due to its inappropriate content, in favor of airing the locally produced special Dealing with Drugs (a discussion about the effects of drug abuse on southeastern Wisconsin teens) in the former's evening slot. WITI aired its first non-network program in HD with the November 21, 2009, broadcast of the Milwaukee Downtown Christmas Parade (with training and equipment assistance from Milwaukee Public Television). The station formerly served as Milwaukee's "Love Network" affiliate for the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. WITI aired the program until 1996, when it moved to WDJT-TV; the telethon returned to WITI in 2011, although it lost the rights once again when the broadcast moved to ABC in 2013 (as a result, it was carried locally by WISN-TV until the telethon ended in 2014). Local programming On September 7, 2010, WITI debuted a local talk show, titled Real Milwaukee, which aired after the station's morning newscast at 9:00 a.m.; it was produced by WITI's news department, and focused on current events and community issues. The program differed from The Morning Blend on WTMJ-TV (channel 4) in that it did not feature paid demonstration segments by local businesses. The station does carry a paid advertorial segment called Fox Focus during its daytime programming, though only within the form of an extended traditional commercial break. Generally, Real Milwaukee led or placed a strong second in the ratings to all other programs in the 9:00 a.m. time period. In mid-March 2020, Real Milwaukee was placed on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic making its traditional format and seating arrangement impossible to maintain through videotelephony, with a one-hour extension of WakeUp taking its place. The 9 a.m. WakeUp extension was eventually made permanent a few months later. Real Milwaukee returned again on September 27, 2021, this time airing at 10 a.m., with it now a part of 7½ consecutive hours of news and local programming in the morning. From September 9, 2013, to July 11, 2016, WITI aired a weekday afternoon talk show, Studio A, which aired at 4:00 p.m. and was hosted by anchors Ted Perry and former news anchor Katrina Cravy, who left to launch a consulting firm, and former WLUM-FM (102.1) morning host Brian Kramp, the program focused mainly on community issues and events in Milwaukee, and provided breaking news coverage if needed. Upon its later cancellation, Kramp moved to features for Real Milwaukee. Sports programming WITI began