WTAC-TV,

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 ...

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

channel 16, was an

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 ...

- affiliated

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

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 ...

, United States. The station was owned by the Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company.

History

WTAC went on the air on Thursday, November 26

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

of 1953. It was owned by the Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company which was a partnership of

George W. Trendle George Washington Trendle (July 4, 1884 – May 10, 1972) was an American lawyer and businessman best known as the producer of the ''Lone Ranger'' radio and television programs along with ''The Green Hornet'' and '' Sergeant Preston of the Yukon'' ...

(creator of ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'') and H. Allen Campbell which also owned WTAC (AM) which is now

WSNL WSNL (600 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious format. Licensed to Flint, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1946. The original call letters were WFLM, but the station was purchased in December 1946 by George W. Trendle and H. A ...

in Flint. The station went out of business less than a year later, on Friday, April 30, 1954, in the middle of ABC's coverage of the Army-McCarthy hearings, because too few TVs at the time were equipped to receive UHF channels. The broadcast tower was destroyed in a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

in 1956. The WTAC-TV studios at 2302 Lapeer Road in Flint became the

WJRT-TV WJRT-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for northeastern Michigan. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on Lapeer Road in Flint, with offi ...

studios in 1958. Today, the signal space for channel 16 is home to

WSMH WSMH (channel 66), branded on-air as Fox 66, is a television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for northeastern Michigan. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services t ...

's digital signal, which remains on channel 16 after that station shut down its analog signal May 21, 2009, and following the nationwide analog television shutdown that took place June 12, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wtac-Tv Defunct television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1953 1954 disestablishments in Michigan 1953 establishments in Michigan Television channels and stations disestablished in 1954 TAC-TV TAC-TV