After having been forced off the air in 1987 due to financial problems with then-owner Northeastern Wisconsin Christian Television Inc., VCY America, who purchased the station's license that same year, returned channel 14 on the air in 1993 as a sister station to WVCY-TV in downstate Milwaukee carrying religious and home shopping programs.
1997–1998[]
WPXG-TV[]
1998–1999[]
WPXG-TV "PAX" ID from 1998
WIWB-TV[]
1999–2001[]
On June 2, 1999, Paxson sold WPXG to ACME Communications; the station immediately became a primary WB affiliate and changed its call sign to WIWB, originally branded as "WB 14" and later "Wisconsin's WB". Before it joined the network, WB programming in Northeastern Wisconsin was previously seen either through cable providers that carried Chicago-based superstation WGN and/or Milwaukee's WVTV or during off hours on UPN affiliate WACY-TV (channel 32; Kids' WB programming aired as part of WACY's children's lineup).
2001–2004[]
2004–2006[]
2006–2010[]
Due to ACME's ownership by former WB executive Jamie Kellner, WIWB's pursuit of the CW affiliation was assumed to be a formality. Indeed, on March 9, 2006, ACME Communications affiliated most of their stations with The CW, including WIWB. The station officially joined the network upon its September 18, 2006, launch. Prior to that date, it temporarily carried not only WB programs, but also shows from UPN after WACY-TV dropped UPN before that network's closure to join MyNetworkTV. At the time, ACME decided not to change the callsigns of any of their WB-to-CW affiliates to avert any further confusion from the launch of the two new networks.
WCWF-TV[]
2010–2024[]
CW14 green logo
With "Dare to Defy" slogan
On June 4, 2010, LIN TV Corporation, owner of Green Bay's Fox affiliate WLUK-TV, as part of an agreement with ACME Communications in three markets where both companies owned stations, announced that it would begin to operate WIWB through separate shared services and joint sales agreements; WLUK would provide WIWB with technical, engineering, promotional, administrative and other operational support services, as well as joint advertising sales for the two stations. In April 2011, the FCC approved the ownership transfer of WCWF from ACME to LIN TV, also applying the requested failing station waiver. On March 21, 2014, LIN Media entered into an agreement to merge with Media General in a $1.6 billion deal. Because Media General already owned ABC affiliate WBAY-TV (which was acquired in 2013 as part of Media General's merger with Young Broadcasting), On August 20, 2014, Media General announced that it would keep WBAY and sell WLUK and WCWF, along with WJAR/Providence and WTGS/Savannah, to Sinclair Broadcast Group in exchange for Sinclair stations in Tampa Bay (WTTA), Harrisburg (WHTM-TV) and Colorado Springs (KXRM-TV and KXTU-LD). As part of its acquisition, Sinclair announced it would seek a continuation of the FCC rules waiver allowing the joint ownership of WCWF and WLUK. The sale was completed on December 19.
1Owned by Tennessee Broadcasting and operated by Sinclair under an outsourcing agreement. 2Nominally owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and operated by Sinclair under an LMA. However, trusts belonging to members of Sinclair's founding Smith family control almost all of Cunningham's stock. 3Operated by Nexstar Media Group under an LMA. 4Owned by Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd. and operated by Sinclair under a LMA. 5Owned by Manhan Media and managed by Sinclair. 6Owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, operated by Sinclair under an LMA. 7Owned by Mercury Broadcasting Company and operated by Sinclair. 8Owned by Deerfield Media and operated by Sinclair under an LMA. 9Owned by Roberts Media, but operated by Sinclair. 10Owned by Mitts Telecasting and operated by Sinclair. 11Owned by GOCOM Media and operated by Sinclair. 12Owned by Waitt Broadcasting, but operated by Sinclair under an SSA. 13Owned by Granite Broadcasting Corporation and operated by Sinclair through a JSA and SSA. 14Owned by New Age Media and operated by Sinclair under an MSA. 15Owned by MPS Media, but operated by New Age Media under an LMA. 16Owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture of Sinclair and Entertainment Studios. 17Co-owned with Yankee Global Enterprises, The Blackstone Group, Amazon, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company. 18Co-owned with Chicago Cubs. 19Owned by Sinclair and operated by Jukin Media. 20Owned by Palm Television, L.P. and operated by Cunningham Broadcasting under an LMA.
Notes Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and territory, and based on the station's city of license or Designated Market Area. +Station carries CW programming on a digital subchannel, via The CW Plus. +1Local CW Plus affiliate operates as cable-only channel. 1Local CW affiliate carries only sports programming.