WPAG-TV (channel 20) was 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 earth ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, United States, which operated from 1953 to 1957.

History

WPAG-TV signed-on April 3, 1953, making it both

Washtenaw County Washtenaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat is Ann Arbor. The county was authorized by legislation in 1822 and organized as a county in 1826. Washtenaw ...

's first TV station and the first

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

station in Michigan (

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 WKNX-TV, now

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 ...

, signed on two days later). WPAG-TV was owned by the same people (Washtenaw Broadcasting) who operated WPAG radio (now

WTKA WTKA (1050 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Ann Arbor, Michigan, known as "The Ticket." It broadcasts a sports radio format and is owned by Cumulus Media. The studios and offices are on Victors Way in Ann Arbor. By day, WTKA is powered ...

). Art Greene (president) and Edward Baughn (general manager) were listed as both owning 50% of the station's stock (by 1957, Baughn would own 100% of the station); studios were located in downtown Ann Arbor, in the same building as the radio station. As of 1955, WPAG-TV broadcast during the evening hours only, from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., although they did sometimes operate in the afternoon hours to carry

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

games, apparently as a backup to

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter faciliti ...

in Detroit. WPAG-TV was nominally an

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

, but is believed to have been at least a part-time DuMont affiliate. After the demise of DuMont, the station allowed the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

to supply educational programming. In later years,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

provided such programs as ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'' and ''

Sky King ''Sky King'' was an American radio and television series. Its lead character was Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King. The series had strong Western elements. King usually captured criminals and spies and found lost hikers, ...

''; the station also added a five-minute local newscast on weeknights, featuring WPAG radio's Dave Prince reading wire service copy. Channel 20 even managed a ten-fold increase in power (to 17,500 watts) in late 1955, but there were still few UHF viewers in the expanded coverage radius around Ann Arbor. On December 31, 1957, WPAG-TV suspended operations after a failed attempt to get an allocation for Channel 12 in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

(apparently unaware that WJR radio in Detroit already held a construction permit for this frequency), with the ownership claiming to have lost $145,680 over the previous four years.Ironwood Daily Globe, December 28, 1957, p. 2 The license for Channel 20 was later assigned to

WJMY-TV WJMY-TV, UHF analog channel 20, was an independent television station serving Detroit, Michigan, United States that was licensed to Allen Park. The station operated from October 7, 1962, to June 10, 1963. The station was the second to operate o ...

Allen Park Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

, which broadcast for eight months in 1962–63; they later aired a series of test signals in the late 1960s before finally giving up their license in 1970.

WMYD WMYD (channel 20) is an independent television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV (channel 7). Both stations share studios at Broadcast House on 10 Mile Road in ...

has held the frequency since 1972. After WPAG's demise, Ann Arbor would not see another TV station for a generation; WUOM-TV, to be operated by the University of Michigan, was assigned a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for Channel 26 in 1953, but never made it to the air. Finally, in 1981, independent WRHT signed on; it is now

WPXD-TV WPXD-TV, virtual channel 31 ( UHF digital channel 24), is an Ion Television– affiliated station serving Detroit, Michigan, United States, that is licensed to Ann Arbor. The station is owned by Salt Lake City–based Inyo Broadcast Holdings. W ...

, an affiliate of

Ion Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wpag-Tv Defunct television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1953 1957 disestablishments in Michigan 1953 establishments in Michigan Television channels and stations disestablished in 1957 PAG-TV