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WKBT-TV
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Branding	News Channel 8
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	8 (VHF) analog, 41 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS MyNetworkTV (on DT2)
Owner	Morgan Murphy Stations (QueenB Television)
Founded	1954, as sister station to WKBH Radio
Call letters meaning	WKBH Television (for "Kimball [Piano] Brings Happiness", as the stations shared ownership with a music store)
Former affiliations	ABC (1954-1970); DuMont (1954-1956); NBC (1954-1958)
Website	wkbt.com

WKBT-TV (News Channel 8) is a CBS television affiliate serving West Central Wisconsin, including La Crosse (its city of license) and Eau Claire.

Their main competitors are WXOW/WQOW, WEAU, KTTC (via translator W67CH) and WLAX/WEUX. Notably, WLAX and WEUX did not have an evening newscast until August 28, 2006.

Contents 1 History 2 Past Slogans/Branding 3 MyNetworkTV La Crosse/Eau Claire 4 On-Air Personalities 5 Transmitter 6 External links

WKBT launched on August 8, 1954 as sister station to WKBH (known today as WIZM-AM), and carried dual affiliation with CBS and ABC (a set-up that continued until 1970, when WKBT became solely a CBS affiliate). WKBT also briefly had secondary affiliations with DuMont (until 1956) and NBC (until 1958).[1]

In 1965 the downtown La Crosse that housed both WKBT and WKBH fell victim to fire; WKBT then rebuilt its current building on the same site.

WKBT was owned by Young Broadcasting from 1986 until March 2000, when Morgan Murphy Stations (through its QueenB Television subsidiary) bought the station.

• Action 8 News
• News Watch 8
• Channel 8 News
• NewsChannel 8 (Current)
• StormTeam 8 (Current Weather Branding)
• Serving the Tri-State
• Do you watch News Watch?
• Take Me There, Make Me Care
• Coverage You Can Count On (current)

The station also aired UPN on its DT2 digital subchannel as of January 30, 2006. On September 4 of that year, the station switched its affiliation to MyNetworkTV, as announced on March 9.

MNTV La Crosse/Eau Claire is slowly being developed. It carries syndicated shows such as The Simpsons and Dr. Phil as well as programming with local interest, such as Racing Rewind (a show about weekly races at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway), and a few one time airings of local events. There is a newscast called My News at Nine shown weekdays at 9 PM.

On the early snowy morning February 25, 2007, WKBT-DT aired a 2 hour 30 minute live newscast, to keep people informed of a snowfall that brought over 28 inches of snow to the area.

• Jennifer Livingston - Morning Show Anchor

• Mike Thompson - Noon Show Anchor

• Lisa Klein - 5 PM Anchor & 6 PM Co-Anchor

• Bill Bessette - 6 PM & 10 PM Co-Anchor

• Martha Koloski - 10 PM Co-Anchor

• Erin Koskovich - Weekend Anchor

• Mark McPherson - Reporter and Substitute Anchor

• Bart Winkler - Reporter (Fill-In Reporter, also a videographer)

• Aaron Matas - Reporter

• Cory Malles - Chief Meteorologist/5, 6, 10 PM Weather

• Bill Graul - Meteorologist/Morning and Noon Weather

• Josh Blumenfeld - Meteorologist/Weekend Weather

• Bryan Ekern - Sports Director/Weeknight Sports

• Gregg Wavrunek - Weekend Sports

WKBT's transmitter is located in Galesville, Wisconsin, about 30 miles north of the actual station in order to provide their signal to the entire market - it also serves as the CBS affiliate for the Chippewa Valley.

The transmitter sits at 1627 feet and sends out both a digital and analog signal. The analog signal has a maximum power output of 316 kilowatts. The digital signal broadcasting both the main CBS signal and the MyNetworkTV signal has a maximum power output of 494 kilowatts. If put up next to the Sears Tower, the WKBT transmitter would surpass the upper roof and fall just about 100 feet short of the highest antenna on top.

• WKBT Website
• WKBT DT2 MNTV Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WKBT