WLUC-TV (channel 6) is atelevision station licensed toMarquette, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and WesternUpper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate ofNBC andFox. Owned byGray Media, the station has studios onUS 41/M-28 inNegaunee Township, and its transmitter is located on South Helen Lake Road inRepublic Township southeast ofunincorporatedRepublic.

WLUC-TV

Marquette, Michigan United States
Channels	Digital: 35 (UHF) Virtual: 6
Branding	TV6 Fox UP (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	6.1:NBC 6.2:Fox for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Gray Media (Gray Television Licensee,LLC)
History
First air date	April 28, 1956 (69 years ago) (1956-04-28)
Former call signs	WDMJ-TV (1956–1964)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 6 (VHF, 1956–2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (1956–1992) ABC (secondary 1956–1983, primary 1992–1995) NBC (secondary, 1956–1969 and 1983–1995) Fox (secondary, 1992–1995)
Call sign meaning	"Lucky 6" (former sister station toGreen Bay'sWLUK-TV)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	21259
ERP	100kW
HAAT	258.3 m (847 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	46°20′11″N87°50′56″W / 46.33639°N 87.84889°W /46.33639; -87.84889
Translator(s)	W14EM-D Marquette (city)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.uppermichiganssource.com

WLUC is relayed ontranslator stationW14EM-D channel 14 (also mapped to virtual channel 6) from the top of theLandmark Inn in Marquette in order to extend its primary signal; the translator is used for areas of Marquette that get a poor reception from the station's main transmitter.

Channel 6 signed on April 28, 1956, as WDMJ-TV, the Upper Peninsula's first television station. The station carried programming from all three networks offered at that time, but was a primaryCBS affiliate. WDMJ-TV was owned by theDaily Mining Journal along withWDMJ radio (1320 AM). Its studios were on the top floor of theMining Journal building onWashington Street in Downtown Marquette. The station quickly outgrew its facilities. In 1959, the station moved into its current studios in Negaunee Township. In 1964, it was sold to Post Corporation, owners ofWLUK-TV inGreen Bay, Wisconsin, who changed the calls to WLUC-TV to match its moniker at the time "Lucky 6". WLUC first aired network programs incolor in 1963, and with the purchase of color video tape equipment, it began broadcasting all locally produced programs in color in 1969. The station moved its transmitter to southeast of Republic in 1980 and dismantled the original one near its current studios in Negaunee.

WLUC has been affected several times by television shakeups in Green Bay, since rival stationWJMN-TV (channel 3) inEscanaba is asemi-satellite of Green Bay-basedWFRV-TV. For example, it dropped NBC programming in 1969 when WJMN signed on. In 1983, when WJMN-TV (along with parent station WFRV-TV) switched from NBC to ABC, WLUC took a secondary NBC affiliation. When CBS bought WFRV in 1992 and switched it fromABC, WLUC became a primary ABC station with secondary NBC affiliation. It became solely NBC in 1995 when WLUK andWGBA-TV exchanged affiliations. As a result, it is one of the few stations in the country to have been with all of thebig three networks. WLUC also carried some Fox programs in the early 1990s before WLUK switched to the network.

In late 2005 following Raycom's purchase of theLiberty Corporation, the company announced WLUC would be sold along with fellow NBC stationWPBN-TV and full-time satelliteWTOM-TV serving theNorthern Lower and Eastern Upper Peninsula. The sale was necessary to help meetFederal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions on station ownership. On March 27, 2006, Raycom sold 12 of its stations (including WLUC) toBarrington Broadcasting. The FCC approved the deal in June 2006 and the purchase closed August 11. WLUC joined WPBN/WTOM,Saginaw'sWEYI-TV, andToledo'sWNWO-TV as part of Barrington's family of stations in and around Michigan.

Like many other Barrington-owned stations (including WTOM), WLUC operates a ratherlow-powered (83 kW) UHF signal which has a much smaller coverage footprint than its former analog station. Its over-the-air digital signal covers less than half of the designatedmarket area (DMA). Therefore, WLUC relies on cable as well as satellite carriersDirecTV andDish Network to distribute programming to the entire area.

In August 2012, WLUC and Fox UP became the official affiliates of theGreen Bay Packers Television Network for the Marquette–Escanaba market, taking over for WJMN, which lost the rights to team programming as the last contract ended, which was included as a part of WFRV's official station status in the Green Bay market. The station carries preseason games on the "state network" (as the Packers Television Network has been traditionally called), along with the team's Tuesday night coach's show and other official team programming.^[2]

On February 28, 2013, Barrington Broadcasting announced the sale of its entire group, including WLUC, toSinclair Broadcast Group.^[3] The sale was completed on November 25.^[4] After 30 years of separate ownership, WLUC and WLUK in Green Bay were briefly reunited as sister stations on December 19, 2014, when Sinclair purchased WLUK andWCWF as part of required sales of stations byLIN Media in order to merge withMedia General, which already owned Green Bay'sWBAY-TV.

On October 1, 2015,Gray Television announced that it would acquire WLUC-TV from Sinclair; in return, Sinclair would receiveWSBT-TV inSouth Bend, Indiana, from Gray. The swap, part of Gray's acquisition of the broadcasting assets ofSchurz Communications (owner of WSBT), was necessary as Gray already ownedWNDU-TV in South Bend.^[5] The sale was completed on February 16, 2016.^[6] A few months later, Gray acquired Green Bay station WBAY-TV, due to divestments made duringNexstar Media Group's acquisition of Media General.^[7]

On June 25, 2018, Gray announced it was merging with Raycom. While the deal did not affect WLUC directly, the completion of the deal in January 2019 reunited WLUC with many of its former sister stations from its years under Raycom ownership.^[8]

With 16% of the area's population ofFinnish descent (down from about 25% in the 1960s), WLUC produced the only Finnish-language program in the United States,Finland Calling (Finnish:Suomi Kutsuu). The station started the show on March 27, 1962, at the suggestion of a local travel agent who sought to boost travel toNordic countries. Since its beginning, the show was hosted by Carl Pellonpaa, then a newsman at the station. Pellonpaa retired from news operations but continued to host the show. Early editions of the show were produced live and featured books, photographs, and Finnish music. Camera operators had to learn a few words of Finnish just to be able to follow the show.

The one-hour weekly Sunday morning program regularly featured Finnish visitors to the region including twoPresidents of Finland, aPrime Minister, a number of ambassadors, consuls general of Finland, members of the country's parliament, numerous entertainers, choirs, teachers, and students among others. Pellonpaa hosted 22 tours to Finland and dozens of dances featuring Finnish music. In 1988, he was awarded theOrder of the White Rose from then PresidentMauno Koivisto for hosting the program and for the number of tourists that the program inspired to visit Finland.

In March 2015, it was announced that the 84-year-old Pellonpaa would retire and the program would air its series finale on March 29, 2015, marking the end of a 53-year run.^[9][10] Carl Pellonpaa died on September 1, 2018.^[11]

WLUC used the same multicolored "6" logo for many years from as early as the early 1990s until September 2008. From about 1989 until 1992, a similar metallic-looking "6" was used with arainbow slash underneath. The rainbow, while used with on-air promos and the news open, was never used on mic flags during this time. From the time WLUC went on the air in 1956, network logos were always separate from the channel logo. That changed in 1992 when the ABC ball was lodged inside the "6".^{[citation needed]}

When the station switched to primary NBC in 1995, it simply replaced the ABC logo with the letters "NBC" rather than place the network'speacock alongside the "6" as many NBC affiliates do. The logo design, however, became somewhat dated at that point as computer graphics improved and the years went on. From this point until abandoning the rainbow "6", a viewer unfamiliar to the market could accidentally discern that WLUC was an ABC affiliate. On September 8, 2008, it phased out its "multicolored" 6 logo and went with the letters "TV 6" inside an oval tilted to the right. It also changed its longtime slogan from "Someplace Special" (used since the early 1980s) to "Upper Michigan's Source".^{[citation needed]}

WLUC-DT2 is theFox-affiliated seconddigital subchannel of WLUC-TV, broadcasting in720phigh definition on channel 6.2. In mid-February 2022, the over-the-air signal of WLUC-DT2 was upgraded to 720p HD;^[12] ever since its inception, the subchannel had broadcast in480iwidescreenstandard definition, while an HD feed was carried on local cable systems.

WLUC-DT2 signed-on at some point in late 2005 (under Raycom Media ownership) carryingThe Tube Music Network. After that network shut down on October 1, 2007, due to a lack of advertising,NBC Weather Plus was added. Later, Weather Plus was dropped in favor ofUniversal Sports. Throughout its association with those three services, WLUC-DT2 was carried on Charter digital channel 306.

In July 2009, WLUC announced it would begin carrying Fox on its second digital subchannel starting August 17. It replaced Universal Sports which was relegated to late-night hours while programming fromAmerica One was added in a secondary nature. The subchannel replacedWZMQ (formerly WMQF) as the area's Fox affiliate after it temporarily suspended programming when its previous ownerEquity Media Holdings declaredChapter 11 bankruptcy. WZMQ later went back on the air under more stable ownership, carrying a number of digital subchannel networks.

Previously outside of WZMQ (which during Equity's ownership, was often unable to be received outside of Ishpeming and Marquette due to continuous transmitter issues and lack of engineering staff), Fox was available in the Upper Peninsula over-the-air from WLUK inMenominee County and via a low powered translator of that station in Escanaba, W40AN. WLUK was carried by Spectrum in the West and Central Upper Peninsula along with WLUC-DT2 except inGogebic County which is covered byKQDS-TV fromDuluth, Minnesota. The Eastern Upper Peninsula is covered byWWUP-DT 10.2 (a simulcast ofWFQX-TV inCadillac).

In 2012, lobbying from WLUC, combined with new affiliation requirements from Fox disallowing cable carriage from other affiliates outside a station's market, forced WLUK from most cable systems in the western and central portions of the Upper Peninsula. There were no changes on DirecTV since WLUK was never available to viewers outside Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula. As Sinclair acquired WLUK from their owners LIN Media as part of LIN's merger with Media General in mid-December 2014, the issues between WLUK and WLUC-DT2, including the Escanaba translator issue, were resolved in the time they were under common ownership before WLUC's sale to Gray Television. This included the eventual closedown of W40AN in the summer of 2018, along with new carriage agreements with local providers which gave preference to WLUC-DT2 over WLUK.

The subchannel used to be an affiliate of America One during the late-night and morning hours, which also provided the subchannel's programming forE/I requirements. This ended as more syndicated programming was placed on the Fox UP schedule, along with Sinclair and Gray's existing contracts to provide E/I programming for their stations.

For its entire existence, WLUC has held the number-one spot in localNielsen ratings by a wide margin. Its news has won awards including two Certificates of Merit from theGood News Awards in 2012.^[13] WLUC has a much larger news department than either of its competitors; ABC affiliateWBUP has only been airing newscasts continuously since 2004 (an earlier attempt was abandoned due to low ratings and budget cuts), andMyNetworkTV (then-CBS) affiliate WJMN-TV did not offer coverage of its home territory until April 21, 2014. Prior to that date, WJMN did not employ any news personnel in the state of Michigan. WJMN did air brief Upper Peninsula-specific news and weather updates produced at WFRV's facilities in Green Bay. A fourth competitor, CBS affiliate WZMQ, began its news operation on January 21, 2022.

After WLUC-DT2 initially added Fox, it offered a nationally syndicated newscast weeknights at 6:30. The program was produced for America One by theIndependent News Network from studios on Tremont Avenue inDavenport, Iowa. This was eventually dropped in favor syndicated programming as the subchannel developed more. Starting September 8, 2009, WLUC-DT2 began airing a local weeknight prime time broadcast (known asYour Fox UP News in Primetime) from a new secondary set. New segments such as viewer feedback, daily polls, and other features were introduced. There is no regular sports segment seen in the show although a quick update can be given on teams with local and regional interest. The broadcast competes with one airing at the same time onCW affiliateWBKP (produced by WBUP).

Unlike most NBC affiliates in theEastern Time Zone, WLUC does not air newscasts at midday or weeknights at 5:30. In addition to its main studios, the station operates bureaus in Escanaba (on Ludington Street),Iron Mountain (on South Stephenson Avenue/US 2/US 141), andHoughton (on Shelden Avenue/US 41). The Iron Mountain Bureau also servesKingsford while the Houghton Bureau also servesHancock. Although there is no weekend morning show, WLUC repeats the previous night's late news on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

WLUC began broadcasting its news in 16:9 widescreen in April 2013. On September 6, 2017, WLUC debuted major upgrades to its studio, including a new, larger set and a rebuilt control room. Gray invested over $1 million into these changes.^[14]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

WLUC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overVHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 35,^[16] usingvirtual channel 6.

• Official website