WJMN-TV
Encyclopedia
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 (PSIP virtual channel
3.1) from a transmitter in unincorporated
Northern Delta
County south of the Alger
County line. The station can also be seen on Charter
channel 3 and in high definition on digital channel 788. Owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group
, WJMN maintains a sales office on North Third Street in Downtown Marquette
.
Although identifying as a separate outlet in its own right, it is considered a semi-satellite of sister station WFRV-TV
in Green Bay, Wisconsin
. Since WJMN does not maintain any studios in the Central Upper Peninsula to house technical operations and staff (besides a sales representative and engineer at the advertising office), master control
and all internal operations originate from WFRV's facilities in Downtown Green Bay on East Mason Street.
. Its analog antenna was 1310 feet (399.3 m) high which made it the second tallest television transmitter in the state (after WWTV
in Cadillac
) upon its completion. WJMN is the result of an agreement between WFRV's then-owner Orion Broadcasting (controlled by the Norton family of Louisville, Kentucky
, the owners of WAVE television
) and the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC).
When WFRV wanted to move its transmitter to Glenmore, Wisconsin
, it had to address short-spacing issues from WMAQ-TV
in Chicago
. Every channel allocation in the Green Bay and Wausau
markets
in the analog age was shared by a Chicago television station. As part of the agreement to transmit from Glenmore, WFRV launched WJMN to serve Michigan's underserved Upper Peninsula which at that time only had WLUC (then sister to Green Bay's WLUK-TV
) as the only commercial outlet serving the area.
On several occasions from being a semi-satellite of WFRV, WJMN has affected WLUC's affiliations resulting from network television shakeups in Green Bay. Upon commencing operations in 1969, it took NBC
from WLUC reverting that station to primary CBS
and secondary ABC
status. Orion Broadcasting merged with Cosmos Broadcasting (a subsidiary of The Liberty Corporation) in 1981. However, WJMN would continue to use the Norton-era "3" logo in the font style seen on other Norton stations until 2001. After WJMN joined ABC in April 1983, WLUC dropped ABC and became secondary NBC. Later in the 1980s, WJMN was sold to Midwest Radio and Television
(owned by the Murphy and McNally families) joining WCCO-AM-TV
in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
By 1992, when new FCC rules allowed networks to own more stations, the CBS Corporation
decided to add WJMN and convert it to CBS. An affiliation swap with WLUC-TV
occurred on February 24, 1992, with WJMN joining CBS and WLUC adding primary affiliation with ABC
alongside its secondary relationship with NBC
. The move made WJMN among the few stations in the United States
to have been with all of the big three
networks (along with WLUC) and be the lowest-ranked network owned-and-operated station
by market size. Station affiliations in the market would finally stabilize in 1996 with the launch of ABC affiliate WBKP
(and later launch of sister station WBUP
, which eventually went ABC, with WBKP going with The CW
), and the eventual launch of a Fox subchannel on WLUC
in 2009.
On April 16, 2007, Liberty Media (a media company unrelated to The Liberty Corporation) completed an exchange transaction with the CBS Corporation pursuant to which Liberty exchanged 7.6 million shares of CBS Class B
common stock valued at $
239 million for a subsidiary of CBS (that held WJMN) and approximately $170 million in cash. The sale was completed on April 18 however its website continued to be maintained by CBS Television Stations
's Digital Media Group until May 14 when Liberty launched a redesigned site powered by Inergize Digital Media (then a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications
now a division of Newport Television
).
The updated site incorporated an expanded page on WFRV's website for WJMN to focus on Upper Peninsula-specific weather and news. Previously, the page had only contained the Michigan Associated Press
wire service
along with weather and was not highlighted on the CBS Interactive version of WFRV's website. In Summer 2007 following the sale to Liberty, WJMN slowly transitioned from branding as "CBS 3" to "Channel 3" which had been previously used until 2003.
On April 7, 2011, the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
announced it would acquire both WJMN and WFRV from Liberty Media; the $20 million deal was both approved by the FCC
and completed the week of July 1, 2011. In the FCC's approval of the WJMN purchase, a waiver of Section 73.1125(a) of the FCC rules was included to allow Nexstar to continue using WFRV's Green Bay studio as the "main studio" for WJMN, with Nexstar citing a population downturn and continued weak economy in Central Upper Michigan that would prevent it from setting up a main studio in Escanaba or Marquette for WJMN. Once Nexstar announced the completion of the WJMN/WFRV acquisition, it named Joseph Denk as become vice president and general manager of both stations; Denk replaces Perry Kidder, who announced his retirement shortly after the sale was announced (Kidder had spent 37 years with WFRV and WJMN). The web site URL and operations of WFRV and WJMN also changed to Nexstar's in-house format (they had been maintained by Broadcast Interactive Media since April 2010); in the case of WJMN, their web address changed from WJMNTV.com to MarquetteHomePage.com. Again however, the page has seemed to been reduced to a placeholder, only carrying stories from the AP Michigan wire feed and press releases in regards to state and federal governments.
signal on UHF channel 48 signed on in 2002; originally, this signal operated at a very low-power from a transmitter west of Downtown Escanaba and was only available in the immediate area. A construction permit
in July 2009 allowed the station to increase its power to 1 megawatt and move the digital signal back to its analog transmitter. However, according to an engineer, this would not happen until sometime in 2010. Therefore, the updated digital signal of 9.8 kilowatts still could only be received in the immediate Escanaba and Gladstone
areas.
WJMN transitioned to digital-only broadcasting during a Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson commercial break around 1 in the morning on February 17, 2009 after which it aired a loop of "nightlight
"programming until March 3 when the station's analog service was completely discontinued. WJMN upgraded its current transmitter in September 2010 and is now, by far, the most powerful digital television signal in the Upper Peninsula.
programming as provided through WFRV, the timing of shows is adjusted to air in the Eastern Time Zone
as opposed to Central
. An obvious example of this phenomenon is on weekday mornings when WJMN airs The Early Show
tape delayed by an hour from 8 until 10 as opposed to other stations normally showing the program from 7 to 9 eastern time. Likewise, WFRV's weekday morning and midday newscasts are seen an hour later as a result of the time zone difference. On weekends, WJMN airs programming from CBS in traditional time slots. This station has separate local commercials, promotions, and identifications from WFRV.
In addition, WJMN also airs some regional programming pertinent only to Michigan viewers such as the Michigan Lottery
game show
Make Me Rich
and programming from the Detroit Lions Television Network
(which carries pre-season games and weekly syndicated show The Ford Lions Report during the regular season). WFRV is not part of the network since it is in the Green Bay Packers
' television market. However, WJMN does simulcast Packers-related programming from WFRV. Decisions on when to air Lions regular season home games against American Football Conference
opponents as part of the NFL on CBS
contract are made on a case by case basis depending on how the Packers and Lions games are scheduled (though in even-numbered years, one such game is reserved for Thanksgiving
, as the Lions are one of two teams that host an annual Thanksgiving game). Also, since WJMN's normal coverage area is more than 75 miles from Ford Field
(home of the Lions), the National Football League
's local television blackout policy does not apply.
In September 2008, WJMN and WFRV upgraded their master control for pre-recorded network and syndicated high definition shows. A character generator
would also allow WJMN to place 16:9
enhanced definition widescreen
bulletin crawls for severe weather and breaking news over the programming; this lasted until the stations' newscasts were upgraded to high definition
in June 2011.
Bureau in Little Chute, Wisconsin
on Patroit Drive along US 41
. This location is where the station's own Doppler
weather radar
operates from. See the WFRV article for a complete listing of the news team. Previously, graphics seen on newscasts were green and gold as a connection to the Green Bay Packers. On July 10, 2006, it unveiled a blue and yellow graphic scheme (used by several other CBS-owned stations) as well as an updated set to coincide with the return of former news anchor Tammy Elliott.
As of October 2009, WJMN and WFRV gained the capability to create and air 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen news graphics (though standard definition cameras were still used); graphics would display in the 16:9 format with scrolling weather conditions filling the left and right pillarbox spaces during the 4:3-formatted newscasts. On June 23, 2011, WJMN and WFRV became the first stations in their respective markets (Escanaba and Green Bay) to upgrade their local newscasts to high definition
.
Nexstar, in announcing its purchase of WJMN, planned to establish some sort of expanded local news operation for the station; it was not made clear at the time, however, if new studios or a bureau would be built somewhere in the Upper Peninsula or if this new presence in the Marquette market will be based out of WFRV.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-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 Escanaba
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
. 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 UHF channel 48 (PSIP virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
3.1) from a transmitter in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Northern Delta
Delta County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,520 people, 15,836 households, and 10,689 families residing in the county. The population density was 33 people per square mile . There were 19,223 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
County south of the Alger
Alger County, Michigan
Alger County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,601. Its county seat is Munising. The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is located within the county.-History:...
County line. 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 3 and in high definition on digital channel 788. Owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
, WJMN maintains a sales office on North Third Street in Downtown Marquette
Marquette, 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...
.
Although identifying as a separate outlet in its own right, it is considered a semi-satellite of sister station WFRV-TV
WFRV-TV
WFRV-TV is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and serving Green Bay, the Fox Valley, and Northeastern Wisconsin. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter north of the Brown County town of Morrison...
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,...
. Since WJMN does not maintain any studios in the Central Upper Peninsula to house technical operations and staff (besides a sales representative and engineer at the advertising office), master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
and all internal operations originate from WFRV's facilities in Downtown Green Bay on East Mason Street.
History
The station signed-on October 7, 1969 as the second television station in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan and brought a second programming choice from WLUC-TVWLUC-TV
WLUC-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Marquette. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter on South Helen Lake Road southeast of Republic in rural Marquette County. The station can also be seen...
. Its analog antenna was 1310 feet (399.3 m) high which made it the second tallest television transmitter in the state (after WWTV
WWTV
WWTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the northern Lower and eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Licensed to Cadillac, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter at its studios on 130th Avenue, northeast of Tustin, in Osceola County. At 1,631...
in Cadillac
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
) upon its completion. WJMN is the result of an agreement between WFRV's then-owner Orion Broadcasting (controlled by the Norton family of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, the owners of WAVE television
WAVE (TV)
WAVE aka "WAVE 3" is the NBC television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Raycom Media, the station broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville...
) and 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).
When WFRV wanted to move its transmitter to Glenmore, Wisconsin
Glenmore, Wisconsin
Glenmore is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Shirley is located in the town.-Geography:...
, it had to address short-spacing issues from WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Every channel allocation in the Green Bay and Wausau
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
markets
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...
in the analog age was shared by a Chicago television station. As part of the agreement to transmit from Glenmore, WFRV launched WJMN to serve Michigan's underserved Upper Peninsula which at that time only had WLUC (then sister to Green Bay's WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
) as the only commercial outlet serving the area.
On several occasions from being a semi-satellite of WFRV, WJMN has affected WLUC's affiliations resulting from network television shakeups in Green Bay. Upon commencing operations in 1969, it took NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from WLUC reverting that station to primary CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and secondary ABC
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...
status. Orion Broadcasting merged with Cosmos Broadcasting (a subsidiary of The Liberty Corporation) in 1981. However, WJMN would continue to use the Norton-era "3" logo in the font style seen on other Norton stations until 2001. After WJMN joined ABC in April 1983, WLUC dropped ABC and became secondary NBC. Later in the 1980s, WJMN was sold to Midwest Radio and Television
Midwest Radio and Television
Midwest Radio and Television was a broadcasting company based in the Upper Midwest United States.Its history dates back to August 1952, when the original owners of WTCN-AM-FM-TV decided to sell the stations. While the radio stations went to a separate owner, WTCN-TV was sold to the owners of WCCO...
(owned by the Murphy and McNally families) joining WCCO-AM-TV
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV, is the CBS owned and operated television station that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Its transmitter is at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.- History :...
in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
By 1992, when new FCC rules allowed networks to own more stations, the CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
decided to add WJMN and convert it to CBS. An affiliation swap with WLUC-TV
WLUC-TV
WLUC-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula licensed to Marquette. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter on South Helen Lake Road southeast of Republic in rural Marquette County. The station can also be seen...
occurred on February 24, 1992, with WJMN joining CBS and WLUC adding primary affiliation with ABC
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...
alongside its secondary relationship with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The move made WJMN among the few stations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to have been with all of the 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...
networks (along with WLUC) and be the lowest-ranked network owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
by market size. Station affiliations in the market would finally stabilize in 1996 with the launch of ABC 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 later launch of sister station WBUP
WBUP
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...
, which eventually went ABC, with WBKP going with The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
), and the eventual launch of a Fox subchannel on WLUC
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...
in 2009.
On April 16, 2007, Liberty Media (a media company unrelated to The Liberty Corporation) completed an exchange transaction with the CBS Corporation pursuant to which Liberty exchanged 7.6 million shares of CBS Class B
B share (NYSE)
B shares are a special class of shares on the New York Stock Exchange.-Comparison with A shares:B shares carry a back-end load, whereas A shares carry a front-end load....
common stock valued at $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
239 million for a subsidiary of CBS (that held WJMN) and approximately $170 million in cash. The sale was completed on April 18 however its website continued to be maintained by CBS Television Stations
CBS Television Stations
The CBS Television Stations are a group of television stations owned by CBS Corporation. As of 2009, CBS Corporation owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: 14 are the key stations of the CBS Television Network ; nine are aligned with the CW Television Network, which is co-owned by CBS with Time...
's Digital Media Group until May 14 when Liberty launched a redesigned site powered by Inergize Digital Media (then a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
now a division of Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
).
The updated site incorporated an expanded page on WFRV's website for WJMN to focus on Upper Peninsula-specific weather and news. Previously, the page had only contained the Michigan Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
wire service
Wire Service
Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focuses on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International...
along with weather and was not highlighted on the CBS Interactive version of WFRV's website. In Summer 2007 following the sale to Liberty, WJMN slowly transitioned from branding as "CBS 3" to "Channel 3" which had been previously used until 2003.
On April 7, 2011, the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
announced it would acquire both WJMN and WFRV from Liberty Media; the $20 million deal was both approved by the FCC
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...
and completed the week of July 1, 2011. In the FCC's approval of the WJMN purchase, a waiver of Section 73.1125(a) of the FCC rules was included to allow Nexstar to continue using WFRV's Green Bay studio as the "main studio" for WJMN, with Nexstar citing a population downturn and continued weak economy in Central Upper Michigan that would prevent it from setting up a main studio in Escanaba or Marquette for WJMN. Once Nexstar announced the completion of the WJMN/WFRV acquisition, it named Joseph Denk as become vice president and general manager of both stations; Denk replaces Perry Kidder, who announced his retirement shortly after the sale was announced (Kidder had spent 37 years with WFRV and WJMN). The web site URL and operations of WFRV and WJMN also changed to Nexstar's in-house format (they had been maintained by Broadcast Interactive Media since April 2010); in the case of WJMN, their web address changed from WJMNTV.com to MarquetteHomePage.com. Again however, the page has seemed to been reduced to a placeholder, only carrying stories from the AP Michigan wire feed and press releases in regards to state and federal governments.
Digital broadcasting
WJMN's digital televisionDigital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
signal on UHF channel 48 signed on in 2002; originally, this signal operated at a very low-power from a transmitter west of Downtown Escanaba and was only available in the immediate area. A 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...
in July 2009 allowed the station to increase its power to 1 megawatt and move the digital signal back to its analog transmitter. However, according to an engineer, this would not happen until sometime in 2010. Therefore, the updated digital signal of 9.8 kilowatts still could only be received in the immediate Escanaba and Gladstone
Gladstone, Michigan
Gladstone is a city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. First settled in 1877, Gladstone's original name was Saunders Point. The population was 5,032 at the 2000 census....
areas.
WJMN transitioned to digital-only broadcasting during a Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson commercial break around 1 in the morning on February 17, 2009 after which it aired a loop of "nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
"programming until March 3 when the station's analog service was completely discontinued. WJMN upgraded its current transmitter in September 2010 and is now, by far, the most powerful digital television signal in the Upper Peninsula.
Programming
While it clears all local, network, and syndicatedTelevision 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 as provided through WFRV, the timing of shows is adjusted to air in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
as opposed to Central
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
. An obvious example of this phenomenon is on weekday mornings when WJMN airs The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
tape delayed by an hour from 8 until 10 as opposed to other stations normally showing the program from 7 to 9 eastern time. Likewise, WFRV's weekday morning and midday newscasts are seen an hour later as a result of the time zone difference. On weekends, WJMN airs programming from CBS in traditional time slots. This station has separate local commercials, promotions, and identifications from WFRV.
In addition, WJMN also airs some regional programming pertinent only to Michigan viewers such as the Michigan Lottery
Michigan Lottery
The Michigan Lottery offers numerous on-line and scratch-off games, giving players a wide variety of prize possibilities. Initiated under the authority of Public Act 239 in 1972, the games collect funds to support Michigan’s public school system.- History :...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Make Me Rich
Make Me Rich
Make Me Rich is a Michigan Lottery game show filmed in Detroit, hosted by Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight and co-hosted by Beth McLeod. The show is produced by Jonathan Goodson. Unlike other lottery game shows, the program airs on a quarterly schedule instead of weekly...
and programming from the Detroit Lions Television Network
Detroit Lions Television Network
The Detroit Lions Television Network is a network of six television stations in Michigan that broadcast the NFL's Detroit Lions preseason games as well as its weekly regular season pregame show The Ford Lions Report. As of 2011, WXYZ-TV in Detroit is the flagship station...
(which carries pre-season games and weekly syndicated show The Ford Lions Report during the regular season). WFRV is not part of the network since it is in the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
' television market. However, WJMN does simulcast Packers-related programming from WFRV. Decisions on when to air Lions regular season home games against American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
opponents as part of the NFL on CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
contract are made on a case by case basis depending on how the Packers and Lions games are scheduled (though in even-numbered years, one such game is reserved for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Classic
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006, three games are played every Thanksgiving...
, as the Lions are one of two teams that host an annual Thanksgiving game). Also, since WJMN's normal coverage area is more than 75 miles from Ford Field
Ford Field
Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...
(home of the Lions), the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's local television blackout policy does not apply.
In September 2008, WJMN and WFRV upgraded their master control for pre-recorded network and syndicated high definition shows. A character generator
Character generator
A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text...
would also allow WJMN to place 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
enhanced definition widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios 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 the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
bulletin crawls for severe weather and breaking news over the programming; this lasted until the stations' newscasts were upgraded to 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...
in June 2011.
News operation
Usually, most semi-satellites of another station provide some coverage of the home territory in this case the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. However, WJMN does not currently operate any news-related bureaus in the area. During some of WFRV's local newscasts simulcasted on WJMN (which all have a separate opening sequence on this station), it does offer separate Upper Peninsula-specific weather forecast segments provided by "Storm Team 3" and brief Michigan news updates produced from WFRV's Green Bay facilities. In addition to that station's main studios, WFRV operates a Fox ValleyFox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
Bureau in Little Chute, Wisconsin
Little Chute, Wisconsin
Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,476 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Chute is located at ....
on Patroit Drive along US 41
U.S. Route 41 in Wisconsin
In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Highway 41 runs north–south the eastern side of the state. It enters from Illinois at Pleasant Prairie, and runs north to its northern terminus at the Michigan border at Marinette, WI.-Route description:US-41 is a freeway for nearly 70% of its route...
. This location is where the station's own Doppler
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
operates from. See the WFRV article for a complete listing of the news team. Previously, graphics seen on newscasts were green and gold as a connection to the Green Bay Packers. On July 10, 2006, it unveiled a blue and yellow graphic scheme (used by several other CBS-owned stations) as well as an updated set to coincide with the return of former news anchor Tammy Elliott.
As of October 2009, WJMN and WFRV gained the capability to create and air 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen news graphics (though standard definition cameras were still used); graphics would display in the 16:9 format with scrolling weather conditions filling the left and right pillarbox spaces during the 4:3-formatted newscasts. On June 23, 2011, WJMN and WFRV became the first stations in their respective markets (Escanaba and Green Bay) to upgrade their local newscasts to 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...
.
Nexstar, in announcing its purchase of WJMN, planned to establish some sort of expanded local news operation for the station; it was not made clear at the time, however, if new studios or a bureau would be built somewhere in the Upper Peninsula or if this new presence in the Marquette market will be based out of WFRV.
Newscast titles
- Report to WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and Upper Michigan (1969–1971) - Channel 5 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1971–2001) - NewsChannel 5 (2001–2003)
- CBS 5 News (2003–2007)
- Channel 5 News (2007–present)
Station slogans
- "The Best News and More" (1980s)
- "Your News Source" (2001–2003)
- "Working for You" (2003–2007)
- "Where The News Starts With You" (2007–present)