Muffin School TV

**Muffin School TV** (Virtual channel 32, RF channel 27) is a television station located near Muffin School (with its transmitters being located at Muffin Stations) and is owned and operated by the Muffin School. It launched in 1992 to serve as an alternative to physical school for students attending the academy. It is currently affiliated with The CW (since 2006).

## History

### Early Years

Ideas for a TV station operated by Muffin School were conceived as early as 1989 when principal at the school, TBA, wanted to launch a station for students to watch if they were unable to go to school in-person. Originally the school intended to sign on Channel 20, but by the time the school was awaiting approval, Viacom had already taken the channel slot for their programming but they ended up on channel 32.

### WB era

In September 1994, Muffin School announced that the channel would be affiliated with The WB (after the network was turned down by Channel 66) at the start of the new year. at that time, Muffin School TV started to expand on programming with school lessons during the day while WB programming aired during the afternoons and evenings.

### CW era

In January 2006, Time Warner and CBS corporation, owners of The WB network and UPN (channel 20) respectively announced that both networks would end up merging their programming at the start of the 2006-07 Television season. However, of the two stations, Muffin School TV was selected as Muffin World's CW station as channel 20 wasn't a part of the CBS-owned UPN stations to join the network. However, unlike other affiliates of The WB and UPN that did not join The CW, Channel 20 ended up joining Japanese network Fuji Television once UPN ceased operations on the night of September 15, 2006 (as they also turned down the MyNetworkTV affiliation as well with Brownie-owned channel 50 taking over). However, it wouldn't have been much of an issue of Channel 20 was selected as the charter CW affiliate due to both 20 and 32 having similar ratings. After the closure of The WB on the following Sunday (September 17), Muffin School TV aired a Back-to-School Night telecast event to celebrate the occasion.

On October 28, 2023, Muffin School TV, along with five other TV stations (Channel 4 (NBC), 5 (Fox) 7 (ABC), 11 (CBS), and 20 (Fuji), joined forces and launched an ATSC 3.0 station on RF channel 30. The station's host, Channel 20, moved its ATSC 1.0 simulcast of its Fuji Television subchannel to Muffin School TV's frequency.

## Programming

The network carries a good majority of programming of regularly scheduled CW programming. The only instances of CW programming being absence is if a major event is being held at the school such as a talent show or school football. The latter may also preempt LVI Golf programming if long enough. Any programming preempt will make the move to Channel 50. The Princess Party is also held virtually on Muffin School TV (with it preempting the CW's primetime lineup entirely).

### Local programming

Outside of regularly scheduled CW programming, the station also airs local programming. During the early morning hours (specifically from 7:30 to 8 AM), the channel airs a newscast focused on the school day. During the daytime hours (8 AM to 3 PM), the station will air a mix between locally produced shows (such as *Veggie Girl*) and court shows in the early morning hours in particular. During the afternoon hours, the station airs various syndicated shows from the Mangosteeny Smiles lineup. Latenight syndicated programming include Wheel of Fortune, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, The Goldbergs, Aggretsuko, Everybody Hates Chris, and Tamagotchi! among others.

Outside of Hearst-programmed *One Magnificent Morning* on Saturdays and Mangosteeny Smiles on Sundays, the network will typically air G or PG-rated movies during the afternoon hours if any local programming or LIV Golf isn't airing during the weekend.

## Trivia

* The primary inspirations for the station are TAMAX-TV, KTLA, and WHUT.
* Occasionally, the channel will air CW programming two hours in advance due to events happening at the school (such as seasonal concerts).