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WJMN-TV

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Not to be confused with radio stationWJMN (FM)in Boston, Massachusetts.

WJMN-TV
CityEscanaba, Michigan
Channels
BrandingLocal 3
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WFRV-TV
History
First air date
October 7, 1969(54 years ago)(1969-10-07)
Former call signs
WJMN (CP, 1967–1969)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:3 (VHF,1969–2009)
  • Digital:48 (UHF, 2000–2018)
  • NBC(1969–1983)
  • ABC(1983–1992)
  • CBS(1992–2022)
Call signmeaning
Jane Morton Norton(member of former ownership family)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID9630
ERP736kW
HAAT355.7 m (1,167 ft)
Transmitter coordinates46°8′5″N86°56′56″W/ 46.13472°N 86.94889°W/46.13472; -86.94889(WJMN-TV)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.upmatters

WJMN-TV(channel 3) is atelevision stationlicensed toEscanaba, Michigan,United States, serving the Central and WesternUpper Peninsula of Michiganas an affiliate ofMyNetworkTV.The station is owned byNexstar Media Group,and maintains studios offUS 41/M-28on Wright Street inMarquette Township;[3]its transmitter is located inunincorporatednorthernDelta County(south of theAlger Countyline).

Master controland internal operations for WJMN are based at the studios of Nexstarsister stationandCBSaffiliateWFRV-TV(channel 5) on East Mason Street inGreen Bay, Wisconsin.Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, WJMN operated as asemi-satelliteof WFRV, which established it in 1969 to expand its reach into Upper Michigan and far Northeastern Wisconsin.

On January 21, 2022, WJMN disaffiliated from CBS and became a MyNetworkTV affiliate, retaining previous syndicated programming, but also taking programming from Nexstar-owned classic television networkAntenna TVto fill time where CBS programming formerly resided. The station also extended its existing 6 p.m. newscast to one hour, while moving its 11 p.m. newscast to a 10 p.m. hour.WZMQ(channel 19) acquired the CBS affiliation for its second digital subchannel.[4][5]

History[edit]

Establishment as WFRV-TV satellite[edit]

As early as 1960, WFRV-TV began to analyze ways to extend its reach in the Upper Peninsula. The station had applied for channel 8 atIron Mountain, Michigan,which was abandoned after WFRV-TV was sold that year alongside an application for channel 9 inWausau, Wisconsin.[6]Seven years later,Orion Broadcastingrenewed the push by filing for channel 3 at Escanaba on June 20, 1967.[7]A push byNorthern Michigan Universityto use channel 3 instead of 13 for educational television use in the Upper Peninsula delayed approval until April 1969.[8]From a transmitter site and new 1,252-foot (382 m) tower nearTrenary,WJMN-TV—so designated in honor of Jane Morton Norton, chairwoman of the board of Orion Broadcasting and a part of the Norton family that founded the company[9]—began broadcasting October 7, bringing a full NBC lineup and WFRV-TV's signal to a further 50,000 households.[10]

Orion Broadcasting reached a deal to merge with Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of theLiberty Corporation,in 1980. The merger would put the combined company over the limit for the number of VHF television stations it could own, prompting it to immediately announce that it would divest WFRV-WJMN.[11]In January 1981, Cosmos found a buyer:Midwest Radio-Television,owners ofWCCO radioandtelevisioninMinneapolis.[12]The transaction closed in October.[13]

WJMN's connection to WFRV meant that affiliation switches in Green Bay twice affected viewers in Marquette. In 1983, the two stations switched from NBC toABC;[14]this prompted the other established station in Marquette,WLUC-TV,to drop its ABC programming for NBC. The two stations then changed network affiliations one more time in 1992, after CBS purchased Midwest Radio-Television. This led to both stations joining CBS, but not at the same time. In Green Bay, WFRV became a CBS affiliate on March 15.[15]However, the Marquette station brought its flip forward several weeks because WLUC-TV was upset at the short notice it received that CBS was disaffiliating. WJMN thus joined CBS on February 23, which required a special feed of WFRV with CBS programming to be sent from Green Bay for transmission.[16]

On April 16, 2007,Liberty Mediacompleted an exchange transaction withCBS Corporationpursuant to which Liberty exchanged 7.6 million shares of CBSClass Bcommon stock valued at$239 million for a subsidiary of CBS (that held WFRV and WJMN) and approximately $170 million in cash.[17]

Nexstar ownership and partial separation from WFRV[edit]

On April 7, 2011, theNexstar Broadcasting Groupannounced it would acquire WFRV and WJMN from Liberty Media;[18]the $20 million deal was both approved by the FCC and completed the week of July 1, 2011.[19]Nexstar sought and received approval to continue operating WJMN-TV as a satellite station from Green Bay due to a weak regional economy.[20]

On January 23, 2012, WFRV was rebranded to "Local 5". WJMN continued as "Channel 3" until 2014, when the station established its own news service and studios west of Marquette.[21]At this time, certain network programs that were cleared an hour later than normal for the Eastern Time Zone (but simultaneously with WFRV-TV), such asCBS This Morning,began to be aired live.

Loss of CBS affiliation and switch to MyNetworkTV[edit]

On January 20, 2022, WJMN informed its viewers that it had lost the CBS affiliation effective the next day, withMyNetworkTVprogramming replacing CBS network programs and the 11 p.m. late news moving to an hour at 10 p.m.[4]The second digital subchannel ofWZMQ(channel 19), a station owned byLilly Broadcasting,became the new home of CBS programming in Marquette.[5]Antenna TVprogramming was also added, airing overnight from 2 to 5:30 a.m.

News operation[edit]

Usually, most semi-satellites of another station provide some coverage of the home territory (in this case, the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan). WJMN-TV operated a one-person bureau out of Escanaba from the time of its sign-on in 1969, which was a requirement of its license. With relaxed FCC regulations, CBS chose in late summer of 1993 to close the bureau and reallocate those resources to WFRV's Green Bay operations. However, Upper Peninsula weather forecast segments were inserted into WFRV's newscasts for broadcast on WJMN-TV.

When it announced its purchase of WJMN and WFRV in 2011, Nexstar disclosed plans to expand its local news presence in Marquette.[22]Nexstar's first tangible move toward a WJMN news operation came with a job posting in December 2013 seeking anews director/anchor for early and late weeknight newscasts.[23]The company announced on March 13, 2014, that the station would launchLocal 3 Newson April 21 originating from new studios west of Marquette (known as the "WJMN-TV Plaza" ). At the outset, WJMN's news output consisted of weeknight newscasts at 6 and 11 which are seen in full high definition.[21]

The station retained its local newscasts after losing its CBS affiliation, with the 11 p.m. late newscast moving to 10 p.m. and expanding to an hour. The station also announced that it would simulcastMorning in Americafrom sister cable news channelNewsNation.[24]

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WJMN-TV[25]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
3.1 1080i 16:9 WJMN-HD MyNetworkTV
3.2 480i 4:3 Mystery Ion Mystery
3.3 Laff Laff
3.4 Bounce Bounce TV

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

WJMN signed on its digital signal on UHF channel 48 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. Aconstruction permitin July 2009 allowed the station to increase its power to 1megawattand move the digital signal back to its analog transmitter site. However, according to an engineer, this would not happen until sometime in 2010.[26]Therefore, the updated digital signal of 9.8kilowattsstill could only be received in the immediate Escanaba andGladstoneareas.[27]

WJMN-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overVHFchannel 3 on June 12, 2009, the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48,[28]usingvirtual channel3.

As part of theSAFER Act,[29]WJMN kept its analog signal on the air until June 30 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop ofpublic service announcementsfrom theNational Association of Broadcasters.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Assignments".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.April 10, 2024.RetrievedApril 10,2024.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for WJMN-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^"Nexstar Media Group, Inc".
  4. ^ab"WJMN Local 3 becomes independent news station".UPMatters.January 20, 2022.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022.
  5. ^ab"WZMQ Becomes Marquette, Michigan's New CBS Affiliate".WZMQ.January 20, 2022. Archived fromthe originalon January 21, 2022.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022.
  6. ^"O.K. Withdrawal of TV Request".The Capital Times.Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press. December 29, 1960. p. 4.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  7. ^FCC History Cards for WJMN-TV
  8. ^"Trenary Satellite Of WFRV-TV Set In Fall: Bay NBC Outlet Gets FCC Okay For Channel 3".The Escanaba Daily Press.Escanaba, Michigan. April 25, 1969. p. 1,14.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  9. ^"New Television Station Named".The Escanaba Daily Press.Escanaba, Michigan. September 30, 1969. p. 5.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  10. ^"Programs Start On Channel 3".The Escanaba Daily Press.Escanaba, Michigan. October 8, 1969. p. 2.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  11. ^"WFRV bought; will be resold".The Post-Crescent.Appleton, Wisconsin. June 7, 1980. p. A-10.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  12. ^"Channel 5 sold to Minneapolis firm".Green Bay Press-Gazette.Green Bay, Wisconsin. January 17, 1981. p. B-8.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  13. ^"WFRV sold".Green Bay Press-Gazette.Green Bay, Wisconsin. October 27, 1981. p. B-5.RetrievedJanuary 21,2022– via Newspapers.
  14. ^Miner, John (October 26, 1982)."ABC to switch from Channel 11 to Channel 5".Appleton Post-Crescent.p. A-8.RetrievedNovember 20,2020– via Newspapers.
  15. ^Gerds, Warren (February 6, 1992)."Get ready to flip channels".Green Bay Press-Gazette.pp. A-1,A-2.RetrievedNovember 20,2020– via Newspapers.
  16. ^Gerds, Warren (February 22, 1992)."Goodbye, then a blitz of snow at Channel 32".Green Bay Press-Gazette.p. D-1.RetrievedNovember 20,2020– via Newspapers.
  17. ^http://biz.yahoo /e/090227/lcapa10-k.html[dead link]
  18. ^"Nexstar to Acquire CBS Affiliates WFRV, WJMN for $20 Mil".Broadcasting & Cable.April 7, 2011.
  19. ^"Nexstar Closes 2-Station Buy, Denk New GM".TVNewsCheck.July 1, 2011.
  20. ^"Letter DA-11-1124"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission. June 28, 2011.
  21. ^ab"WJMN To Introduce Local News, Go HD".TVNewsCheck.March 13, 2014.RetrievedMarch 13,2014.
  22. ^Malone, Michael."Exclusive: Nexstar Plans Local News for Marquette CBS".BroadcastingCable.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
  23. ^"Job Opening: News Director/Anchor".UPMatters.December 20, 2013.
  24. ^"WJMN-TV LOCAL 3 expands local news programming".WJMN - UPMatters.February 9, 2022.RetrievedFebruary 10,2022.
  25. ^RabbitEars TV Query for WJMN
  26. ^Application Search Details for WJMN
  27. ^"Nightlights & Transition Highlights • Channel 3".
  28. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
  29. ^"UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009.RetrievedJune 4,2012.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WJMN-TV&oldid=1234449991"