WSAW
U.S. center (local TV)
Background
WSAW-TV launched on October 24, 1954, as WSAU-TV, becoming the first television station in Wausau, Wisconsin. It was co-founded by the WSAU radio station and the Wisconsin Valley Television Corporation, a consortium of North-Central Wisconsin newspapers that included the Wausau Daily Record-Herald. In January 1967, Wisconsin Valley Television renamed itself Forward Communications as the company expanded its geographic footprint. The station adopted its current call sign, WSAW-TV, in 1981. Over subsequent decades it changed corporate hands, eventually coming under Benedek Broadcasting, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002. Gray Communications — later rebranded Gray Television — acquired the station through that bankruptcy process. Gray Television continued growing through major acquisitions, including a $3.6 billion purchase of Raycom Media completed in January 2019, making it one of the nation's largest local TV groups with more than 100 stations. Gray has since rebranded itself as Gray Media. For national and international news, WSAW-TV relies on CBS network feeds and the Associated Press; local reporting covers North-Central Wisconsin communities. Gray Media's corporate leadership has publicly welcomed the Trump administration's deregulation agenda for broadcasters, though WSAW-TV's day-to-day local news coverage shows no measurable partisan tilt according to outside monitors.
Sources
- WSAW-TV — Wikipedia
- WSAW-TV — Media Bias/Fact Check
- Gray Television acquires Raycom Media for $3.6 billion — Jones Day
- Atlanta broadcasting giant Gray sees deregulation under Trump administration — AJC
- WSAW-TV, October 3, 1954 — Wisconsin Broadcasting Museum
- Gray Media revenue rises 9 percent as political advertising surges during Q2 — The Desk
Profile compiled 2026-09-14; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.