WKOW

WKOW is the ABC-affiliated television station for Madison, Wisconsin. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 (PSIP virtual channel 27) from a transmitter in the city's Middleton Junction section; the station is also available on Spectrum systems in the Madison market (SD channel 7 and HD channel 607). Owned and operated by Quincy Media, WKOW has studios on Tokay Boulevard on Madison's west side, and is the hub for Quincy's six-station network of ABC affiliates throughout western and northern Wisconsin.HistoryWKOW-TV was launched on June 30, 1953 as Madison's first television station. The station was originally aligned with CBS and owned by the Monona Broadcasting Company, led by a group of local area businessmen along with WKOW radio . The WKOW call sign was an acknowledgment to Wisconsin's dairy industry, and featured a smiling bovine alongside the emphasized "K-O-W" of the call sign.WKOW-AM-TV shared studios on Tokay Boulevard on Madison's west side beginning in 1953. WKOW-TV remained with CBS until 1956, when CBS moved to the new WISC-TV. WKOW-TV subsequently joined ABC, while WKOW-AM remained with CBS Radio. From January to August 1958, WKOW was part of the short-lived, Wisconsin-oriented Badger Television Network, alongside Milwaukee's WISN-TV and Green Bay's WFRV-TV. In 1960, Monona Broadcasting sold the station to Midcontinent Broadcasting. Midcontinent Broadcasting sold both WKOW and WAOW in Wausau to Horizon Communications in September 1970.