For the first time since 1958, CBS has a strong local signal in Eau Claire — and one in Tomah, too.
CBS affiliate WKBT/8 (La Crosse) is now being relayed on low-power TV stations WBDL-LD/18 (Elk Mound-Eau Claire) and WPDR-LD/35 (Tomah). According to a rescan notice on WKBT’s website, the low-power stations are using WKBT’s virtual channels 8.1 through 8.6, which carry CBS, MyNetworkTV, ION, DABL, QVC, and HSN.
WKBT owner QueenB Television is in the process of buying the stations from Magnum Radio along with KQEG-CD/23 (La Crescent-La Crosse).
WBDL-LD and WPDR-LD, formerly WBOO-LP and WEZY-LP, had previously relayed KQEG-CD but had been off the air as they converted from analog to digital broadcasting.
La Crosse and Eau Claire are in the same market for regulatory purposes, combined in the 1950s by nature of the fact that each city had only one TV station which rimshotted the other. Eau Claire’s WEAU/13 had carried some CBS programming on a secondary basis until 1958.
WKBT’s additions come just over a year after WEAU, a Gray NBC affiliate, signed on a translator in La Crosse. The ABC, FOX, and PBS stations in the market all have full-power transmitters in each city.
The long, narrow La Crosse-Eau Claire market stretches more than 165 miles from Prairie du Chien to Ladysmith. It’s limited to the east and west since residents of counties within Minneapolis and Wausau coverage areas watch more TV from those cities.