User:StephenWeinstein/Radio City (Milwaukee, WI)

Radio City is a structure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which houses the operations of WTMJ-TV, WTMJ-AM, WLWK-FM, and Journal Broadcast Group. It is located on the northern edge of Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood at 720 E. Capitol Drive.

Construction

Construction on Radio City began in 1941 after The Milwaukee Journal explored three other options to dedicate space to their growing radio and experimental television operations, including adding two floors to the existing Journal building downtown, and building a broadcast facility across the street and connecting it via Skywalk. Radio City was the first building in the United States built to house all three forms of broadcasting: AM Radio, FM Radio, and Television. The name "Radio City" was chosen as both a nod to the Radio City in New York, and because at the time, television was sometimes called "Visual Radio". Each radio station had two dedicated studios, while television had one. Though built to house television, the facility did not transmit a television picture until 1948, due to the outbreak of World War II.

Features

Radio Studios

Radio City was originally built with two sets of radio studios in pairs, two each for WTMJ-AM and experimental FM Radio station W55M. The studio pairs were located towards the rear of the building, with studios A-1 and A-2 on the West end and B-1 and B-2 on the East. Each studio pair featured one large , two story studio (A-2 and B-2, with an observation deck on the second floor) and one smaller, single story studio (A-1 and A-2).

Between 1942 and 1948, the television studio (Studio D) was converted for radio use. Over time additional small studios were also carved out, and an article in a trade magazine in 1954 shows a floorplan of the building which shows small studios labeled A-3 and A-4.

Studios A-1 and A-2 were completely demolished in the late 1980's, with the lower section now serving as part of the newsroom for WTMJ-TV and the upper portion of A-2 being converted into office space. Studio B-2 was converted to television use sometime after the first iteration of WTMJ-FM signed off in the early 1950's. At some point, B-2 was divided to create studio and control room space for the second iteration of WTMJ-FM which became WKTI-FM. The remainder of B-2 remained in use for television and hosted WTMJ-TV's phone bank set up until the early 2000's when it was converted to office space. The former WKTI radio studio and Studio B-1 now serve (respectively) as tape storage space and offices for WTMJ-TV's sports department.

Renovations in the 1980's created two new radio studios for WKTI and WTMJ-AM, and several small auxiliary studios for taped segments and commercial recording in the space that was formerly the Auditorium.

Auditorium

A key feature of Radio City was a 400 person auditorium featured in the front center of the structure. Designated as "Studio C", the auditorium was initially designed for radio use only, however WTMJ-TV began using it shortly after signing on.

Television Studios

Studio D

Studio D is Radio City's television studio and the building's last original studio still in use today. Presently, Studio D houses WTMJ-TV's phone bank set and is used for commercial production.

Studio A

Studio A was added to the building in 1966, and was the nation's first round television studio. Studio A currently houses WTMJ-TV's news set and Morning Blend set.