WBUP

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WBUP
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = ABC 10
analog = 10 (VHF)
digital =
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
network =
founded =
airdate = January 2003
location = Ishpeming/Marquette, Michigan
callsign_meaning = Beautiful
Upper
Peninsula
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Stephan Marks
licensee = Lake Superior Community Broadcasting Corporation
sister_stations = WBKP
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 133 kW
HAAT = 105 m
class =
facility_id = 59281
coordinates = coord|46|21|9.6|N|87|51|15.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage =

WBUP (Channel 10) is a television station licensed to Ishpeming, Michigan and serving Marquette and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of the ABC television network. The station signal was formerly simulcast on WBKP in the Western U.P. until July 2007.

WBUP's transmitter is located at WNMU's tower, 25 miles west of Marquette in Ely Township.

History

Although WBUP signed on in January 2003, the station dates back to the original sign on of WBKP on October 28, 1996. (Monday Night Football was their first televised program.) In 1997, the station began airing weekday newscasts at 6pm and 11pm, with Dick Reynolds as news anchor.

Shortly thereafter, in August 1997, the station set up a repeater station in Marquette, W28BX. The low power repeater's over-the-air signal was very weak and could only be picked up in the city of Marquette and Negaunee.

In 2001, the station moved its studios from their old home in Calumet, to the Marquette Mall. However, in March 2002, the station dropped its local newscasts, due to low ratings and budget cuts. In January 2003, the station replaced its low-power repeater with WBUP, and the stations took the branding "ABC 5 & 10."

In January 2004, original owner Tom Scanlon sold both WBKP and WBUP to Lake Superior Community Broadcasting, a company owned by Stephan Marks of Maryland. Shortly afterward, a new newscast, "UGN News" (with "UGN" meaning "Upper Great Lakes News Network"), debuted, originating from WBUP and sister station WBKB-TV in Alpena, featuring news from the entire Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan regions. (In addition to WBKP, WBUP, and WBKB, Marks also owns KYUS-TV in Miles City, Montana and KXGN-TV in Glendive, Montana.)

In July 2007, the two stations split. WBUP rebranded to "ABC 10" and retained ABC programming and UGN News; WBKP now carries programming from The CW Plus as "CW 5".

Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html] , the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 17, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, WBUP will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

External links

*TVQ|WBUP
*BIA|WBUP|TV|TV