WAST-LP
TV station in Ashland, Wisconsin (1997–2006)
46°41′16.98″N 90°54′23.05″W / 46.6880500°N 90.9064028°W / 46.6880500; -90.9064028
WAST-LP (channel 25) was a low-power television station in Ashland, Wisconsin, United States. The station was a semi-satellite of the UPN-affiliated second digital subchannel of KBJR-TV in Duluth, Minnesota, then-called Northland UPN and Northland 9, but was owned by a separate entity, Martinsen Investments. WAST-LP sold local advertising specifically for the Ashland area, preempting KBJR-DT2's advertising breaks.
Since 1997, WAST-LP had been owned by Superior Water Logged Lumber. It struggled financially. A 2001 attempt to sell the station to ESI Broadcasting Corporation of Montana failed; ESI hoped to combine the station with KDUL-LP, a UPN affiliate.[1] The station then went off the air.[2]
In December 2005, Hank Martinsen and Julie Nuutinen put WAST-LP back on the air. The station featured two daily newscasts focusing on Wisconsin-area news. It had news sharing agreements with KBJR-TV and KUWS radio in Superior.[2] The effort was short-lived. On May 2, news director Julie Moravchik was fired; she claimed she was dismissed for not making ownership-ordered staffing cuts. Newsroom employees refused to work for anyone else; 10 of them were fired the following day. To fill the void, newscast replays from KDLH-TV, commonly operated with KBJR, were added to the station's programming.[3] Moravchik was then hired to set up the newsroom at KQDS-TV in Duluth.[4]
On August 1, 2006, the station ended operations and went off the air, a month short of KBJR-DT2's conversion to MyNetworkTV. Despite being off the air for eight years, long after most stations licenses are canceled for not broadcasting, WAST-LP's license remained active until January 3, 2014, when its previous license to broadcast was fully exhausted.[5]
References
- ^ Casey, Chris (June 23, 2001). "Deal for Ashland TV station canceled: Link with Duluth's KDUL on hold for now". Duluth News Tribune. p. 2B.
- ^ a b "Ashland TV station going on air soon". The Sheboygan Press. Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Associated Press. December 6, 2005. p. A6. Retrieved April 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Passi, Peter (May 23, 2006). "WAST ponders new direction - BROADCASTING: The Ashland TV station is trying to bounce back from the loss of its general manager and 10 other employees". Duluth News Tribune.
- ^ Passi, Peter (October 24, 2006). "Defunct Ashland station staffers win Emmy - No smoking: A pair from WAST-TV bring the former station recognition for directing and producing public service announcements to kick the habit". Duluth News Tribune. p. B5.
- ^ Hashemzadeh, Hossein (January 3, 2014). "In re: LPTV/TV Translator Station…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
External links
- Business North: "Mavericks plan to relaunch Ashland TV station" (from March 2005)
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