History
WQOW signed on for the first time on September 22, 1980; the station was originally owned by Liberty Television, which had acquired WXOW two years earlier. For its first decade on the air, WXOW had been hampered by an inadequate signal in the northern half of the combined market, and cable viewers watched ABC from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul market (by sign-on, this was KSTP-TV). Unlike the area's other stations, WXOW's transmitter is located alongside its studios in La Crescent, Minnesota. As a result, viewers in Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley could only watch the station on cable.
Its original studios were on Business US 53 (Hastings Way) east of the London Square Mall and then-current interchange with WIS 93 on the southeast side of Eau Claire. Originally, WQOW was a straight simulcast of WXOW, except for identifications and commercials. However, since 1982, it has evolved into a more localized station. In 1985, WQOW was acquired by Tak Communications, which would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy six years later. A group of creditors seized Tak's assets in 1994, and the company's Wisconsin stations were purchased by Shockley Communications in 1995 as part of Tak's liquidation.
Since the new US 53 Bypass was set to be constructed on the site of WQOW's building, the station moved in January 2001, six months before it was acquired by Quincy Media (then known as Quincy Newspapers).[3] The old building's site is located approximately in the northbound lane of the bypass near the WIS 93 northbound bridge. The new building is on WIS 93 immediately south of I-94 on the south side of Eau Claire.[4]
WQOW/WXOW began operating a cable-only affiliate of The WB, known as "WBCZ", in 1998.[5] It would be replaced with new second digital subchannels (simulcasting The CW) when it launched in the fall of 2006. After The CW Plus national service was upgraded to 720p high definition level in 2012, an HD feed became available on Charter digital channel 610. WQOW began airing solely in digital, effective February 17, 2009, with the analog transmitter operating for sixty additional days broadcasting only local news and information about the digital transition.[6]
In July 2009, Dish Network announced it would add WQOW to its local channel lineup in the Eau Claire area after previously only offering WXOW.[7] WQOW/WXOW launched This TV simulcast on new digital third digital subchannels of the stations in February/March 2010. Following the collapse of WEAU's tower on March 22, 2011, WQOW temporarily discontinued This TV on 18.3 to provide space to broadcast WEAU temporarily on its subchannel until a new tower was erected.[8] This TV returned to WXOW and WQOW after 10 years in August 2021.
In January 2021, Gray Television announced its intent to purchase Quincy Media for $925 million.[9] As Gray already owns the market's WEAU, it planned to keep that station and sell both WQOW and WXOW in order to satisfy FCC requirements.[10] On April 29, Gray announced that WQOW and WXOW would be divested to Allen Media Broadcasting.[11] The sale was completed on August 1; on that day, WEAU assumed the CW and MeTV affiliations from WQOW/WXOW.[12][13][14]
On June 1, 2025, amid financial woes and rising debt, Allen Media Group announced that it would explore "strategic options" for the company, such as a sale of its television stations (including WQOW/WXOW).[15][16]
