that he might miss the first pitch for a media-league softball game and was dropped off by Chopper 4. Vitrano is still with the station, serving as co-anchor of Live at Daybreak. The helicopter was retired in December 2018 leaving WISN 12 Chopper as the last remaining news helicopter in Milwaukee and the entire state of Wisconsin. On April 6, 2020, the 3:00 p.m. newscast made a temporary return to WTMJ's schedule, with Kelly Clarkson being moved back an hour to 2:00 p.m. and The List being placed on hiatus in favor of the Scripps national program Coronavirus: The Rundown (RightThisMinute airs a second episode before the late-night repeat of Kelly; the show's new daily episode has pushed to that timeslot), in order to report local developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the 4:00 p.m. newscast was regularly preempted since mid-March by a combination of the city/county of Milwaukee's daily combined coronavirus teleconference and the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing (the former has now shifted to a 2 p.m. Tuesday/Thursday schedule). During the pandemic, Days of Our Lives de facto regularly airs split into two portions on the station, with the state of Wisconsin's teleconference occurring during the soap. As of mid-June 2020, the 3 p.m. newscast shifted to 3:30 p.m. with the return of The List to regular production, then was discontinued as of April 2, 2021, returning the station's afternoon schedule to its pre-March 2020 state. Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: On June 15, 2015, WTMJ added a second audio program (SAP) feed to its main channel to allow the transmission of Descriptive Video Service audio description and Spanish-language translations for NBC network programs; it became the last major network affiliate in the market to incorporate an SAP feed before the FCC's expansion of its requirements for television stations to feature audio description to media markets outside of the 25 largest (including Milwaukee) on July 1. Analog-to-digital conversion WTMJ-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, at noon on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 28. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 4. References Further reading External links