

Those viewers not lucky enough to get a signal from WBBM-TV in Chicago, WISC-TV in Madison, or WBAY-TV in Green Bay were forced to rely on expensive UHF converters to watch channel 19, and even then the picture quality left a lot to be desired. Only a small percentage of television sets in the Milwaukee area were even capable of receiving UHF stations at the time, as set manufacturers were not required to equip televisions with UHF tuners until 1964 as a result of the 1961 passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act.

WXIX's tenure as a CBS O&O, however, was not successful. This made the station the first network owned-and-operated station in the Milwaukee market. It then moved into WCAN's former studio on North 27th Street, where it remained until being sold by CBS less than four years later. The purchase resulted in a call letter change to WXIX (referencing the Roman numeral for 19) on February 27, 1955. On October 21, 1954, CBS purchased WOKY-TV for $335,000 and announced it was moving its programming there from its original affiliate in the city, WCAN-TV (channel 25, now defunct). The station originally operated as a primary ABC and secondary DuMont affiliate. It was owned by Bartell Broadcasters, along with WOKY radio (920 AM). The station first signed on the air on Octoas WOKY-TV, broadcasting on UHF channel 19. WVTV is the second-oldest continuously operating station in Milwaukee. 1.4.1 July 2010 flooding incident and studio move.
