Editing WAOW (section)

==History==
WAOW signed on the air on May 7, 1965. Owned by Mid-Continent Broadcasting, it served as a [[satellite station]] of [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]]'s [[WKOW]] as part of the Wisconsin Television Network which would later include [[WXOW]] in [[La Crosse]] and [[WQOW]] in [[Eau Claire, Wisconsin|Eau Claire]]. Midcontinent Broadcasting sold the stations to Horizon Communications in 1970. Liberty Television bought the stations in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=85895 |title= History Cards for WAOW|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards|Guide to reading History Cards]])<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}--></ref> This station gradually increased its local programming and content, finally severing the electronic umbilical cord with WKOW in the 1980s.

In 1985, Liberty Television sold the Wisconsin stations to Tak Communications. Tak filed for [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] protection in 1991 and would be taken over by a group of creditors less than three years later. In 1995, [[Shockley Communications]] purchased WAOW along with three sister stations (WKOW, WXOW, and WQOW) from Tak's creditors. [[Quincy Newspapers]] purchased most of the Shockley stations, including its Wisconsin sister stations in June 2001.

Between 1994 and 1999, WAOW carried the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] network's [[National Football League]] [[NFL on Fox|game package]], which featured most games of the home state [[Green Bay Packers]]. The arrangement was necessary due to a lack of a local, over-the-air Fox affiliate in the Wausau–[[Rhinelander, Wisconsin|Rhinelander]] market. (Area cable systems primarily carried Fox through the [[Foxnet]] service or through Green Bay's [[WGBA-TV]] or [[WLUK-TV]].) WAOW's arrangement with Fox came to an end in December 1999, when the [[Wittenberg, Wisconsin|Wittenberg]]-licensed [[WFXS-DT|WFXS]] (channel 55) signed on to become Central Wisconsin's first full-time Fox station.

On June 25, 2002, WAOW became the first commercial television station in the Wausau–Rhinelander [[media market|market]] to broadcast in [[high-definition television|high-definition]]; WYOW would join them on October 24.

WAOW/WYOW converted fully to digital on February 17, 2009, without a nightlight period for WAOW while WYOW converted after a nightlight period.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The two stations carried the [[Retro Television Network]] (RTV) on a third [[digital subchannel]] until March 2009. In the beginning of that month, it was replaced with This TV.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waow.com/Global/story.asp?S=9945506 |title=Channel 9.3 to temporarily host FOX 55 again - WAOW - Newsline 9, Wausau News, Weather, Sports |publisher=WAOW |access-date=December 4, 2013}}</ref> On September 1, 2015, [[Decades (TV network)|Decades]] replaced This TV.

In February and March, WAOW aired WFXS' digital signal temporarily on DT3 while that station ironed out problems with the activation of its digital transmitter. In early September 2009, WFXS added RTV to its third digital subchannel.

On January 7, 2021, Quincy Media announced that it had put itself up for sale.<ref>[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</ref> On February 1, [[Gray Television]] announced it would purchase Quincy's radio and TV properties for $925 million. As Gray already owned [[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.<ref name="graybuysquincy">{{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}}</ref>

On April 29, Gray announced that WAOW and WMOW would be divested to Allen Media Broadcasting in a $380 million deal that includes, among other Quincy-owned stations, WKOW/Madison, WXOW/La Crosse, and WQOW/Eau Claire.<ref name=Allen>[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</ref> Gray, however, kept WYOW, and converted the Eagle River station into a full-power satellite of WSAW-TV, airing The CW on its main 34.1 channel and simulcasting CBS and Fox on subchannels 7.10 and 33.10, respectively.<ref>[https://www.wsaw.com/2021/08/02/wsaw-adds-cw-tv-lineup-starttv-moves-335/ "WSAW adds CW to TV lineup, StartTV moves to 33.5"], WSAW-TV, August 2, 2021, Retrieved August 3, 2021.</ref><ref>[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, December 2, 2021</ref>