WPAG-TV
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | Defunct |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Washtenaw Broadcasting |
| WPAG-AM | |
| History | |
First air date | April 3, 1953 |
Last air date | December 31, 1957(4 years, 272 days) |
| DuMont(1953–1956) Independent(1956–1957) | |
Call signmeaning | Paul and Art Greene |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 17.063 kW visual, 9.595 kW aural |
| HAAT | 84 m (274 ft) |
WPAG-TV(channel 20) was atelevision stationinAnn Arbor, Michigan,United States, which operated from 1953 to 1957.
History[edit]
WPAG-TV signed-on April 3, 1953,[1]making it bothWashtenaw County's first TV station and the firstUHFstation in Michigan (Saginaw's WKNX-TV, nowWEYI-TV,signed on two days later).[2]
WPAG-TV was owned by the same people (Washtenaw Broadcasting) who operated WPAG radio (nowWTKA). 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.,[3]although they did sometimes operate in the afternoon hours to carryDetroit Tigersgames, apparently as a backup toWJBK-TVin Detroit.
WPAG-TV was nominally anindependent station,but is believed to have been at least a part-timeDuMontaffiliate.[4]After the demise of DuMont, the station allowed theUniversity of Michiganto supply educational programming. In later years,ABCprovided such programs asThe Adventures of Ozzie and HarrietandSky King;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 30-to-40-mile (48–64 km) coverage radius around Ann Arbor.[5]
On December 31, 1957, WPAG-TV suspended operations after a failed attempt to get an allocation for Channel 12 inFlint, Michigan(apparently unaware thatWJRradio in Detroit already held a construction permit forthis frequency), with the ownership claiming to have lost $145,680 over the previous four years.[6]The license for Channel 20 was later assigned toWJMY-TVinAllen Park,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.WMYDhas 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 aconstruction permitfor Channel 26 in 1953, but never made it to the air. Finally, in 1981, independent WRHT signed on; it is nowWPXD-TV,an affiliate ofIon Television.
References[edit]
- ^St. Joseph Herald Press, March 4, 1953, p. 5
- ^"University Tests New TV Station".Lansing State Journal.Lansing, Michigan. April 4, 1953. p. 3.RetrievedJuly 30,2022– via Newspapers.com.
- ^Broadcasting Magazine Telecasting Yearbook, 1954-55
- ^"A trail of bleached bones, DuMont historical website".
- ^"History of UHF Television: WJMY/20 Allen Park MI".RetrievedMay 21,2020.
- ^Ironwood Daily Globe, December 28, 1957, p. 2