WBUP
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| Ishpeming/Marquette, Michigan | |
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| Branding | ABC 10 (general) ABC 10 News NOW CW 5 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | What's your Vision? TV Now (on DT2) |
| Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) Virtual: 10 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 10.1 ABC 10.2 The CW |
| Network | ABC |
| Owner | Marks Radio Group (Lake Superior Community Broadcasting Corporation) |
| First air date | January 2, 2003 |
| Call letters' meaning | Beautiful Upper Peninsula |
| Sister station(s) | WBKP, WBKB-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | 10 (VHF analog, 2003-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 9 kW |
| Height | 230 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 59281 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 46°29′26.0″N 87°53′36.0″W / 46.490556°N 87.893333°W |
| Website | http://abc10up.com/ |
WBUP is the ABC-affiliated television station for Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula and is licensed to Ishpeming. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in unincorporated Marquette County near Republic of Republic Township. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 780. Owned by the Marks Radio Group, WBUP is sister to CW affiliate WBKP and the two stations share studios on Ash Street in Ishpeming of Ishpeming Township. Syndicated programming on WBUP includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Entertainment Tonight, and The Insider among others.
History[edit]
In August 1997, the area's original ABC affiliate WBKP launched repeater station W28BX on channel 28 in Marquette to cover the city proper. Since this low-powered over-the-air signal was very weak, it could only be picked up in Marquette and Negaunee. In Spring 2003, WBKP replaced the low-powered repeater with full-time satellite WBUP. This aired a full-powered analog signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter southeast of Republic in Marquette County.
At this point, WBUP and WBKP took the on-air branding "ABC 5&10". Eventually, WBUP's transmitter was moved to the tower of PBS affiliate WNMU in Ely Township and then to its current location in Humboldt Township. In January 2004, the Scanlan family sold WBUP/WBKP and WBKB-TV to Lake Superior Community Broadcasting which is a company owned by Stephan Marks of Maryland. In July 2007, the two stations split with WBKP becoming a CW affiliate as part of The CW Plus while WBUP remained with ABC. WBUP itself cannot be seen over-the-air in the Keweenaw Peninsula so its carriage on WBKP-DT2 (subchannel 5.2) continues to provide an additional broadcasting radius.
Since it was granted an original construction permit after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997, this station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead around June 12, 2009 (which was the end of the digital television conversion period for full-service stations), WBUP turned-off its analog signal and turned on its digital signal though a "flash-cut". It then began offering a standard definition simulcast of WBKP on a new second digital subchannel in order to expand its reach.
On February 11, 2013, at about 8:35 pm, WBUP became a victim of broadcast signal intrusion when an unidentified hacker had hijacked the Emergency Alert System network to transmit a false Emergency Alert System message, which was broadcast during an episode of The Bachelor, which simply stated that "dead bodies are rising from their graves and they are attacking the living. Do not attempt to approach these bodies, as they are considered dangerous." [1] It was revealed that a default password for the networks was being used. This attack happened during prime-time programming on WNMU-TV, the PBS affiliate in the same city, KENW in Portales, New Mexico, and KRTV in Great Falls, Montana. The hacker was arrested several days later and sentenced to half a year of probation.[2][dead link][3][dead link]
Digital channels[edit]
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Main WBUP programming / ABC |
| 10.2 | 480i | 4:3 | Simulcast of WBKP |
Newscasts[edit]
WBUP is one of two sources for local newscasts in the Marquette television market. As a semi-satellite of WFRV in Green Bay, WJMN-TV does not currently have a news operation of its own; it only offers brief Upper Peninsula-specific news and weather updates taped in advance from WFRV's facilities in Wisconsin. WJMN does not have much of a physical presence in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan besides an advertising sales office in Marquette.
WLUC has led the Marquette market in Nielsen ratings for news by a wide margin for its entire existence. WBUP maintains a smaller local news operation than that station and most other big three network stations. There are no weekend newscasts. It does not have a weather department but subscribes to AccuWeather so that the news anchor can provide short forecast segments. WBUP news has won awards for locally-created content such as a Good News Award in 2012.[4]
A previous attempt by WBKP to produce local newscasts from July 1997 until March 2002 proved unsuccessful against WLUC. The present-day local news effort began in 2004 shortly after Stephan Marks acquired WBKP/WBUP. The shows were originally known as UGN News (with "UGN" meaning "Upper Great <Lakes> Network") and had a simulcasting arrangement with sister station WBKB in Alpena. Likewise, the programs featured regionalized 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.
After becoming a separate station and the primary producer of newscasts, WBUP re-branded its shows to ABC 10 News NOW. In December 2007, it began producing the Marquette market's first prime-time newscast on WBKP. Known as CW 5 News NOW, this thirty-minute program can be seen weeknights at 10 pm. On September 8, 2009, another prime-time newscast airing at the same time on WLUC's Fox-affiliated second digital subchannel began to compete with it. As was the case with CW 5 News NOW, the second option of news in the time slot airs for a half-hour in length on weeknights. In September 2012, WBUP began airing its first-ever weekday morning newscast, known as ABC 10 News This Morning. This can be seen for thirty minutes beginning at 6:30.
Eventually, WBUP established a Keweenaw Peninsula Bureau on East Montezuma Avenue in Houghton in partnership with the Houghton Community Broadcasting Corporation (owner of WOLV-FM 97.7, WHKB-FM 102.3, and WCCY-AM 1400). The newsroom offers stories from Baraga, Keweenaw, and Houghton Counties. It was the second bureau established by a Marquette-based station, as WLUC also maintains a newsroom in Houghton on Shelden Avenue/U.S. 41. WBKP offers the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz on weekdays from 6 until 8, like all CW Plus stations in the Eastern Time Zone.
News team
- Rick Tarsitano - News Director seen weeknights at 5:30
- Kevin Terpstra - weekday morning news anchor and reporter
- Jerry Taylor - Sports Director seen weeknights at 10 and 11 (also sports reporter)
- Molly Smerika - news anchor seen weeknights at 10 and 11
- Mike Hoey - Senior News Reporter (also fill-in news and sports anchor)
- Sam Ali - Keweenaw Peninsula Bureau Manager
- Stacy Johnson - "Money Talks News" segment producer
References[edit]
- ^ "Emergency broadcast system hacked". WLUC-TV. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
- ^ Daley, Terrence. "Zombie Alert Broadcast Tour Prankster Arrested". The Mining Journal. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
- ^ "Remember, Remember, the 11th of February". Damn Interesting. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
- ^ [1], Press release on 2012 Good News Awards. Retrieved Feb 9, 2013.
External links[edit]
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