOW

| former_callsigns = WBIJ (2001–2010)

| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|Analog: 4 (VHF, 2001–2009)|Digital: 12 (VHF, 2010–2020)}}

| owner = Allen Media Group

| licensee = Wausau TV License Company, LLC

| former_affiliations = {{ubl|FamilyNet (2001–2009)|Dark (2009–2010)|The CW (2010–2021)|ABC (2021−2022, now on DT2)}}

| erp = 3.2 kW

| haat = {{convert|119|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

| facility_id = 81503

| coordinates = {{coord|45|34|23.4|N|88|52|58.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}

| licensing_authority = FCC

| website = {{URL|https://waow.com/}}

}}

WMOW (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Crandon, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is a full-time satellite of Wausau-licensed WAOW (channel 9) which is owned by Allen Media Group. WMOW's transmitter is located just east of downtown Crandon; its parent station maintains studios on Grand Avenue/US 51 in Wausau. Besides the transmitter, WMOW does not maintain any physical presence locally in Crandon.

History

Founded December 4, 1998, the station first signed-on February 9, 2001, as WBIJ. It was a FamilyNet affiliate owned by Dennis Selenka. The station aired an analog signal on VHF channel 4. Since WBIJ was granted its construction permit after the finalization of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) digital television allotment plan on April 21, 1997, it did not receive a companion digital channel.

After Dennis Selenka's death on September 30, 2008,{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1293609&Service=TV&Form_id=316&Facility_id=81503|title=Application For Consent To Assign Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License Or To Transfer Control Of Entity Holding Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License|last=Selenka|first=Joanne L.|date=February 4, 2009|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=June 10, 2010}} Quincy Newspapers purchased WBIJ from his widow for $1.5 million on February 13, 2009. The company announced its intention to run WBIJ as a second satellite station of WAOW to serve the northeast portion of the Wausau market in a similar capacity that WYOW does for the extreme northern part of the market.{{cite web |url=http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/74662 |title=Quincy Takes WBIJ for $1.55 Million |date=February 13, 2009 |work=TelevisionBroadcast.com |access-date=February 14, 2009}} In the meantime, WBIJ signed off on June 12 at the end of the digital transition for full-service stations as it did not yet have digital facilities ready.

Quincy brought the station back on-the-air as WMOW on June 4, 2010, as an affiliate of The CW.{{cite news|title=WMOW On The Air|url=http://www.waow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12596893|access-date=June 10, 2010|newspaper=WAOW — Newsline 9|date=June 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615121102/http://www.waow.com/story/12596893/wmow-on-the-air?redirected=true |archive-date=June 15, 2011}} This station operates its digital signal on VHF channel 12 which was the former analog home of NBC affiliate WJFW-TV.

On June 19, 2011, WAOW (and in turn WMOW-DT2) became the market's second television outlet to upgrade local news to high definition level. Included in the change was a redesigned set and updated graphics scheme.{{cite web|url=http://www.waow.com/category/136204/newsteam|date=October 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425081139/https://www.waow.com/category/136204/newsteam/ |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |title=NewsTeam - WAOW - Newsline 9, Wausau News, Weather, Sports}}{{Failed verification|date=November 2022}}

On January 7, 2021, Quincy Media announced that it had put itself up for sale.[https://www.northpine.com/blog/2021/01/07/tv-station-owner-quincy-media-up-for-sale/ "TV Station Owner Quincy Media Up for Sale,"] from Northpine.com, January 7, 2021 On February 1, Gray Television announced it would purchase Quincy's radio and TV properties for $925 million. As Gray already owns WSAW-TV in the Wausau/Rhinelander market, and both that station and WAOW rank among the market's top four stations, it agreed to sell WAOW in order to satisfy FCC requirements.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/02/gray-television-quincy-media-for-925-million-in-cash-1234684531/|title=Gray Television Acquires Quincy Media For $925 Million In Cash|first=Jill|last=Goldsmith|work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|date=February 1, 2021|access-date=February 1, 2021}}

On April 29, Gray announced that WMOW and WAOW would be divested to Allen Media Group, a subsidiary of Los Angeles–based Entertainment Studios, in a $380 million deal that includes, among other Quincy-owned stations, WKOW/Madison, WXOW/La Crosse, and WQOW/Eau Claire. The deal closed in August 2021,[https://graytv.gcs-web.com/node/18526/pdf "Gray Television Closes Quincy Acquisition"], Gray Television, August 2, 2021. and did not see Gray have any direct ownership or control of those stations.[https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/29/2220067/0/en/Gray-Sells-Divestiture-Stations-From-Quincy-Media-Transaction-to-Allen-Media-for-380-Million.html "Gray Sells Divestiture Stations From Quincy Media Transaction to Allen Media for $380 Million,"] press release from GlobeNewswire, April 29, 2021 Gray, however, kept WYOW,[https://www.northpine.com/blog/2021/02/12/fcc-filing-provides-details-of-gray-tvs-plans-for-quincy-media-stations/ "FCC Filings Provide Details of Gray TV’s Plans for Quincy Media Stations,"] from Northpine.com; February 12, 2021 which later turned into a full-power satellite of WSAW.

On June 1, 2025, amid financial woes and rising debt, Allen Media Group announced that it would explore "strategic options" for the company, such as a sale of its television stations (including WAOW/WMOW).{{cite news|last=Weprin|first=Alex|date=June 1, 2025|title=Byron Allen Puts His Local TV Stations Up for Sale|work=The Hollywood Reporter|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/byron-allen-selling-local-tv-stations-up-1236235004/|access-date=June 1, 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Mark K. |date=June 2, 2025 |title=Allen Media Group Retains Moelis To Sell Its TV Stations |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/allen-media-group-retains-moelis-to-sell-its-tv-stations/ |access-date=June 2, 2025 |website=TVNewsCheck |language=en-US}}

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

class="wikitable" \|+Subchannels of WMOW{{Cite web\|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WMOW#station\|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WMOW\|website=RabbitEars\|accessdate=June 3, 2025}} ! scope = "col" \| Channel ! scope = "col" \| Res. ! scope = "col" \| Aspect ! scope = "col" \| Short name ! scope = "col" \| Programming
scope = "row" \| 4.1 \| rowspan=2\|720p \|\| rowspan=2\|16:9 \|\| WMOW-CW \|\| Catchy Comedy
scope = "row" \| 4.2 \| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"\|WMOW-DT \|\| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"\|ABC (WAOW)
scope = "row" \| 4.3 \| rowspan=3\|480i \|\| 4:3 \|\| THIS-TV \|\| MeTV Toons
scope = "row" \| 4.4 \| rowspan=2\|16:9 \|\| rowspan=2\| \|\| Court TV
scope = "row" \| 4.5 \| True Crime Network

class="wikitable"

|+Subchannels of WMOW{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WMOW#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WMOW|website=RabbitEars|accessdate=June 3, 2025}}

! scope = "col" | Channel

! scope = "col" | Res.

! scope = "col" | Aspect

! scope = "col" | Short name

! scope = "col" | Programming

scope = "row" | 4.1

| rowspan=2|720p || rowspan=2|16:9 || WMOW-CW || Catchy Comedy

scope = "row" | 4.2

| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WMOW-DT || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|ABC (WAOW)

scope = "row" | 4.3

| rowspan=3|480i || 4:3 || THIS-TV || MeTV Toons

scope = "row" | 4.4