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1947–1956 1956–1962 1962–1966 1966–1977 1977–1980
1947–1956 1956–1962 1962–1966 1966–1977 1977–1980
1980–2004 1986–1992 1992–2004 2004–2020 2020–present
1980–2004 1986–1992 1992–2004 2004–2020 2020–present

1947–1956[]

1947-1953[]

WTMJ-TV first signed on the air on December 3, 1947, originally broadcasting on VHF channel 3. In addition to being the first commercial television station to sign on the air in Wisconsin, the fourth such station to sign on in the Midwestern United States and the 15th to launch in the United States, WTMJ was also the first station located outside of the Eastern Time Zone to be affiliated with a major broadcast television network. Prior to that, the Journal Company first granted a license in September 1931 for W9XD, conducted field tests from 1931 to 1933. W9XF's license was withdrawn by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1938 as part of an effort to limit broadcast licenses to stations that would actively engage in the development of television. Journal obtained abother license, this time for WMJT (for "Milwaukee Journal Television"), and built a new broadcast facility to transmit its signal by August 1942. However, the company's television plans were suspended due to television and radio equipment be allocated for use by the military during World War II.

WTMJ-TV has been affiliated with NBC since its sign-on, owing to its radio sister's longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network; although, it also initially carried programming from CBS, ABC and the DuMont Television Network. It lost its secondary affiliation with CBS when WCAN-TV (channel 25, now defunct) signed on in September 1953, and lost access to ABC and DuMont programming when WOKY-TV (channel 19, now CW affiliate WVTV on channel 18) made its debut one month later. WTMJ is the only television station in Milwaukee to have been affiliated with the same network throughout its history, and is currently NBC's second-longest tenured affiliate, behind only KSDK in St. Louis (which signed on as KSD-TV eleven months earlier in January 1947).

1953–1956[]

WTMJ-TV moved to VHF channel 4 on July 11, 1953, in order to alleviate interference with WKZO-TV (now WWMT) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is located nearly directly across Lake Michigan. This move also forced the CBS O&O on channel 4 in Chicago, WBBM-TV, to be reassigned to VHF channel 2; WBBM had moved to that frequency six days before WTMJ's channel relocation on July 5, 1953.

1956–1962[]

WTMJ-logo1956

1962–1966[]

WTMJ-logo1964

1966–1977[]

WTMJ 4 1960s

1977–1980[]

4gtv icon yellowblue

This logo is similar to the one used by DWGT-TV in Manila.

1980–2004[]

WTMJ Sailboat 4

1986–1992[]

WTMJ 4 1986

1992–2004[]

TMJ 4 90s
Designer:  John Christopher Burns
Typography:  ITC Symbol [modified]
Gill Sans Condensed [modified]
Helvetica Ultra Compressed (graphics)
Launched:  July 25, 1992

WTMJ inaugurated the "Today's TMJ4" brand on July 25, 1992, coinciding with the start of NBC's coverage of that year's Summer Olympics (variants of this brand, whether they incorporated the last three letters of the callsign or not, were later used by other stations such as KTHV in Little Rock and WTMJ sister station KIVI-TV in Boise).

The “Sailboat 4” logo became italicized with the new branding.

2004–present[]

Designer:  Journal Broadcast Group, Renderon Broadcast Design, The E. W. Scripps Company
Typography:  Gothic CG No.2
Gothic CG No. 3
Geometric 415
Launched:  2004, 2020

2004–2020[]

WTMJ 4

2020–present[]

WTMJ 1

The Today's part was dropped from the branding on February 25, 2020, as part of a corporate roll-out of new news graphics. The NBC peacock was also enlargened.

External links[]


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