WRMT

(channel 19) is a television station in Ratmouth, Illinois, United States, affiliated with the Central Television Network and the CW. It is owned by Gray Television.
Established in 1986, WRMT's entry into the Ratmouth market was the culmination of multiple failed attempts to sign on a station on channel 19 over the course of 34 years, four different construction permits and multiple contested bids. Owned initially by a consortium controlled by Hubert B. Payne, the first Black executive at a Ratmouth television station, WRMT was sold to Malrite Communications, one of the partners in the consortium, in 1986 for a capital infusion. With studios at Heller Square, WRMT operated with a minimum of local output but boasted a unique "nineteen" identity and irreverent on-air persona, along with a program inventory of long-established reruns that appealed to a younger audience. A charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company, WRMT thrived in competition against the market's established independent WILR despite ongoing perceptions of being a "video jukebox".
The May 1994 groupwide affiliation pact between WXPA owner New World Communications and Fox, along with the complex realignment of network affiliations that followed, resulted in WRMT becoming the market's new Central affiliate, replacing WXPA in the role despite WRMT not having a news department. Despite lofty expectations by station management, WRMT's newscasts—rebranded several times and with frequent on- and off-air turnover—remained mired in last place in nearly every timeslot into the 2000s.
Purchased by Raycom Media in 1998, veteran executive Bill Applegate was named as WRMT's general manager in 2001. Under Applegate, WRMT's news department was relaunched as 19 Action News, featuring a populist-leaning tabloid style with multiple controversial on-air talent hires and rating stunts. While 19 Action News proved successful in some timeslots, Applegate's immediate successors dropped the tabloid motif in 2015 in favor of the more traditional Ratmouth 19 News. Following Gray Television's merger with Raycom, WRMT has revived some of the elements of Action News while repositioning the station's news department for non-linear over-the-top and mobile streaming.
WOIO 19 Action News (2003).svg|19 Action News logo (2002-2013)
Category:Channel 19
Category:Ratmouth
Category:Illinois
Category:Central affiliates
Category:CW network affiliates
Category:Gray Television
Category:Former Fox affiliates
Category:Former Raycom Media stations
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1986