the add on for the sega genesis mega drive game console sold in japan under the name sega super 32x see sega 32x . wacy tv appleton green bay wisconsin united states city appleton wisconsin channels digital 27 uhf virtual 32 psip subchannels 32.1 mynetworktv 32.2 grit 32.3 escape affiliations mynetworktv 2006 present owner e. w. scripps company scripps broadcasting llc first air date march 7 1984 ; 32 years ago 1984 03 07 call letters meaning ace tv reflecting the station s former owner sister station s wgba tv wtmj tv wtmj wkti former callsigns wbou 1983 wxgz tv 1984 1995 former channel number s analog 32 uhf 1984 2009 former affiliations primary independent 1984 1986 1994 1995 fox 1986 1992 silent 1992 1994 upn 1995 2006 secondary the wb 1995 1999 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 367 m facility id 361 transmitter coordinates 44 21 30 n 87 58 48 w 44.35833 n 87.98000 w 44.35833 ; 87.98000 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wacy.com wacy tv virtual channel 32 uhf digital channel 27 is a mynetworktv affiliated television station serving green bay wisconsin united states that is licensed to appleton . the station is owned by the e. w. scripps company as part of a duopoly with nbc affiliate wgba tv channel 26 . the two stations share studios on north road along airport drive wis 172 in the green bay suburb of ashwaubenon wacy s transmitter is located in the shirley section of glenmore wisconsin . the station is also available on time warner cable channel 83 and centurylink channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 132 . contents 1 history 1.1 early history and troubles 1.2 revival as wacy tv 1.3 mynetworktv affiliation 1.3.1 2012 full purchase of station by journal 1.4 summer 2013 time warner cable carriage dispute 1.5 sale to the e. w. scripps company 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 references 5 external links history edit early history and troubles edit the station first signed on the air on march 7 1984 as wxgz tv and was the first television station licensed to and based out of appleton ; it was originally owned by appleton midwestern television . the appleton post crescent reported on january 31 that the station began operations by testing its signal although it formally began programming on march 7 . wxgz originally opeated as an independent station during its first three years showing off network sitcoms and other syndicated programming . on october 6 1986 under the super 32 moniker wxgz became a charter affiliate of the fox network . the station continued to essentially program itself under the regulations of an independent station as the network s only program at the time was the late night talk program the late show starring joan rivers ; primetime programming followed in 1987 . after joining fox wxgz became the first station in the green bay appleton television market to begin broadcasting in stereo . a noted local personality on wxgz was oscor the clown played by wayne lowney who served as the mascot of the wxgz children s lineup and hosted a sunday morning program starting in 1986 called oscor s place 1 a show whose major sponsor was chuck e. cheese s forerunner brand showbiz pizza palace . outside of fox programming wxgz was noteworthy for airing the successful first run syndicated programs star trek the next generation and the arsenio hall show . by november 1991 appleton midwestern television ran into financial problems and declared bankruptcy . after an unsuccessful search for a new buyer for the station or more financing wxgz was forced to sign off permanently on the night of february 14 1992 ending its eight year history with a half hour retrospective featuring on air and behind the scenes footage at the station . wxgz staff announcer ed myers and general manager roy smith said the last of the station s goodbyes after which wxgz closed operations . the next morning fellow independent station wgba tv channel 26 became the market s new fox affiliate and acquired some of wxgz s syndicated programming inventory including arsenio and star trek the next generation . after wxgz s shut down the station s license was left in the hands of a holding company from march to august 1992 at which point it was bought by ace tv incorporated . channel 32 remained off the air for two years with occasional word that the station intended to begin broadcasting again in the near future . revival as wacy tv edit wxgz s license to operate was put back into use in june 1994 . license holder ace tv inc. put wxgz back on the air with the help of wgba and its then owner aries telecommunications who arranged to put wacy on solid financial footing through the entrance of a local marketing agreement with ace tv allowing wgba to operate and program wxgz through its studios and sell advertising time for the station . at the outset programming on wxgz whose logo was an ace of spades as a nod to its owner consisted of second run airings of off network reruns including such series as gunsmoke st. elsewhere and newhart along with select airings of milwaukee brewers baseball and milwaukee bucks basketball games which wgba previously aired but no longer had room to run due to its own commitments with fox . by the fall of 1994 first run syndicated programming would be included on wxgz s schedule including family feud and programming from the prime time entertainment network syndication service . on january 16 1995 wxgz became a charter affiliate of the united paramount network upn . the station also maintained a secondary affiliation with the wb for the network s first four years before wiwb channel 14 now wcwf became the green bay market s wb affiliate in june 1999 . by august 1995 the station which would change its call sign that month to wacy tv benefited from wgba s affiliation switch to nbc due to wluk tv channel 11 joining fox . with wgba now committed to nbc and its programming lineup programs that wgba no longer had room to broadcast were moved over to wacy including some syndicated programming most notably reruns of the simpsons and daytime children s programming . with this move wacy adopted the wacky 32 branding for its kids lineup running roughly 6 11 a.m. and 1 5 p.m. which over the years would include garfield and friends scooby doo dennis the menace pok mon sailor moon and adventures of sonic the hedgehog ; programs from the upn kids and the disney afternoon blocks as well as from kids wb as the green bay television market did not have a full time wb affiliate ; and educational and informational compliant programs like the new zoo revue . the live character cuddles the clown provided host continuity for wacky 32 programming . the station s children s lineup would dwindle over the years thanks in part to increased cable competition from cable channels such as cartoon network and nickelodeon and the decreased financial justification of airing a more than necessary amount of children s programming although it would continue to air upn s disney s one too until the network discontinued its daily children s block in 2003 . after that wacy would rely on general syndicated entertainment and infomercials for its daytime lineup . one of wacy s most durable programs was called who what when where a show hosted by oshkosh public access television personalities jim c. hoffman and dan davies . who what when where featured various interviews advertisements notably ron and lloyd s supermarket and wnam radio and entertainment sketches performed by davies . the show would be rechristened n.e.w. now for north east wisconsin in early 1997 its last year on the air . later local shows on wacy included the legal affairs show it s the law produced by hoffman and hosted by oshkosh attorney george w. curtis and the sunday morning polka music show polka polka polka which originated from a manitowoc supper club dance hall polka polka polka now airs on wcwf . in 2004 milwaukee based journal communications owner of that city s wtmj tv purchased wgba from aries telecommunications for 43.25 million . as part of the deal journal would take over the local marketing agreement with wacy as well as acquire the option to purchase channel 32 from ace tv if the federal communications commission fcc ever relaxed or waived its media ownership rules to allow the purchase . 2 mynetworktv affiliation edit on february 22 2006 news corporation announced the launch of a new sixth network called mynetworktv which would be operated by fox television stations and its syndication division twentieth television . mynetworktv was created to compete against another upstart network that would launch at the same time that september the cw an amalgamated network that was originally consisted primarily of upn and the wb s higher rated programs as well as to give upn and wb stations that were not mentioned as becoming cw affiliates another option besides converting to independent stations . 3 4 wacy reached a turning point with the pending loss of upn programming as a result of the shutdown of the network and the cw s launch . the cw chose wiwb as its green bay affiliate as that station s then owner acme communications had a deep relationship with wb management acme s founder jamie kellner was a former president of the wb . on march 22 2006 wacy announced that it would affiliate with mynetworktv . 5 after the 2005 06 television season ended wacy began distancing itself from upn reducing its carriage of the network s programming on monday through thursdays to only one hour per night during the summer of 2006 with infomercials filling the dropped second hour . wacy severed ties with upn completely on september 4 the night prior to mynetworktv s debut leaving wiwb to air the balance of upn programming as a transitional secondary affiliation alongside its wb shows including weekend airings of veronica mars and wwe friday night smackdown . after affiliating with mynetworktv wacy adopted a new branding in late july 2006 becoming my new 32 with new referring to both the new network and as an abbreviation of northeast wisconsin and in the process downplaying the wacy call sign aside from official station identification and abandoning the ace of spades logo that the station used in some form since its return to the air in 1994 . as far back as the latter years of wacy s upn affiliation the station aired a weekly high school football game featuring local schools on friday nights in the fall billed as friday night thunder with select university of wisconsin green bay men s and women s basketball games added in 2007 . all sports broadcasts on wacy featured wgba s sports anchors while visual presentation depended on the in house camera system from the arena where the game was played instead of station owned cameras . the broadcasts of high school games were discontinued in 2008 in part due to the addition of wwe friday night smackdown to mynetworktv s friday night lineup and also due to a lean financial period for the stations at a time when wgba s news and sports staff were cut back due to budget concerns and infomercials occupied portions of wacy s programming schedule . sports broadcasts would return to wacy in august 2011 under the n.e.w. sports showdown banner featuring both high school sports as well as st. norbert college athletics added in 2011 6 7 and wisconsin timber rattlers baseball added in the spring of 2013 . 8 a late night feature that aired on wacy s weekend lineup