# WCCO-TV *Television station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, owned by CBS* WCCO-TV, on channel 4 and branded CBS Minnesota, is licensed to [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], and serves the Twin Cities area. CBS owns and operates it through its CBS News and Stations division. The station's studios are on South 11th Street along [[Nicollet Mall]] in [[Downtown Minneapolis]], and it transmits from the Telefarm complex in [[Shoreview, Minnesota]].[^1] Full-power satellite KCCW-TV (channel 12) in Walker rebroadcasts WCCO-TV's programming from a transmitter near Hackensack. In local ratings books, Nielsen Media Research counts the two as a single station under the name WCCO+.[^2] WCCO-TV also operated a second satellite from 1987 to 2017: KCCO-TV in Alexandria, on virtual and VHF digital channel 7, with a transmitter near Westport.[^2] The Twin Cities market has three network owned-and-operated stations. They are WCCO, Fox-owned [[KMSP-TV]] (channel 9) and MyNetworkTV-owned WFTC (channel 9.2).[^3] ## History WCCO-TV shares a name with WCCO (830 AM), but it descends from a different radio outlet: WRHM, which went on the air in 1925.[^4] In 1934 the Minneapolis Tribune and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch bought that station through a joint venture, Twin Cities Newspapers, and renamed it WTCN.[^4] The venture added an FM station, WTCN-FM. It then put WTCN-TV on the air on July 1, 1949, as the second television station in Minnesota. The station's first home was the Radio City Theater at 50 South 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis, and [[Robert Ridder]] was its first president.[^5] Channel 4 has carried CBS as its primary network since its first broadcast. It is the only major commercial station in the Minneapolis–St. Paul market that has never switched its primary affiliation. From 1949 to 1953 it also carried ABC as a secondary network.[^6] That arrangement ended in 1953, when a new station using the WTCN-TV call letters, today's KARE-TV, signed on and took the ABC affiliation. That station kept ABC until 1961, when it became independent, and it has been an NBC affiliate since 1979.[^6] In 1952 Twin Cities Newspapers sold its broadcast stations. Channel 4 passed to the Murphy and McNally families, who had shortly before bought WCCO, then the Twin Cities' dominant radio station, from CBS.[^7] The radio and television stations were combined in a new company, Midwest Radio and Television, in which CBS held a minority stake. On August 17, channel 4 took the call sign WCCO-TV to match the radio station. The WTCN-TV calls returned to the market the next year on the new channel 11.[^7] ## Programming ### Sports programming The [[Minnesota Vikings]] of the National Football League were established in 1961. CBS held the league's broadcast rights, and through the network WCCO-TV became the team's 'unofficial' home station. That relationship lasted through the 1993 season, after which WFTC took most games.[^8] KMSP-TV now carries most Vikings games. Since 1998, WCCO has aired at least two games a season in which the Vikings host an AFC opponent. Since 2014, under the cross-flex rules, it has also aired any games moved from KMSP-TV.[^8] In 1992 the station covered [[Super Bowl XXVI]] and that year's Final Four, both held at the [[Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome]].[^9] Under a CBS agreement with the Big Ten Conference, it has carried selected [[Minnesota Golden Gophers football]] games since 2023.[^9] ### News operation As of the cited revision, WCCO produces 38½ hours of local news each week. That total is 6½ hours on each weekday and three hours on each weekend day.[^10] The same source reports that WCCO leads the Twin Cities in nearly every time slot, from the morning program through the 10 p.m. news, and by wide margins among total households. Among viewers aged 25–54, NBC affiliate KARE is a much closer competitor.[^10] WCCO moved its local newscasts to high definition on May 28, 2009. It was the third major network station in the Twin Cities to do so, after KARE and KMSP.[^11] On December 12, 2019, the station launched the streaming service CBSN Minnesota, since renamed CBS News Minnesota. The service was one of a set of local versions of the national CBSN service rolled out across CBS-owned stations.[^11] An hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, *The 4*, began on September 5, 2022.[^11] ## Technical information ### Analog-to-digital conversion Regular programming on the station's analog signal, VHF channel 4, stopped on June 12, 2009. That was the federally mandated date for full-power U.S. stations to complete the switch to digital broadcasting. The digital signal stayed on its pre-transition frequency, UHF channel 32, and used virtual channel 4.[^12] Under the SAFER Act, the analog signal stayed on the air until July 12. During that period it ran a loop of National Association of Broadcasters public service announcements about the transition.[^12] ### Satellite stations and translators WCCO-TV operates one satellite station northwest of the Twin Cities area and formerly operated a second.[^13] The Central Minnesota Television Company founded both stations. Each was primarily an NBC affiliate with secondary ABC programming from its sign-on until the summer of 1982, when both moved to CBS.[^13] KCMT originally broadcast from a studio in Alexandria, and KNMT served as its satellite. In 1987 Central Minnesota Television sold both stations to Midwest Radio and Television. The stations then took their current call letters and became semi-satellites of WCCO-TV.[^13] Until 2002, the pair simulcast channel 4 for most of the day and inserted their own commercials and segments into its newscasts. That year WCCO-TV ended KCCO/KCCW's local operations and closed the Alexandria studio, making the two stations full-time satellites. Since then, channel 4 has identified itself as "Minneapolis–St. Paul/Alexandria/Walker".[^14] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead section: channel, branding, licence city, CBS News and Stations ownership, studio and transmitter locations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead section: KCCW-TV satellite, Nielsen WCCO+ treatment, KCCO-TV operated 1987–2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead section: the three owned-and-operated stations in the Twin Cities market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — History section: WRHM lineage (1925) and the 1934 Twin Cities Newspapers purchase and the WTCN call letters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — History section: WTCN-FM and the WTCN-TV launch on July 1, 1949, the Radio City Theater location and Robert Ridder as first president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — History section: primary CBS affiliation, secondary ABC affiliation 1949–1953, and the later WTCN-TV (now KARE-TV) affiliation history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — History section: the 1952 sale to the Murphy and McNally families, Midwest Radio and Television, and the August 17 change to WCCO-TV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Programming section: Vikings coverage from 1961 to 1993 and Vikings games since 1998 and 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Programming section: Super Bowl XXVI and Final Four coverage in 1992, and Golden Gophers football since 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — News operation section: weekly newscast hours and ratings position. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — News operation section: HD newscasts from May 28, 2009, the CBSN Minnesota launch on December 12, 2019, and *The 4* from September 5, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Technical information section: analog shutoff on June 12, 2009, UHF 32 and virtual channel 4, and the SAFER Act loop until July 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Technical information section: satellite founding by Central Minnesota Television, the 1982 switch to CBS, and the 1987 sale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *WCCO-TV* (revision 1367131561, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Technical information section: the end of local operations in 2002 and the on-air identification. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCO-TV