Milwaukee's newest television newscast is almost ready for prime time.

Technical crews put the finishing touches on the set of the new WDJT-TV (Channel 58) news the week of March 4, and the staff began rehearsing newscasts in preparation for their March 18 premiere.

"This is kind of a construction zone," WDJT news director Don Shafer said as he gave a tour of the station's leased news department space in a converted Allis-Chalmers Corp. tank factory.

The management of the station, which catapulted from second-rate rerun obscurity to network affiliation with CBS in December 1994, promises a "different" newscast that will appeal to younger viewers than the established newscasts at WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), WISN-TV (Channel 12) and WITI-TV (Channel 6).

The building at 809 S. 60th St. has a folklore that includes building casings for the atomic bomb during World War II. WDJT management hopes to drop a bomb that will attract Milwaukee-area TV viewers who are still unaccustomed to including Channel 58 in their channel-changing habits due to its various cable TV locations and its limited over-the-air signal.

"We're not in the general surf," Shafer said. "As you're surfing the channels, it's '4-6-12...who?'"

WDJT subleases about...