Paul said:
It's too bad this is just going to be (another) Spanish station taking up airspace along with Telemundo. I wonder if Time Warner will carry it?
What else is there? Would another station airing old sitcoms be a more effective use?
Let's face it, LP TV stations are facing uphill battles. Cable systems don't have to carry them, so there's one problem there. WMLW-41 is an exception. Weigel positioned this station extremely well by picking up so much college sports programming. Time Warner, who grumbled about carrying them, finally gave in after subscriber demands. Now they've got the plum Channel 7 spot there.
And they've done well with picking up some decent syndicated shows. Also helps that they cross-promote with the co-owned CBS58. Speaking of 58, Weigel did a good job with building this little station up as well, especially since CBS crashed and burned with local news on their O&O UHF affiliate in Detroit (also a market involved in the New World mass-switch to FOX in the mid-'90s), so much that they no longer air local news, even though they also own the only all-news radio station in the market. Ch. 58 found a niche (heavy on headlines and weather) and while it's far from the top newscast in town, they seem to be doing well.
Most LP stations are not like WMLW. They get stuck with televangelists, home shopping, wall-to-wall infomercials or other nonsense. Spanish-language programming fills the void. They don't have as much need to be carried on cable, as they target a particular type of viewer who will seek them out to watch. I think it's the best choice for a LP station to air. Otherwise, nobody's gonna watch.
My Spanish is terrible, but I do find myself tuning in to T63 occasionally. The telenovelas are a hoot! And it's kind of interesting to watch WWE Raw with Spanish announcers on a Saturday afternoon.
I do wonder why Ch. 38 didn't go with Univision. They don't have an OTA affiliate in Milwaukee.