WMTV NBC 15

Name

WMTV NBC 15

Legal name

WMTV

Website

https://nbc15.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

WMTV NBC 15 is the NBC-affiliated local television station for the Madison, Wisconsin DMA, owned by Gray Television. It produces local news, weather, sports, and investigative journalism, distributed via NextGen TV broadcast, cable, mobile apps, and digital platforms to Madison-area viewers and advertisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Television

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Network-Affiliated Local TV Stations (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW/Telemundo/Univision, etc.) (MPABACAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ), Traffic/Weather/Information Radio Networks (MPABABAI)

Keywords

• Local television
• Broadcast news
• Weather forecasting
• Digital advertising
• Community programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Broadcast television advertising: Sale of on-air advertising spots (traditional local TV commercials) during news, weather, sports, and syndicated programming, sold via the station's sales team and the "Advertise with Us" page. This is the core recurring revenue stream for a local affiliate.
2. Digital / online advertising and sponsored content: Sale of digital display, video pre-roll, and high-visibility "Sponsored" content placements on wmtv15news.com (e.g., the "Siding Unlimited" sponsored feature), plus GDM Madison (gdmmadison.com) digital marketing services for local advertisers.
3. Sponsored community programming and events: Title, presenting, and segment sponsorships tied to community events and recurring features such as Bowlin' for Colons, Diaper Drive, Share Your Holidays, Sounds of the Season, Crystal Apple Awards, and Madison Jazz Festival 2026.
4. NBC network affiliation / compensation: Revenue share and/or compensation received from the NBC network as an NBC-affiliated station, including network programming distribution, retransmission consent fees paid by cable/satellite providers, and network content monetization.
5. Contests and promotions: Branded contests and sweepstakes (e.g., Star-Spangled Sing-Off) with official contest rules, used for audience engagement and as a sponsor/integrated-marketing vehicle.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

WMTV NBC 15 is a local NBC-affiliated television station in Madison, Wisconsin that broadcasts local news, weather, sports, and community programming via over-the-air NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0), cable/satellite carriage, a website livestream, and mobile apps. The station is supported primarily by broadcast and digital advertising sales to local and regional businesses, including a dedicated "Advertise with Us" offering and related digital marketing services through GDM Madison.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WMTV 15 News
• First Alert Weather
• 15 Investigates
• Live Streaming & On-Demand Video
• WMTV Mobile App
• Broadcast & Digital Advertising Sale of on-air spot advertising, digital display/video advertising on wmtv15news.com, and sponsored content opportunities sold to local and regional advertisers.
• GDM Madison Digital Marketing

Quantifiable outcome

• Serves the Madison, Wisconsin DMA and Southern Wisconsin viewing area via broadcast, cable, livestream, and mobile apps
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core network affiliate relationship, flagship / corporate parent, core sister-agency for digital advertising sales, core content partner for investigative journalism, minor / national content partner, minor / programming partner, minor / recurring sponsor, minor / sponsored content partner, minor / community programming partner and minor / affiliate travel partner.

• NBC (NBCUniversal)flagship / core network affiliate relationshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerWMTV operates as the NBC affiliate for the Madison, Wisconsin market, branded as "NBC 15." The station carries NBC network programming, including the Today show, network news, and Olympics coverage. This is the foundational network affiliation that defines WMTV's brand and content lineup.
• Gray Television (Gray Local Media)flagship / corporate parentStrategic or Co-development PartnerWMTV is owned and operated as a Gray Local Media station within the Gray Television portfolio. Gray provides centralized content (Investigate TV, PowerNation, Local News Live, Circle Country), publishing infrastructure (gtv-cdn.com, Arc publishing), AI policy, careers, and shared newsroom resources. WMTV's footer states "A Gray Local Media Station © 2002-2026."
• GDM Madison (gdmmadison.com)core sister-agency for digital advertising salesGTM or Marketing PartnerGDM Madison is WMTV's affiliated digital marketing agency, linked directly from the station footer and navigation. The agency provides digital marketing services to local/regional advertisers, supporting and extending the station's ad sales motion into performance and digital channels.
• Investigate TVcore content partner for investigative journalismStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestigate TV is a national investigative-journalism network that partners with local stations including WMTV. WMTV's "15 Investigates" unit is integrated with Investigate TV, enabling cross-station sharing of investigative stories and resources. The site links directly to investigatetv.com.
• Local News Liveminor / national content partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal News Live is a national live-news network that syndicates content to participating local stations. WMTV carries Local News Live national feed (linked from site navigation: localnewslive.com/news/national), expanding its news coverage beyond locally produced stories.
• PowerNationminor / programming partnerOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerPowerNation is an automotive-themed TV programming block distributed by Gray Television and carried by WMTV (linked from the site's main navigation). It extends the station's non-news programming lineup with niche enthusiast content.
• Circle Countryminor / programming partnerOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerCircle Country is a country-music lifestyle programming partner linked from the WMTV site navigation (circlecountry.com), providing additional entertainment content to the station's audience.
• The Wilderness Resortminor / recurring sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Wilderness Resort sponsors WMTV's weather segments, with branded graphics appearing on the weather page (e.g., "Sponsored by Wilderness Resort" on the Hour by Hour widget) and in video features such as the daily birthday segment.
• Siding Unlimitedminor / sponsored content partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSiding Unlimited is featured as a sponsored content placement on wmtv15news.com (e.g., "When to Invest in Replacement Windows: A Local Contractor's View"), representing a local advertiser's native/sponsored content integration with the station.
• Schuster's Farm (Deerfield, WI)minor / community programming partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSchuster's Farm in Deerfield, WI is featured on WMTV's Fall Harvest community page, part of the station's annual Fall Harvest promotional series that highlights local Dane County agritourism destinations.
• Enchanted Valley Acres (Cross Plains, WI)minor / community programming partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerEnchanted Valley Acres in Cross Plains, WI is featured on WMTV's Fall Harvest community page, promoting the farm's giant slides and fall activities as part of the station's Fall Harvest programming slate.
• Collette (Travel with Doogs)minor / affiliate travel partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerCollette's "Travel with Doogs" partnership is linked from WMTV's site navigation (groups.gocollette.com), representing a co-branded travel-content or affiliate partnership promoted by the station.

Scale indicators5 records

Regional players

• WISN-TV: ABC affiliate in the Milwaukee market and Hearst-owned station operating a comparable broadcast + digital news + community programming model to WMTV. Regional Wisconsin peer with similar size and audience composition to Madison.
• WBAY-TV: ABC affiliate serving the Green Bay/Appleton DMA in northeast Wisconsin. Comparable mid-size Wisconsin local TV station competing for regional advertising and serving a similar state-level news audience; does not overlap WMTV's Madison DMA directly.

Broad incumbents

• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Largest U.S. local TV station operator with broad national portfolio of Big Four affiliates and CW/MyNetworkTV stations. Directly comparable business model (broadcast advertising + digital + network affiliation revenue) but operates at much greater scale than WMTV or its parent Gray.
• Gray Television: Publicly traded parent company of WMTV (NYSE: GTN) operating a portfolio of ~100 local TV stations across the U.S. Provides centralized infrastructure, shared content (Investigate TV, PowerNation), and operational scale; the corporate parent that defines WMTV's strategic and operational boundaries.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest U.S. television station operator by revenue, owning NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox affiliates across the country. Closest large-scale public-market comparable for WMTV's local affiliate business model and retransmission/distribution economics.
• Tegna: Major U.S. local TV broadcaster owning stations in mid-size markets with a strong digital/audience-revenue orientation analogous to WMTV's broadcast-plus-digital model. Comparable in audience reach, advertiser relationships, and next-generation broadcast technology investments.

Direct peers

• WKOW-TV: ABC affiliate in the Madison, WI DMA and the most direct head-to-head competitor to WMTV for local news viewers and advertisers in the same market. Both stations compete for the same Madison audience, ad budgets, and community programming sponsorships.
• WISC-TV (Channel 3): CBS affiliate operating in the Madison market alongside WMTV, competing directly for local news, weather, and sports audiences as well as Madison-area advertising dollars. Same DMA, similar broadcast + digital distribution model.
• WTMJ-TV: NBC affiliate in Milwaukee, WI, sharing NBC network affiliation, programming (Today, Olympics, NBC News), and Gray Television operational patterns with WMTV. Most directly comparable NBC-affiliate peer in Wisconsin, though it serves a larger Milwaukee DMA.
• WMSN-TV (Fox 47): Fox-affiliated local TV station in Madison, WI competing with WMTV for the same local advertising market and viewer attention. Comparable broadcast + digital publishing + newsroom structure.

Market position

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nbc15_madison
• Facebookfacebook.com/nbc15madison
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wmtv-nbc-15

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WMTV NBC 15