WBKB-TV

This article is about WBKB-TV in Alpena, Michigan. For the stations in Chicago, Illinois that formerly used the call sign, see WBBM-TV and WLS-TV.

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WBKB-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Northern Lower Peninsula of Northeastern Michigan. Licensed to Alpena, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter in Alcona County (near M-72) south of Hubbard Lake. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 781. Owned by the Marks Radio Group, WBKB has studios on North Bagley Street in Alpena. Syndicated programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Ellen, and Dr. Phil among others. WBKB is the only commercial television station in one of the smallest media markets in the United States.

Digital channels

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
11.1	1080i	16:9	Main WBKB-TV programming / CBS
11.2	480i	4:3	WBKB 11.2 Fox
11.3	480i	4:3	WBKB 11.3 ABC

History

The station first went on-the-air September 22, 1975 as the first of two stations in Alpena to sign-on that year (the other being WCMU-TV satellite WCML that launched in November). The Alpena market consists of Alpena, Alcona Counties and is the third smallest media market in the United States. It is also served by portions of the Northern Michigan (Traverse City, Cadillac, and Sault Ste. Marie) as well as the Mid-Michigan (Bay City, Saginaw, Midland, and Flint) markets. The station originally aired a digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter at the station's studios.

After the switch to digital-only broadcasting on June 12, 2009, it moved its digital signal to channel 11. WBKB signed-on a new second digital subchannel to serve as the area's primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate in November 2009. Until this point, Cadillac's WFQX-TV had been serving as the default Fox affiliate. That station actually operated a low-powered repeater in Alpena, W31BO channel 31, for a period of time. In addition, WFQX's full-powered satellite WFUP in Vanderbilt served areas around greater Alpena although not in the city proper.

Despite the existence of WBKB-DT2, Charter systems still carry WFQX in standard and high definition to this day. MyNetworkTV can also still be seen in the market on Charter through Bay City's WNEM-DT2. On January 14, 2013, WBKB added a new third digital subchannel to be the area's ABC affiliate. Until this point, WJRT-TV in Flint had been serving as the market's default affiliate on Charter with standard and high definition feeds. ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Legacy of WBKB callsign

The WBKB call letters originally belonged (from 1946 until 1953) to channel 4 in Chicago. That station was owned by the Balaban and Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of Paramount Pictures and is now CBS owned-and-operated affiliate WBBM-TV. WBKB then transferred to Chicago's ABC owned-and-operated station on channel 7 from 1953 to 1968 until it was renamed WLS-TV.

Newscasts

File:Wbkb news 2013.png

News open weeknights at 6.

Shortly after Stephan Marks acquired WBKB, newscasts known as UGN News (with "UGN" meaning "Upper Great <Lakes> Network") began to be simulcasted with WBKP/WBUP in Marquette. Likewise, the programs 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 WBKP/WBUP. Currently, WBKB only airs local news weeknights at 6 and every night at 11. All on-air personnel at the station perform "one-man-band" journalism duties such as shooting video, editing coverage, and producing the newscasts. With the addition of ABC programming to its third digital subchannel, WBKB will launch a weekday morning newscast in February 2013. The nightly newscasts will be simulcasted on WBKB's CBS and ABC channels.

News team

Marisa McKay - news anchor and reporter
Travis Kozek - news anchor and reporter
Nancy Smithem - Talk of The Town host
Jon Robles - news anchor and reporter
Olin Joynton - Talk of The Town host
Adam Claibon - chief meteorologist
Jeff Schaffer - sports anchor

References

External links

[1] ttp://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/491332-Alpena_Mich_Gets_ABC_Affiliate.php

[2] ttp://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/64758/wbkb-makes-it-a-network-trifecta-with-abc

[3] ttp://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/wbkb-reaches-affiliation-agreement-with-abc-launches-morning-newscast_b76705

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Broadcast television serving Alpena, Michigan and the northeastern Lower Peninsula
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Local stations	WCML 6 (.1 PBS, .2 PBS Kids, .3 Create, .4 Michigan Learning Channel) WBKB-TV 11 (.1 CBS, .2 NBC, .3 ABC, .4 Fox/MNTV)
Northern Michigan adjacent locals	WTOM-TV (4.1 NBC, 4.2 ABC, 4.3 Comet) WGTQ (8.1 ABC, 8.2 NBC, 8.3 Comet) WWUP-TV (10.1 CBS, 10.2 Fox, 10.3 MeTV, 10.4 Laff, 10.5 QVC, 10.6 HSN) WXII-LD (12.1 MNTV/Cozi, 12.2 NewsNet) WFUP (45.1 Fox, 45.2 CBS, 45.3 MeTV, 45.4 Laff, 45.5 QVC, 45.6 HSN)
Cable channels	Bally Sports Detroit ACC 3 (Alpena Community College) "WBAE" Alpena CW (Spectrum 5, (CW+)) MGTV CBMT-DT (CBC, Montreal)
Defunct/silent	WNYD-LP 26 W30ET-D 30 (Defunct) W31BO 31 (Fox)
Michigan broadcast television areas by city Alpena Detroit Flint/Tri-Cities Grand Rapids/Battle Creek Lansing/Jackson Marquette Northern Michigan

v t e Broadcast television in Northern Lower Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including Traverse City, Cadillac and Sault Ste. Marie
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Traverse City and Cadillac	WPBN-TV (7.1 NBC, 7.2 ABC, 7.3 Comet) WWTV (9.1 CBS, 9.2 Fox, 9.3 MeTV, 9.4 Laff, 9.5 Grit, 9.6 HSN) WXII-LD (12.1 MNT/Cozi, 12.2 NewsNet, 12.3 SNH) W16DN-D/W20DT-D (16.1/20.1 Catchy, 16.2/20.2 N/A, 16.3/20.3 Story, 16.4/20.4 H&I, 16.5/20.5 Start, 16.6/20.6 JTV) W19EZ-D (19.1 Cameras) W23EB-D (23.1 3ABN) WMNN-LD (26.1 NewsNet, 26.2 N/A, 26.3 SNH, 26.4 Ion, 26.5 MNT/Cozi, 26.6 ANT, 26.7 Buzzr, 26.8 Court) WGTU (29.1 ABC, 29.2 NBC, 29.3 Charge!) WFQX-TV (32.1 Fox, 32.2 CW+, 32.3 Ion, 32.4 Scripps News, 32.5 Mystery, 32.6 Defy, 32.7 Bounce, 32.8 QVC) / WFUP (45.1 Fox, 45.2 CBS, 45.3 MeTV, 45.4 Laff, 45.5 QVC, 45.6 HSN) W36FH-D (36.1 Ads, 36.2 LX, 36.3 Oxygen, 36.4 Ads)
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac	WTOM-TV (4.1 NBC, 4.2 ABC, 4.3 Comet) WGTQ (8.1 ABC, 8.2 NBC, 8.3 Charge!) WWUP-TV (10.1 CBS, 10.2 Fox, 10.3 MeTV, 10.4 Laff, 10.5 QVC, 10.6 HSN) W28EJ-D (16.1 Catchy, 16.2 Blank, 16.3 Story, 16.4 H&I, 16.5 Start, 16.6 JTV) W28DY-D (28.1 3ABN)
Public television	WCML 6 / WCMW 21 / WCMV 27 (.1 PBS, .2 PBS Kids, .3 Create, .4 Michigan Learning Channel)
Cable-only stations	Bally Sports Detroit
Defunct	MGTV WURO-LD (18.1 Court, 18.2 Bounce, 18.3 Movies!, 18.4 Catchy, 18.5 H&I) W46AD 46 (PBS) W54CR 54 (Fox) W67CS 67 (TBN) W69AV 69 (PBS) "WBVC" Northern Michigan CW 61 (CW+, cable-only)
Michigan broadcast television areas by city Alpena Detroit Flint/Tri-Cities Grand Rapids/Battle Creek Lansing/Jackson Marquette Northern Michigan See also Ontario TV Milwaukee TV

v t e CBS network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Michigan
Primary*	WWMT 3 (Kalamazoo/Battle Creek/Grand Rapids) WNEM-TV 5 (Bay City/Saginaw/Flint) WLNS-TV 6 (Lansing/Jackson) WWTV 9 / WWUP-TV 10 (Cadillac/Traverse CitySault Ste. Marie) WBKB-TV 11 (Alpena) WZMQ-DT 19.2 (Marquette) WWJ-TV 62 (Detroit)
Secondary**	WFRV-TV 5 (Green Bay, WI) WTOL 11 (Toledo, OH) WSBT-TV 22 (South Bend, IN)
() – indicates station is in one of Michigan's primary TV markets (*) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Michigan See also ABC CBS CW Fox Ion MyNetworkTV NBC PBS Other stations in Michigan

v t e Stations of The Marks Group
Radio stations	KDSR KDZN KGCX KIKC KIKC-FM KMTA KXDI KXGN KXWI KYUS WCCY WCQM WFER WHKB WIKB-FM WOLV WOWZ-FM WPFP
Television stations	KXGN (CBS/MTN, NBC) KYUS (NBC/KULR)¹ WBKB (CBS, NBC, Fox/MNTV, ABC) WBKP (The CW) WBUP (ABC, The CW)
¹ KYUS is operated by the Cowles Company via a time brokerage agreement.