WLUC-TV (channel 6) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...
licensed to
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...
, United States, serving the Central and Western
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...
as an affiliate of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
. Owned by
Gray Television, the station has studios on
US 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...
/
M-28 in
Negaunee Township, and its transmitter is located on South Helen Lake Road in
Republic Township southeast of
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Republic.
WLUC is relayed on
translator station
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
W14EM-D channel 14 (also mapped to virtual channel 6) from the top of the
Landmark Inn in Marquette in order to extend its primary signal; the translator is used for areas of Marquette that get a poor reception from the station's main transmitter.
History
On April 28, 1956, Channel 6 signed in as WDMJ-TV, the Upper Peninsula's first television station. The station carried programming from all three networks offered at that time, but was a primary
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate. WDMJ was owned by the ''
Daily Mining Journal'' along with
WDMJ radio (1320 AM). Its studios were on the top floor of the ''Mining Journal'' building on
Washington Street in Downtown Marquette. The station quickly outgrew its facilities. In 1959, the station moved into its current studios in Negaunee Township. In 1964, it was sold to Post Corporation, owners of
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Suring-licensed CW affiliate WCWF (channel 14). Both stations share stud ...
in
Green Bay, Wisconsin, who changed the calls to WLUC-TV to match its moniker at the time "Lucky 6". WLUC first aired network programs in
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...
in 1963, and with the purchase of color video tape equipment, it began broadcasting all locally produced programs in color in 1969. The station moved its transmitter to southeast of Republic in 1980 and dismantled the original one near its current studios in Negaunee.
WLUC has been affected several times by television shakeups in Green Bay, since rival station
WJMN-TV
WJMN-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Escanaba, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains ...
(channel 3) in
Escanaba
Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,616 at the 2010 census, making it the third-largest city i ...
is a
semi-satellite of Green Bay-based
WFRV-TV
WFRV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on East Mason Street in Green Bay, and its transmitter is located north of Mor ...
. For example, it dropped NBC programming in 1969 when WJMN signed on. In 1983, when WJMN-TV (along with parent station WFRV-TV) switched from NBC to ABC, WLUC took a secondary NBC affiliation. When CBS bought WFRV in 1992 and switched it from
ABC, WLUC became a primary ABC station with secondary NBC affiliation. It became solely NBC in 1995 when WLUK and
WGBA-TV
WGBA-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Appleton-licensed independent station WACY-TV (channel 32). Both stations share studi ...
exchanged affiliations. As a result, it is one of the few stations in the country to have been with all of the
big three networks. WLUC also carried some Fox programs in the early 1990s before WLUK switched to the network.
In late 2005 following Raycom's purchase of the
Liberty Corporation
The Liberty Corporation was a media corporation originally based in Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, Liberty owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Cable advertising ...
, the company announced WLUC would be sold along with fellow NBC station
WPBN-TV
WPBN-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Traverse City, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provi ...
and full-time satellite WTOM-TV serving the
Northern Lower and Eastern Upper Peninsula. The sale was necessary to help meet
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) restrictions on station ownership. On March 27, 2006, Raycom sold 12 of its stations (including WLUC) to
Barrington Broadcasting. The FCC approved the deal in June 2006 and the purchase closed August 11. WLUC joined WPBN/WTOM,
Saginaw
Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...
's
WEYI-TV
WEYI-TV (channel 25), branded on-air as NBC 25, is a television station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan, United States, serving northeastern Michigan as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, which maintains a shared services ...
, and
Toledo's
WNWO-TV
WNWO-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains a transmitter on Cousino Road in Jerusalem Township. Its studios are located on South Byrn ...
as part of Barrington's family of stations in and around Michigan.
Like many other Barrington-owned stations (including WTOM), WLUC operates a rather
low-powered (83 kW) UHF signal which has a much smaller coverage footprint than its former analog station. Its over-the-air digital signal covers less than half of the designated
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
area (DMA). Therefore, WLUC relies on cable as well as satellite carriers
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
and
Dish Network to distribute programming to the entire area.
In August 2012, WLUC and Fox UP became the official affiliates of the
Green Bay Packers Television Network for the Marquette–Escanaba market, taking over for WJMN, which lost the rights to team programming as the last contract ended, which was included as a part of WFRV's official station status in the Green Bay market. The station carries preseason games on the "state network" (as the Packers Television Network has been traditionally called), along with the team's Tuesday night coach's show and other official team programming.
On February 28, 2013, Barrington Broadcasting announced the sale of its entire group, including WLUC, to
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
.
The sale was completed on November 25. After 30 years of separate ownership, WLUC and WLUK in Green Bay were briefly reunited as sister stations on December 19, 2014, when Sinclair purchased WLUK and
WCWF as part of required sales of stations by
LIN Media
LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low powered weather station in In ...
in order to merge with
Media General
Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...
, which already owned Green Bay's
WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located on South Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay (across from the historic ...
.
On October 1, 2015,
Gray Television announced that it would acquire WLUC-TV from Sinclair; in return, Sinclair would receive
WSBT-TV
WSBT-TV (channel 22) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on East Douglas Avenue in Mishawaka, and its transmitter is loc ...
in
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
, from Gray. The swap, part of Gray's acquisition of the broadcasting assets of
Schurz Communications
Schurz Communications is a South Bend, Indiana-based broadband media group and cloud services provider. It owned newspapers.
History
The company was founded in 1872 by Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett with the creation of the ''South Bend ...
(owner of WSBT), was necessary as Gray already owns
WNDU-TV
WNDU-TV (channel 16) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Elkhart-licensed Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV (channel 28). Both stations share studios on the c ...
in South Bend.
The sale was completed on February 16, 2016. A few months later, Gray acquired Green Bay station WBAY-TV, due to divestments made during
Nexstar Media Group's acquisition of Media General.
On June 25, 2018, Gray announced it was merging with Raycom. While the deal did not affect WLUC directly, the completion of the deal in January 2019 reunited WLUC with many of its former sister stations from its years under Raycom ownership.
''Finland Calling''
With 16% of the area's population of
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
descent (down from about 25% in the 1960s), WLUC produced the only Finnish-language program in the United States, ''Finland Calling'' ( fi, Suomi Kutsuu). The station started the show on March 27, 1962, at the suggestion of a local travel agent who sought to boost travel to
Nordic countries. Since its beginning, the show was hosted by Carl Pellonpaa, then a newsman at the station. Pellonpaa retired from news operations but continued to host the show. Early editions of the show were produced live and featured books, photographs, and Finnish music. Camera operators had to learn a few words of Finnish just to be able to follow the show.
The one-hour weekly Sunday morning program regularly featured Finnish visitors to the region including two
Presidents of Finland, the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, a number of ambassadors, consuls general of Finland, members of the country's parliament, numerous entertainers, choirs, teachers, and students among others. Pellonpaa hosted 22 tours to Finland and dozens of dances featuring Finnish music. In 1988, he was awarded the Order of the White Rose from then President
Mauno Koivisto
Mauno Henrik Koivisto (; 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 1 ...
for hosting the program and for the number of tourists that the program inspired to visit Finland.
In March 2015, it was announced that the 84-year-old Pellonpaa would retire and the program would air its series finale on March 29, 2015, marking the end of a 53-year run.
Carl Pellonpaa died on September 1, 2018.
Previous logo
WLUC used the same multicolored "6" logo for many years from as early as the early 1990s until September 2008. From about 1989 until 1992, a similar metallic-looking "6" was used with a
rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
slash underneath. The rainbow, while used with on-air promos and the news open, was never used on mic flags during this time. From the time WLUC went on the air in 1956, network logos were always separate from the channel logo. That changed in 1992 when the ABC ball was lodged inside the "6".
When the station switched to primary NBC in 1995, it simply replaced the ABC logo with the letters "NBC" rather than place the network's
peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
alongside the "6" as many NBC affiliates do. The logo design, however, became somewhat dated at that point as computer graphics improved and the years went on. From this point until abandoning the rainbow "6", a viewer unfamiliar to the market could accidentally discern that WLUC was an ABC affiliate. On September 8, 2008, it phased out its "multicolored" 6 logo and went with the letters "TV 6" inside an oval tilted to the right. It also changed its longtime slogan from "Someplace Special" (used since the early 1980s) to "Upper Michigan's Source".
WLUC-DT2
WLUC-DT2 is the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
-affiliated second
digital subchannel of WLUC-TV, broadcasting in
720p
720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...
high definition on channel 6.2. In mid-February 2022, the over-the-air signal of WLUC-DT2 was upgraded to 720p HD; ever since its inception, the subchannel had broadcast in
480i
480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital television in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Laos, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The ...
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
standard definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
, while an HD feed was carried on local cable systems.
History
WLUC-DT2 signed-on at some point in late 2005 (under Raycom Media ownership) carrying
The Tube Music Network
The Tube Music Network, Inc., or The Tube, was an American digital multicast television network. The network was a fully owned subsidiary of The Tube Media Corp., an independent company that was founded by David Levy in 2003. The Tube focused cl ...
. After that network shut down on October 1, 2007, due to a lack of advertising,
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was an American weather-oriented digital broadcast and cable television network owned as a joint venture between NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC television network. The service, which was broadcast in standard d ...
was added. Later, Weather Plus was dropped in favor of
Universal Sports
Universal Sports was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It was owned as a joint venture between InterMedia Partners (which owned a controlling 92% interest) and NBCUniversal (which owned the remaining 8%). ...
. Throughout its association with those three services, WLUC-DT2 was carried on Charter digital channel 306.
In July 2009, WLUC announced it would begin carrying Fox on its second digital subchannel starting August 17. It replaced Universal Sports which was relegated to late-night hours while programming from
America One
America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary. was added in a secondary nature. The subchannel replaced
WZMQ
WZMQ (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Marquette, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of MeTV and CBS. Owned by Lilly Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on W ...
(formerly WMQF) as the area's Fox affiliate after it temporarily suspended programming when its previous owner
Equity Media Holdings
Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name later ...
declared
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy. WZMQ later went back on the air under more stable ownership, carrying a number of digital subchannel networks.
Previously outside of WZMQ (which during Equity's ownership, was often unable to be received outside of Ishpeming and Marquette due to continuous transmitter issues and lack of engineering staff), Fox was available in the Upper Peninsula over-the-air from WLUK in
Menominee County and via a low powered translator of that station in Escanaba, W40AN. WLUK was carried by Spectrum in the West and Central Upper Peninsula along with WLUC-DT2 except in
Gogebic County which is covered by
KQDS-TV
KQDS-TV (channel 21) is a television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Red River Broadcasting, the station has studios on London Road in Duluth (along I-35), and its transmitter is located we ...
from
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
. The Eastern Upper Peninsula is covered by
WWUP-DT 10.2 (a simulcast of
WFQX-TV
WFQX-TV (channel 32) is a television station licensed to Cadillac, Michigan, United States, serving the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan as an affiliate of Fox and The CW Plus. It is owned by Cadillac Telecasting Compa ...
in
Cadillac).
In 2012, lobbying from WLUC, combined with new affiliation requirements from Fox disallowing cable carriage from other affiliates outside a station's market, forced WLUK from most cable systems in the western and central portions of the Upper Peninsula. There were no changes on DirecTV since WLUK was never available to viewers outside Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula. As Sinclair acquired WLUK from their owners LIN Media as part of LIN's merger with Media General in mid-December 2014, the issues between WLUK and WLUC-DT2, including the Escanaba translator issue, were resolved in the time they were under common ownership before WLUC's sale to Gray Television. This included the eventual closedown of W40AN in the summer of 2018, along with new carriage agreements with local providers which gave preference to WLUC-DT2 over WLUK.
The subchannel used to be an affiliate of America One during the late-night and morning hours, which also provided the subchannel's programming for
E/I requirements. This ended as more syndicated programming was placed on the Fox UP schedule, along with Sinclair and Gray's existing contracts to provide E/I programming for their stations.
Programming
Syndicated programming on WLUC-DT1 includes ''
Live with Kelly and Ryan
''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...
'', ''
The Drew Barrymore Show
''The Drew Barrymore Show'' (often shortened to ''Drew'') is a first-run syndicated American talk show hosted by actress Drew Barrymore. The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures and debuted on September 14, 2020. In April 2022, the show w ...
'', ''
Dr. Phil'', and ''
Judge Judy
''Judge Judy'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtr ...
'', among others. Syndicated programming on WLUC-DT2 includes ''
Wheel of Fortune'', ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...
'', ''
Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...
'' and ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...
'', among others.
As of 2020, WLUC-DT2 is one of ten Fox affiliates to air both ''Wheel of Fortune'' and ''Jeopardy!'', along with WLUK-TV in Green Bay,
WSYT
WSYT (channel 68) is a television station in Syracuse, New York, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Imagicomm Communications. The station's studios are located on James Street/ NY 290 in Syracuse's Near Northeast sect ...
in
Syracuse, New York,
WBFF
WBFF (channel 45) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (based in nearby Hunt Valley), alongside ABC affiliate WJLA-T ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
WXIX-TV
WXIX-TV (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, United States, serving the Cincinnati metro as the market's Fox affiliate. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Cozi TV affiliate WBQC-LD (channel 25 ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
WVUE-DT
WVUE-DT (channel 8) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains primary studios on Norman C. Francis Parkway in the city's Gert Town sect ...
in
,
KDVR
KDVR (channel 31) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station KFCT (channel 22) in Fort Collins. The two stations are owned by Nexstar Media Gr ...
in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
KVHP
KVHP (channel 29) is a television station in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with Fox and ABC. It is owned by American Spirit Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Gray Television, owner of dual NBC/ ...
in
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcas ...
,
WALA-TV
WALA-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Mobile, Alabama, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Satchel Paige Drive ...
in
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
, and
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal H ...
in
Kansas City.
News operation
For its entire existence, WLUC has held the number-one spot in local
Nielsen ratings by a wide margin. Its news has won awards including two Certificates of Merit from the
Good News Awards in 2012.
WLUC has a much larger news department than either of its competitors; ABC affiliate
WBUP
WBUP (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Ishpeming, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is owned by the Marks Radio Group alongside Calumet-licensed CW+ ...
has only been airing newscasts continuously since 2004 (an earlier attempt was abandoned due to low ratings and budget cuts), and
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
(then-CBS) affiliate WJMN-TV did not offer coverage of its home territory until April 21, 2014. Prior to that date, WJMN did not employ any news personnel in the state of Michigan. WJMN did air brief Upper Peninsula-specific news and weather updates produced at WFRV's facilities in Green Bay. A fourth competitor, CBS affiliate WZMQ, began its news operation on January 21, 2022.
After WLUC-DT2 initially added Fox, it offered a nationally syndicated newscast weeknights at 6:30. The program was produced for America One by the
Independent News Network
News HUB (formerly known as Independent News Network) is a production company based in Little Rock, Arkansas, which syndicates "localized" news programs for broadcast television stations in the United States, that have budgets limiting their ...
from studios on Tremont Avenue in
Davenport, Iowa. This was eventually dropped in favor syndicated programming as the subchannel developed more. Starting September 8, 2009, WLUC-DT2 began airing a local weeknight prime time broadcast (known as ''Your Fox UP News in Primetime'') from a new secondary set. New segments such as viewer feedback, daily polls, and other features were introduced. There is no regular sports segment seen in the show although a quick update can be given on teams with local and regional interest. The broadcast competes with one airing at the same time on
CW affiliate
WBKP
WBKP (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Calumet, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of The CW Plus. It is owned by the Marks Radio Group alongside Ishpeming-licensed ...
(produced by WBUP).
Unlike most NBC affiliates in the
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...
, WLUC does not air newscasts at midday or weeknights at 5:30. In addition to its main studios, the station operates bureaus in Escanaba (on Ludington Street),
Iron Mountain (on South Stephenson Avenue/
US 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...
/
US 141
US Highway 141 (US 141) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of Wisconsin and Michigan. The highway runs north-northwesterly from an interchange with Interstate 43 (I-43) in Bellevue, Wisconsin, near Green ...
), and
Houghton Houghton may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide
* Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland
* Houghton Island (Queensland)
Canada
*Houghton Township, ...
(on Shelden Avenue/
US 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...
). The Iron Mountain Bureau also serves
Kingsford while the Houghton Bureau also serves
Hancock Hancock may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Hancock, Iowa
* Hancock, Maine
* Hancock, Maryland
* Hancock, Massachusetts
* Hancock, Michigan
* Hancock, Minnesota
* Hancock, Missouri
* Hancock, New Hampshire
** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
. Although there is no weekend morning show, WLUC repeats the previous night's late news on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
WLUC began broadcasting its news in 16:9 widescreen in April 2013. On September 6, 2017, WLUC debuted major upgrades to its studio, including a new, larger set and a rebuilt control room. Gray invested over $1 million into these changes.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
WLUC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
VHF channel 6, 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 remained on its pre-transition
UHF channel 35,
using
PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the AT ...
to display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former VHF analog channel 6.
Translator
References
External links
*
{{Gray TV
NBC network affiliates
Gray Television
Television channels and stations established in 1956
LUC-TV
1956 establishments in Michigan
Grit (TV network) affiliates