Wmsn Tv Fox 47

What Wmsn Tv Fox 47 does

WMSN TV Fox 47 is a Fox-affiliated local broadcast television station serving the Madison, Wisconsin Designated Market Area and surrounding south-central Wisconsin communities, including 11 counties (Juneau, Marquette, Rock, Green, Lafayette, Grant, Richland, Sauk, Columbia, Dane, Iowa). Founded in 1986 and operating from headquarters at 7847 Big Sky Drive in Madison, the station is owned by Sinclair Communications, LLC, a subsidiary of publicly traded Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI), one of the largest US television station operators. The station distributes its signal via over-the-air broadcast, mandatory cable and satellite carriage through providers including DirecTV and Dish Network, and digital live streaming through its fox47.com website.

The station's core product is its broadcast programming lineup, which delivers local news (across verticals including Local, Offbeat, Beyond The Podium, The Addiction Front, and Crisis in the Classroom), regional and national sports coverage (Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Wisconsin Badgers), and weather content. Auxiliary products include the Fox47 Weather App for iOS and Android, the MSG 2 Teens youth engagement program, the Duck Soup Cinema community film series, and expanded community/lifestyle programming (Wisconsin Great Outdoors, Local for You, Fox47 Events). The station maintains a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter/X and publishes advertising-marketing resources for prospective advertisers.

The business model is advertising-based, with local and national advertisers purchasing television ad inventory through quote-based direct sales, supplemented by retransmission consent fees from cable and satellite distributors. The station operates with a lean direct headcount of 12 employees, relying on Sinclair Broadcast Group's centralized infrastructure for national advertising sales, news content, and back-office operations. Customer segments are split between local viewers consuming news, weather, sports, and community content, and advertisers (primarily local businesses) seeking access to the Madison DMA television audience.

Name

Wmsn Tv Fox 47

Legal name

Sinclair Communications, LLC

Website

https://fox47.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WMSN TV Fox 47 is a Fox-affiliated local broadcast television station in Madison, Wisconsin, delivering local news, weather, sports, and community content to south-central Wisconsin via over-the-air, cable, satellite, and digital streaming, operating as part of Sinclair Broadcast Group's national station portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Television

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (51612)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

Keywords

• Local television broadcasting
• Broadcast news programming
• Television advertising
• Weather broadcasting
• Community broadcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

WMSN Fox 47 is a Fox-affiliated broadcast television station that delivers local news, weather, sports, and community programming to Madison, Wisconsin and surrounding south-central Wisconsin counties via over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite carriage, and digital streaming. The station monetizes its broadcast reach by selling television advertising to local and national businesses seeking access to the Madison viewing audience.

Product overview

WMSN (Fox 47) is a local broadcast television station operating as a core product under Sinclair Communications LLC, delivering local news, weather, sports, and community content to the Madison, Wisconsin viewing area through over-the-air broadcasts. The station's product portfolio consists of the primary broadcast station supplemented by the Fox47 Weather App for mobile weather information delivery, MSG 2 Teens programming for teenage audiences, and Duck Soup Cinema community entertainment events. News operations are organized into distinct content verticals including Local, Offbeat, Beyond The Podium, The Addiction Front, and Crisis in the Classroom, while sports coverage focuses on regional professional and collegiate teams including the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Wisconsin Badgers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MSG 2 Teens: A community/youth engagement program run by the station targeting teenage viewers in the Madison area.

Products and services

• WMSN-TV (Fox 47) Broadcast Station Fox-affiliated local broadcast television station serving Madison, Wisconsin and surrounding south-central Wisconsin counties (11 counties) with local news, weather, sports, and community programming distributed via over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite carriage, and digital streaming.
• Fox47 Weather App Mobile weather application for Android and Apple devices providing real-time weather conditions, forecasts, radar images, and severe weather alerts for the Madison, Wisconsin viewing area.
• Television Advertising Services
• MSG 2 Teens Program
• Duck Soup Cinema

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sinclair Communications, LLCcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSinclair Communications, LLC dba WMSN is the parent company and broadcast group operating the FOX 47 station. Sinclair Broadcasting is one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the United States with stations across multiple markets.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• WISC-TV (Channel 3000): CBS affiliate and one of the longest-operating local stations in the Madison DMA. Competes head-to-head with WMSN on local news, weather, and sports, sharing the same Madison-area advertising pool and viewer base.
• WBAY-TV: ABC affiliate serving the Green Bay, Wisconsin DMA. Comparable mid-size Wisconsin market broadcaster with similar mix of network programming, local news/weather/sports coverage, and digital distribution extensions.
• WKOW-TV: ABC affiliate operating in the same Madison, Wisconsin DMA. Directly competes with FOX 47 for local news viewers, sports audiences, and Madison-area advertising budgets using an identical over-the-air + cable/satellite + digital distribution model.
• WLUK-TV (Fox 11): Another Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate serving Green Bay/Appleton, Wisconsin. Highly comparable in network affiliation, ownership structure, distribution mix, and reliance on Fox network programming plus local content — making it a direct operational and strategic analog.
• WMTV (NBC15): NBC affiliate serving the Madison market. Closely comparable to FOX 47 in market position, audience targeting, distribution footprint, and reliance on network programming combined with hyper-local news, weather, and sports.

Regional players

• WDJT-TV (CBS 58): CBS affiliate serving the Milwaukee, Wisconsin DMA. Shares the same Wisconsin broadcasting environment and broadcast-station operating model as WMSN but serves a separate geographic market without overlapping viewers or advertisers.
• WISN-TV (Channel 12): ABC affiliate serving the larger Milwaukee DMA. Comparable network-affiliate broadcast model and content verticals, but operates in a different Wisconsin market — relevant as a regional benchmark for station economics rather than a direct Madison competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Nexstar Media Group: Largest U.S. television station operator by number of stations. Operates a portfolio of network affiliates using the same broadcast + retransmission + advertising model as WMSN, providing a relevant incumbent benchmark for station-level economics and valuation.
• Tegna Inc. Major U.S. owner of network-affiliated local television stations with a comparable business model combining local news, retransmission fees, and digital extensions — applicable as a publicly-traded benchmark for the local broadcast TV operating model that WMSN participates in.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Parent company of WMSN and the largest U.S. television station group by reach. Comparable in business model (network-affiliated local broadcast + retransmission + advertising) but operates at conglomerate scale across many markets rather than within a single DMA.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fox47madison
• Facebookfacebook.com/foxmadison
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wmsn-tv-fox-47

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 Wmsn Tv Fox 47