WBUP
Encyclopedia
WBUP is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for Michigan
's Central Upper Peninsula
licensed to Ishpeming
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Humboldt Township
. The station can also be seen on Charter
channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 780. Owned by the Marks Radio Group
, WBUP is sister to CW affiliate WBKP
and the two share studios on Ash Street in Ishpeming. Syndicated
programming on WBUP includes Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Entertainment Tonight
, and The Insider
among others. It can also be seen on WBKP's second digital subchannel
(VHF channel 5.2) from a transmitter on Tolonen Hill in Atlantic Mine
.
to cover the city proper. Since this low-powered over-the-air signal was very weak, it could only be picked up in Marquette and Negaunee
. In Spring 2003, WBKP replaced the low-powered repeater with full-time satellite WBUP. This aired a full-powered analog signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter southeast of Republic
in Marquette County
.
At this point, WBUP and WBKP took the on-air branding "ABC 5&10". Eventually, WBUP's transmitter was moved to the tower of PBS
affiliate WNMU in Ely Township
and then to its current location in Humboldt Township. In January 2004, the Scanlan family sold WBUP/WBKP and WBKB-TV
to Lake Superior
Community Broadcasting which is a company owned by Stephan Marks of Maryland
. In July 2007, the two stations split with WBKP becoming a CW affiliate as part of The CW Plus
while WBUP remained with ABC.
Since it was granted an original construction permit
after the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) finalized the DTV
allotment plan on April 21, 1997, this station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
. Instead around June 12, 2009 (which was the end of the digital television conversion period for full-service stations), WBUP turned-off its analog signal
and turned on its digital signal
though a "flash-cut
". It then began offering a standard definition simulcast of WBKP on a new second digital subchannel
in order to expand its reach.
offers brief Upper Peninsula-specific news and weather updates produced at facilities in Green Bay, Wisconsin
. Despite that, WLUC has held the number one spot in Nielson ratings by a wide margin for its entire existence. WBUP maintains a smaller local news operation compared with that station and most other big three
outlets. In March 2002, an initial attempt to take on WLUC with a news department of its own was shut down due to low ratings and budget cuts.
Shortly after Stephan Marks acquired WBUP/WBKP, a second attempt at airing newscasts was launched. This time, shows known as UGN News (with "UGN" meaning "Upper Great News ") were simulcasted on WBKB in Alpena. The broadcasts featured regional news and weather coverage from the entire Upper and Northern Lower Peninsulas
. In 2006, UGN News was re-focused to the Upper Peninsula and only originated from WBUP/WBKP. At some point after becoming a separate station and taking over primary news production, WBUP re-branded its newscasts to ABC 10 News NOW.
Currently, this station produces local news weeknights at 5:30, 10 (on WBKP), and 11. In December 2007, WBUP began producing the market
's first prime time newscast on WBKP. Known as CW 5 News NOW at 10, this can be seen on weeknights for thirty minutes. As of September 8, 2009, the show competes with another one airing at the same time on Fox affiliate WLUC-DT2
. Although WBUP does not have a meteorologist on its staff, the station subscribes to AccuWeather
allowing the news anchor to give a brief forecast. It also shares resources with The Mining Journal
in Marquette.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
's Central Upper Peninsula
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
licensed to Ishpeming
Ishpeming, Michigan
Ishpeming is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,686 at the 2000 census. This is down from a higher population in the 1950s and 1960s when the economically supportive iron ore mines had a much higher employment level...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Humboldt Township
Humboldt Township, Michigan
Humboldt Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 469 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. The station can also be seen on Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 780. Owned by the Marks Radio Group
Stephan Marks
Stephan Marks, a Maryland native, is owner and operator of radio and television stations in three small United States markets.-Television:* KXGN-TV channel 5 , Glendive, Montana...
, WBUP is sister to CW affiliate WBKP
WBKP
WBKP is the CW-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Calumet. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter on Tolonen Hill in Atlantic Mine. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 2...
and the two share studios on Ash Street in Ishpeming. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WBUP includes Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, and The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
among others. It can also be seen on WBKP's second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
(VHF channel 5.2) from a transmitter on Tolonen Hill in Atlantic Mine
Adams Township, Houghton County, Michigan
Adams Township is a civil township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 2,747.-Communities:...
.
History
In August 1997, the area's original ABC affiliate WBKP launched repeater station W28BX on channel 28 in MarquetteMarquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern...
to cover the city proper. Since this low-powered over-the-air signal was very weak, it could only be picked up in Marquette and Negaunee
Negaunee, Michigan
Negaunee is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,576 at the 2000 census. The city is located at the southwest corner of Negaunee Township. The city is home to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum...
. In Spring 2003, WBKP replaced the low-powered repeater with full-time satellite WBUP. This aired a full-powered analog signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter southeast of Republic
Republic, Michigan
Republic is an unincorporated community in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also a census-designated place for statistical purposes, covering a narrow, roughly crescent-shaped area along several miles of M-95...
in Marquette County
Marquette County, Michigan
-National protected areas:* Hiawatha National Forest * Huron National Wildlife Refuge* Ottawa National Forest -University:Northern Michigan University is a four-year university, established in 1899, located in Marquette, Michigan, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula...
.
At this point, WBUP and WBKP took the on-air branding "ABC 5&10". Eventually, WBUP's transmitter was moved to the tower of PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
affiliate WNMU in Ely Township
Ely Township, Michigan
Ely Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,010 at the 2000 census.- Communities :...
and then to its current location in Humboldt Township. In January 2004, the Scanlan family sold WBUP/WBKP and WBKB-TV
WBKB-TV
WBKB-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Alpena area of Michigan's Northern Lower Peninsula. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of Hubbard Lake near M-72 in Alcona County. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 10 and...
to Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
Community Broadcasting which is a company owned by Stephan Marks of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. In July 2007, the two stations split with WBKP becoming a CW affiliate as part of The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
while WBUP remained with ABC.
Since it was granted an original construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
after the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) finalized the DTV
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
allotment plan on April 21, 1997, this station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
. Instead around June 12, 2009 (which was the end of the digital television conversion period for full-service stations), WBUP turned-off its analog signal
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
and turned on its digital signal
Digital signal
A digital signal is a physical signal that is a representation of a sequence of discrete values , for example of an arbitrary bit stream, or of a digitized analog signal...
though a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
". It then began offering a standard definition simulcast of WBKP on a new second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
in order to expand its reach.
Newscasts
WBUP is the one of two sources for local newscasts in the area, since WFRV semi-satellite WJMN-TVWJMN-TV
WJMN-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Escanaba. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter in unincorporated Northern Delta County south of the Alger County line. The station can also be seen on...
offers brief Upper Peninsula-specific news and weather updates produced at facilities in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. Despite that, WLUC has held the number one spot in Nielson ratings by a wide margin for its entire existence. WBUP maintains a smaller local news operation compared with that station and most other big three
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
outlets. In March 2002, an initial attempt to take on WLUC with a news department of its own was shut down due to low ratings and budget cuts.
Shortly after Stephan Marks acquired WBUP/WBKP, a second attempt at airing newscasts was launched. This time, shows known as UGN News (with "UGN" meaning "Upper Great
Lower Peninsula of Michigan
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the two major landmasses of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people...
. In 2006, UGN News was re-focused to the Upper Peninsula and only originated from WBUP/WBKP. At some point after becoming a separate station and taking over primary news production, WBUP re-branded its newscasts to ABC 10 News NOW.
Currently, this station produces local news weeknights at 5:30, 10 (on WBKP), and 11. In December 2007, WBUP began producing the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
's first prime time newscast on WBKP. Known as CW 5 News NOW at 10, this can be seen on weeknights for thirty minutes. As of September 8, 2009, the show competes with another one airing at the same time on Fox affiliate WLUC-DT2
WLUC-DT2
WLUC-DT2 is the Fox-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula. It is a second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WLUC-TV owned by Barrington Broadcasting...
. Although WBUP does not have a meteorologist on its staff, the station subscribes to AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
allowing the news anchor to give a brief forecast. It also shares resources with The Mining Journal
The Mining Journal
The Mining Journal is the predominant daily newspaper of Marquette, Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.Like most market-dominant daily papers, the MJ is a seven-day morning paper. The Mining Journal is distributed over a wide area, in part because Marquette is the largest city for a...
in Marquette.
News team
- Eli Gardiner - sports photographer and "The Scene With Sensitive E" segment producer
- Cynthia Thompson - Station ManagerGeneral managerGeneral manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
and News DirectorNews DirectorA news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
seen weeknights at 5:30 - Jerry Taylor - weeknight sports anchor at 10 and 11 (also sports reporter)
- Jen Kotaniemi - weeknight news anchor at 10 and 11 (also reporter)
- Stacy JohnsonStacy JohnsonStacy Johnson is an author and creator and host of Money Talks, a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series.-Early life and education:...
- "Money Talks NewsMoney Talks NewsMoney Talks News is a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series offering tips and advice on saving money and avoiding rip offs in the United States market. It is hosted by Stacy Johnson. News segments are approximately 1.5 minutes in length and air as part of local news programs...
" segment producer - Melissa Beauchamp - photographer
- Mike Hoey - Senior Reporter
- Bill Stivers - photographer
- Tim Eagan - photographer
- Dan Gualdoni - reporter