ABC affiliate in Flint, Michigan
WJRT-TV
(channel 12) is a
television station
licensed to
Flint, Michigan
, United States, serving as the
ABC
affiliate for northeastern Michigan. Owned by
Allen Media Broadcasting
, the station maintains studios on Lapeer Road in Flint, with offices and a second newsroom for the
Tri-Cities
in
Saginaw
. Its transmitter is located on Burt Road in
Albee Township, Michigan
.
History
[
edit
]
Goodwill Stations
[
edit
]
In May 1952, Goodwill Stations, owner of
WJR radio
in
Detroit
, announced the intent of applying for four station licenses which would operate as a regional network: channel 50 in Detroit, channel 11 in
Toledo, Ohio
, channel 12 in Flint and channel 5 in
Bay City
.
[3]
TV outlets would eventually appear on all four of these channels in these cities, but only one was actually founded by Goodwill Stations: WJRT-TV, in 1958.
[4]
Goodwill won out over two other companies seeking to operate channel 12: the Trebit Corporation (which owned
WFDF
), and
W. S. Butterfield Theatres
, Inc.
WPAG-TV
, airing on Channel 20 in Ann Arbor, also considered moving to Channel 12, but Goodwill already held the
construction permit
for WJRT. WPAG-TV initially wanted to place its transmitter in
Independence Township, Michigan
; however, since Independence Township was located in
Oakland County
, part of the Detroit television market, Goodwill instead placed the tower in St. Charles Township in southwestern
Saginaw County
, where the transmitter remains today.
WJRT-TV went on the air on October 12, 1958, at 5 p.m., as an ABC network affiliate. As part of the winning bid for the license, the station had to produce several hours of original local programming each day for ten years. At the time the station had to fill 55 hours of programming outside of the network shows. This stipulation led to the creation of
original shows
, including
Mr. Magic
and
Folkswingers
.
[5]
Goodwill Stations took over the former
WTAC-TV
studios and offices at 2302 Lapeer Road in Flint, after that station folded in 1954; WJRT remains there today.
Various owners
[
edit
]
Goodwill Stations merged with
Capital Cities Broadcasting
in 1964, but WJRT-TV was spun off to Poole Broadcasting (owned by John Poole, a former Capital Cities stockholder) because the merged company was one VHF station over the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) ownership limit of the time.
[6]
The station was the first Michigan television station outside of Detroit to go all-
color
in 1967 on
Labor Day
which saw the launch of its
Bozo
show.
[4]
[5]
With the original license agreement for local shows expired in 1968, all but
Bozo
were replaced by 1972 with
syndicated
programs.
[5]
In 1978, WJRT along with the rest of Poole Broadcasting (which included
WPRI-TV
in
Providence, Rhode Island
, and
WTEN
in
Albany, New York
) were sold to
Knight Ridder
. In October 1988, the company placed its eight broadcast television stations up for sale to reduce debt and to pay a major purchase.
[7]
As a result, the station was sold to
SJL Broadcast Management
in 1989.
[4]
During the 1970s, WJRT-TV became Mid-Michigan's highest-rated television station, helped by ABC's ratings improvements during the decade. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, WJRT-TV was usually second to
WNEM-TV
.
[
citation needed
]
ABC-owned station
[
edit
]
In 1994,
New World Communications
signed an affiliation deal with
Fox Broadcasting Company
, resulting in most of New World's stations switching affiliations to Fox, including
Phoenix
's CBS affiliate,
KSAZ-TV
. CBS secured a replacement affiliate in that market via a larger deal with the
Meredith Corporation
, owner of NBC affiliate WNEM, that also saw WNEM switching from NBC to CBS.
[8]
NBC was rumored to be courting SJL about either purchasing WJRT and
WTVG
, their existing affiliate in
Toledo, Ohio
, or securing a long-term affiliation deal for both stations.
[9]
As a result,
Capital Cities/ABC
agreed to purchase both WJRT and WTVG for $155 million in October 1994, effectively preserving their affiliation in Flint and gaining a VHF affiliate in Toledo.
[10]
[11]
Former CBS affiliate
WEYI-TV
took the NBC affiliation dropped by WNEM.
[12]
Soon after ABC purchased WJRT, the station returned to the top of the Mid-Michigan ratings for prime time, where it remains today. Because Capital Cities spun the station off decades earlier, WJRT-TV was the only ABC station not part of the Capital Cities/ABC merger in 1986. Longtime ABC affiliates
KTRK-TV
in Houston and
WPVI-TV
in Philadelphia were part of the merger.
[
citation needed
]
When ABC acquired WJRT in 1995, it was reunited with its namesake radio station, WJR.
[4]
WJR's owner, Capital Cities, had acquired ABC in 1986. In 2002, WFDF (now a Detroit station), which unsuccessfully sought a channel 12 license in the 1950s, would also become a sister to WJRT-TV when ABC bought the station. However, this reunion was partially broken up, as ABC sold WJR, along with other
ABC Radio
properties, to
Citadel Broadcasting
in January 2006;
[
citation needed
]
they are now owned by
Cumulus Media
.
ABC12, the first in Mid-Michigan, started their
digital broadcast
on May 1, 2002, on channel 36.
[4]
[13]
In June 2008, the station received a construction permit for post-transition digital facilities.
[4]
[14]
2nd SJL ownership
[
edit
]
On November 3, 2010,
Broadcasting & Cable
magazine announced that
SJL Broadcasting
, now owned by the principal owners of Lilly Broadcasting, made an agreement with
Disney
to buy back WJRT and WTVG, the two smallest stations in ABC's O&O portfolio. Both stations would retain their affiliations with ABC.
[15]
SJL teamed up with a new private equity partner,
Bain Capital
, whose affiliated offshoot Sankaty Advisors provided the capital for the purchases (which amounted to $13.2 million on WJRT's end of the $30 million deal).
[
citation needed
]
The sale was completed on April 1, 2011.
[16]
Sales to Gray Television and Allen Media Group
[
edit
]
On July 24, 2014, SJL announced that it would sell WJRT and WTVG again, this time to
Gray Television
, for $128 million?a value higher than that of their original sale to ABC.
[17]
Gray also owns
Lansing
's NBC affiliate
WILX-TV
. The sale was completed on September 15 and funded mostly by loans.
[18]
On May 3, 2021, Gray announced it would acquire the Local Media stations of
Meredith Corporation
for $2.7 billion. As Meredith was the owner of WNEM-TV and both stations rank among the top four in terms of total viewers, Gray intended to keep WNEM and sell WJRT to a third party.
[19]
On July 14, Gray announced it would sell WJRT to Allen Media Group, a subsidiary of
Byron Allen
's
Entertainment Studios
, which had also acquired several
Quincy Media
stations through Gray.
[1]
The sale was completed on September 23, effectively separating it from WTVG after 30 years as sister stations.
[20]
[21]
Programming
[
edit
]
As part of the winning bid for the license, the station had to produce original local programming several hours a day for 10 years. At the time the station had to fill 55 hours of programming outside of the network shows. With the original license agreement for local shows expired in 1968, all but
Bozo
were replaced by 1972 with syndicated programs.
[5]
Many of the local children's series were franchised series like
Bozo
and
Romper Room
compared to WNEM's full original programs.
[22]
- Mr. Magic
(1960?1967) was started on air with newly hired commercial writer Earl Frank Cady was asked to come up with a children's program. After taking some magic classes, the show was launched. The show was replaced by
Bozo
on the day the station went to full color on Labor Day 1967.
[5]
- Bozo's Big Top
(1967?1979) local performed by Earl Frank Cady
- Colonel Gyro from Outer Space
- Romper Room
with Miss Margie
- Theatre of Thrills
(1961?67) a
horror film
anthology with host "Christopher Coffin" played by Farrell Reed Pasternak, a local advertising agency owner and voice-over announcer
[5]
Frank Deal, the station weather forecaster, hosted a few of the locally produced shows:
- Almanac
early-morning information show
- TV Bingo
- Folkswingers
, an entertainment program
- Rae Deane and Friends
(1961?68) was co-hosted with Rae Deane Gerkowski with Deal serving as
puppet
master for puppets Montgomery Lion and Dilly Mahatmashmu.
[5]
News operation
[
edit
]
As of December 2021, WJRT presently broadcasts
43
+
1
⁄
2
hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with
7
+
1
⁄
2
hours each weekday and four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).
The station produces a regular slate of newscasts plus additional afternoon hours during the week.
[23]
With the cancellation of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, the station expanded its noon newscast to an hour starting September 9, 2019, with consumer alerts, entertainment highlights, a featured "Pet of the Day" (a companion segment to 4 p.m. "Dog of the Day" but focusing on other pets) and "Worth it Wednesday" deals segment based on
Good Morning America
'
s "Steals and Deals" segment.
[24]
Also in September, Gray TV stations including WJRT began carrying
Full Court Press
hosted by
Greta Van Susteren
.
[25]
WJRT's news director Jim Bleicher and General Manager Tom Bryson either retired or left the station after the sale was announced.
[26]
Furthermore, on April 6, 2011, less than a week after SJL taking over control of WJRT, they terminated longtime weekend anchor Joel Feick and removed longtime weeknight anchor Bill Harris from the newsdesk.
[23]
Harris later returned to WJRT on May 3, 2011, reporting from a
homeland security
training conference in
Grand Rapids
for the station's evening newscast.
[27]
Feick was later hired by competitor
WEYI-TV
as weekday morning news anchor.
[28]
On January 4, 2012, it was announced that Harris was also hired by WEYI-TV to anchor the 6 p.m. newscast, a position he began on January 30, 2012.
[29]
On October 8, 2012, a one-on-one interview with
Republican
vice presidential candidate
Paul Ryan
by WJRT's Terry Camp made national news when Ryan accused Camp of "stuffing words into people's mouths" after he asked questions about inner-city crime and gun laws, then later said Camp "embarrassed himself".
MSNBC
host
Rachel Maddow
aired the segment on her show the next day and defended Camp while attacking Ryan's answers.
[30]
Fox News Channel
host
Brian Kilmeade
took the opposite stance by defending Ryan and saying Camp asked "
gotcha questions
".
[31]
In September 2019, the station expanded its noon newscast
[24]
and added a national syndication news show.
[25]
Technical information
[
edit
]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
In 2004 along with all the other ABC owned stations, WJRT launched
ABC News Now
on its digital subchannel,
[33]
while in 2005 all ABC stations launched
AccuWeather Channel
on their third subchannel.
[34]
ABC Owned Television Stations, including WJRT, launched on April 27, 2009, the
Live Well Network
in high definition on the stations' sub-channels alongside the
AccuWeather Channel
.
[35]
On October 31, 2013, WJRT added the local version of WeatherNation to its third digital subchannel, replacing AccuWeather Channel.
[36]
On October 17, 2014, Gray Television announced it was adding
MeTV
to WJRT on 12.2, replacing Live Well Network in December 2014.
[37]
On August 30, 2019, two new channels were launched, carrying
Start TV
and
Heroes and Icons
.
[38]
WJRT-TV began carrying the
Circle
network upon its launch on January 1, 2020,
[39]
[40]
replacing WeatherNation.
[32]
Analog-to-digital conversion
[
edit
]
WJRT-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
VHF
channel 12, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition
UHF
channel 36 to VHF channel 12.
[4]
[14]
After the return to VHF, viewers who had installed UHF receiving antennas during the transition period had the signal compromised. So on October 14, 2009, WJRT filed an application with the FCC to increase the power level from 18.2 kW to 30 kW.
[41]
The increase was approved in May 2011.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Allen Media Group Pays $70M To Acquire Gray Television's WJRT, An ABC Affiliate In Michigan"
.
MSN Entertainment
. July 14, 2021
. Retrieved
July 14,
2021
.
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for WJRT-TV"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
"Goodwill Plans"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting * Telecasting
. May 5, 1952. p. 66
. Retrieved
March 16,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"WJRT"
.
Station Listings
. Michiguide.com
. Retrieved
September 21,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Flinn, Gary (October 4, 2008).
"Local, live programs once filled the airwaves"
.
The Flint Journal
. Mlive Media Group
. Retrieved
November 26,
2014
.
- ^
"John Poole, 76, Dies; A Broadcasting Chief"
.
The New York Times
. April 18, 1989.
- ^
"Knight-Ridder Puts 8 TV Stations on Block to Reduce $929-Million Debt"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
Associated Press
. October 4, 1988
. Retrieved
January 26,
2016
.
- ^
Mattern, Hal (June 30, 1994).
"Eye say! Channel 5 called up to majors: Homeless CBS picks longtime independent"
.
The Arizona Republic
. pp. A1,
A7
.
Archived
from the original on June 30, 2021
. Retrieved
March 16,
2021
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Pullen, Doug (September 2, 1994).
"Channel 5 Adds Weathercaster; Channel 25 Focuses On Health"
.
Flint Journal
. Flint, Michigan. pp. C16,
C25
.
Archived
from the original on April 29, 2023
. Retrieved
April 29,
2023
– via GenealogyBank.
- ^
"Capital Cities-ABC Completes Buy of Two TV Stations"
.
Associated Press News
. August 30, 1995.
Archived
from the original on January 1, 2019
. Retrieved
April 10,
2015
.
- ^
Zier, Julie A. (October 10, 1994).
"ABC, CBS make market moves"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. Vol. 124, no. 11. p. 96.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on January 31, 2023
. Retrieved
April 28,
2023
– via World Radio History.
- ^
Pullen, Doug (January 17, 1996). "The Big Switch, One Year Later: TV viewers maintain news loyalty but change channels for programs".
The Flint Journal
. Flint, Michigan. p. B1.
- ^
White, Sue (January 6, 2008).
"Converting the masses"
.
The Flint Journal
. Retrieved
April 16,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on August 29, 2013
. Retrieved
March 24,
2012
.
- ^
Grego, Melissa (November 3, 2010).
"EXCLUSIVE: Disney to Sell Two Stations"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. Retrieved
September 21,
2012
.
- ^
"Exclusive: New GMs For Former ABC O&Os in Flint, Toledo"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
.
NewBay Media
. March 31, 2011
. Retrieved
August 18,
2014
.
- ^
"Gray Buys Stations in Flint, Toledo For $128M"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. July 24, 2014
. Retrieved
July 24,
2014
.
- ^
"Gray Closes On Flint, Toledo Station Buys"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. September 15, 2014
. Retrieved
September 15,
2014
.
- ^
"Gray to acquire Meredith Corporation's Local Media Group in a $2.7 billion transaction"
.
Gray Television
. May 3, 2021
. Retrieved
May 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Notification of Consummation"
,
Licensing and Management System
,
Federal Communications Commission
, September 28, 2021, Retrieved September 29, 2021.
- ^
"Allen Media Group Closes $70 Million Purchase of WJRT From Gray TV"
,
Broadcasting & Cable
, September 23, 2021, Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^
Hollis, Tim (2001).
Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America's Local Children's TV Shows
. University Press of Mississippi. p. 152.
ISBN
9781604738193
. Retrieved
November 26,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
AlHajal, Khalil (April 6, 2011).
"ABC12 anchors Bill Harris and Joel Feick out in shake-up at WJRT, sources say"
.
The Flint Journal
. Retrieved
September 21,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Team, ABC12 News (September 3, 2019).
"ABC12 News at Noon expands to a full hour beginning Sept. 9"
.
ABC12.com
. Retrieved
September 6,
2019
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
a
b
Battaglio, Stephen (April 8, 2019).
"Greta Van Susteren will return to TV with a new Sunday political show"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
April 8,
2019
.
- ^
Gauthier, Andrew (April 5, 2011).
"Longtime News Director Jim Bleicher Departs WJRT Amid Ownership Change"
.
TVSpy
. Mediabistro
. Retrieved
September 21,
2012
.
- ^
"ABC 12's Bill Harris to return to telecast this afternoon"
.
Flint Journal
. Mlive Media Group. May 3, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Changing stations: Joel Feick returns to television on NBC25"
.
The Flint Journal
. Mlive Media Group. October 3, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Longtime WJRT Anchor Bill Harris Joins Rival WEYI"
.
TV Spy
. Mediabistro. January 4, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Ryan Contradicts NRA on Obama gun laws"
.
MSNBC.com
. October 9, 2012. Archived from
the original
on October 13, 2012
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Fox News host: Paul Ryan victim of 'gotchya question' in Flint ABC12 interview"
.
The Flint Journal
. MLive Media Group. October 11, 2012
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Digital TV Market Listing for WJRT"
.
RabbitEars.info
. Retrieved
September 1,
2019
.
- ^
"ABC News banks on digital, despite small audiences today"
.
USA Today
.
Gannett Company
. AP. September 4, 2004
. Retrieved
May 29,
2014
.
- ^
"2005 Annual Report"
.
thewaltdisneycompany.com
. The Walt Disney Company. p. 52 (54)
. Retrieved
April 16,
2015
.
- ^
Malone, Michael (April 27, 2009).
"ABC O&Os Launch Digital Network"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. Reed Business Information
. Retrieved
August 18,
2014
.
- ^
Allen, Jeremy (November 2, 2013).
"ABC12 launches new 24-hour weather channel for Flint, Saginaw, Bay City regions"
.
Flint Journal
. Mlive Media Group
. Retrieved
September 6,
2019
.
- ^
"MeTV Adds 5 Affils, Passes 92% Coverage"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. October 17, 2014
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
- ^
Team, ABC12 News (September 3, 2019).
"ABC12 offering two more free channels with classic programming"
.
ABC12.com
. WJRT
. Retrieved
September 6,
2019
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (October 17, 2019).
"New Country Multiplatform Network From Gray, Opry Entertainment Group To be Named Circle"
.
TV News Check
. Retrieved
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.
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Annie, Reuter (December 16, 2019).
"Opry Entertainment to Launch New Network Circle in 2020"
.
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.
licesning.fcc.gov
. Federal Communications Commission. October 13, 2009
. Retrieved
October 20,
2014
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Local stations
|
- WNEM-TV
5 (.1
CBS
, .2
MNTV
, .3
Cozi
, .4
Ion
, .5
Court
, .6
The365
)
- WXON-LD
9 (.1
Retro
, .2
Ace
, .3
JTV
, .4
Rev'n
, .5
FAM
, .6
QVC
, .7
Heartland
)
- WJRT-TV
12 (.1
ABC
, .2
MeTV
, .3
Grio
, .4
Start
, .5
H&I
, .6
Bounce
)
- W24DL-D
24 (.1
3ABN
, .2 Proclaim!, .3 D2D, .4 Latino, .5 3ABN Radio, .6 Latino Radio, .7
Radio 74
)
- WEYI-TV
25 (.1/
46.2
NBC
,
.2
CW
, .3
TBD
, .4
Dabl
,
46.1
CW
)
- WAQP
49 (.1
TCT
, .2
SBN
, .4
Laff
, .5
Mystery
, .6
Grit
, .7
Defy
, .8 Infomercials, .10
Crime
, .11
Get
)
- WSMH
66 (
46.3
Charge!
, .1
Fox
, .2
ANT
, .3
Comet
, .4
Nest
)
Public television
| |
---|
Outlying stations
|
- Midland
- WFFC-LD
17 (.1
Infomercials
, .2
L&C
, .3
Outlaw
, .4
LC
, .5
Buzzr
, .6
beIN Sports Xtra
)
- W35DQ-D
24 (.1
NTD America
, .2 Infomercials, .3 MtrSpt1, .4
Outlaw
, .5
LX
, .6
Oxygen
)
|
---|
ATSC 3.0 digital
| |
---|
Defunct
| |
---|
Cable
channels
| |
---|
|
---|
|
ABC
network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of
Michigan
|
---|
Primary*
| |
---|
Secondary**
| |
---|
(*) ? 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
1
WGTU's signal is rebroadcast on WGTQ; WPBN's signal is rebroadcast on WTOM; both WPBN and WTOM carry WGTU's programming on a digital subchannel.
|