in alpena michigan . for the stations in chicago illinois that formerly used the call sign see wbbm tv and wls tv . wbkb tv alpena michigan united states branding wbkb 11 cbs .1 wbkb news wbkb fox 11.2 wbkb abc 11.3 slogan the news that affects you channels digital 11 vhf virtual 11 psip subchannels .1 wbkb dt1 .2 wbkb dt2 .3 wbkb dt3 affiliations .1 cbs .2 fox 2ndary mynetworktv .3 abc owner marks radio group thunder bay broadcasting corporation first air date september 22 1975 sister station s wbup wbkp former channel number s 11 vhf analog 1975 2009 13 vhf digital transmitter power 20 kw height 202 m facility id 67048 transmitter coordinates 44 42 11 n 83 31 26 w 44.70306 n 83.52389 w 44.70306 ; 83.52389 website wbkb11.com 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 in sd and in hd form on digital channel 781 . owned by the marks radio group wbkb has studios on north bagley street in alpena . wbkb is the only commercial television station in one of the smallest media markets in the united states . contents 1 digital channels 2 history 2.1 legacy of wbkb callsign 3 newscasts 4 references 5 external links digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 11.1 1080i 16 9 wbkb hd main wbkb tv programming cbs 11.2 480i 4 3 wbkb fx wbkb 11.2 fox & mynetworktv letterboxed into 480i 16 9 for network programming 11.3 wbkb ab wbkb 11.3 abc letterboxed into 480i 16 9 for network programming wbkb s second subchannel features the market s fox affiliate which also carries mynetworktv directly after fox primetime on weeknights . syndicated programming on wbkb dt2 includes entertainment tonight the insider and nbcuniversal television distribution s conflict talk shows including jerry springer and maury . wbkb dt2 is carried in standard definition locally on charter s channel 13 in sd and in hd form on digital channel 786 ; the subchannel s cable distribution is the only current way to watch fox programming locally in hd although to alleviate the resulting aspect ratio issue for viewers without charter cable at least during network hours network programming on the over the air feed for this dt2 subchannel is presented in a letterboxed 480i 16 9 format . wbkb s third subchannel began carrying abc programming on january 14 2013 effectively replacing former abc o & o wjrt tv from flint on area cable systems and taking wjrt s former cable positions on charter of channel 12 in sd and in hd form on digital channel 782 . wbkb dt3 serves as the local outlet of detroit lions team programming including preseason football and the team s coach s show . syndicated programming on wbkb dt3 includes rachael ray judge judy and steve harvey . as with wbkb dt2 abc programming in hd from wbkb dt3 is only available through cable although to alleviate the resulting aspect ratio issue for viewers without charter cable at least during network hours network programming on the over the air feed for this dt3 subchannel is presented in a letterboxed 480i 16 9 format . history edit thunder bay broadcasting corporation was formed in the state of michigan in september 1971 by thomas scanlan a us air force captain stationed in indianapolis for the express purpose of establishing a commercial television station in alpena michigan . at the time alpena and its surrounding area was one of the last places in the eastern united states without any over the air television service as defined by the fcc . such areas were called white areas . scanlan had just completed a tour of duty in germany where he and three other active duty airmen thomas disinger s. peter neumann and curtis smith had been engaged in creating the first use of live satellite feeds to europe of events specifically targeted to military personnel stationed in europe . this first use was the live apollo xi moon walk and events surrounding it from blast off to touchdown . beside his stock and stock reserved for disinger neumann and smith scanlan sold off stock to 43 other stockholders mostly residents of alpena . the construction permit application was filed on september 22 1971 and specified using the tower of whsb fm radio at manning hill near lachine mi some 15 miles west of alpena . expectations were that the permit would be granted and the station could be on the air by the summer of 1972 most likely as an abc affiliate . on november 22 1971 a competing application was filed for channel 11 by a group headed by cable operator bruce freel . freel s north american broadcasting company specified a much larger coverage area than that applied for by scanlan with a 792 foot tower near millersburg and coverage extending well to the west of interstate 75 . to maximize its opportunity to receive a grant in the event the fcc designated the two applications for a hearing scanlan amended the thunder bay application in 1972 to specify a shared tower with alpena s non commercial wcml tv channel 6 . with both freel s and scanlan s group applying for facilities that would duplicate to a small degree that of traverse city s wgtu channel 29 traverse city the president of wgtu thomas kiple urged his group northern entertainment to ask the fcc to invoke their uhf impact policy on the applications . the uhf impact policy is no longer active but at the time 1972 the fcc would entertain applications to limit or deny applications from proposed vhf facilities seeking new or improved facilities that would duplicate existing or planned uhf coverage . at this same time freel s group was facing mounting expenses in his cable and real estate businesses and freel offered to sell out to scanlan s group for its out of pocket expenses which the fcc approved almost immediately . this would allow thunder bay to proceed with its construction . within a matter of weeks northern entertainment filed its uhf impact request with the fcc . this action set in motion a competitive posture between thunder bay and northern entertainment . to break the logjam of inactivity thunder bay voluntarily again modified its application to specify a smaller peanut shaped coverage area from a 500 foot tower at barton city about 25 miles south of alpena . this reduced the percentage of overlap with wgtu s signal to 4.7 % . on july 19 1974 the fcc set aside northern s objections and granted thunder bay its permit . the station with facilities basically unchanged to date since originally built beginning in september 1974 signed on september 22 1975 . in 1982 scanlan s group sold controlling interest in thunder bay to stephen marks of maryland . 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 and 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 operating a translator in alpena w31bo channel 31 between 1996 and 2005 . 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 . that outlet served as the area s default mynetworktv outlet since the service signed on back in september 2006 . on january 14 2013 wbkb added a new third digital subchannel to be the area s abc affiliate the first over the air abc service to alpena since wgtu tv translator k55aw channel 55 went off the air in the mid 1970s . until the launch of abc on 11.3 wjrt tv in flint had been serving as the market s default affiliate on charter with standard and high definition feeds . 2 3 4 legacy of wbkb callsign edit 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 edit 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 et . 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 finally launched its first ever weekday morning show as of february 2013 . the nightly newscasts are simulcasted on wbkb s cbs and abc channels . the fact that the station is in one of the smallest television markets in the country makes it a launch pad for recent graduates from broadcasting schools and of journalist majors . in certain circles the call letters wbkb have come to jokingly stand for we barely know broadcasting . references edit http www.rabbitears.info market.php request station search & callsign wbkb station http www.broadcastingcable.com article 491332 alpena mich gets abc affiliate.php http www.tvnewscheck.com article 64758 wbkb makes it a network trifecta with abc http www.mediabistro.com tvspy wbkb reaches affiliation agreement with abc launches morning newscast b76705 external links edit wbkb tv query the fcc s tv station database for wbkb tv v t e broadcast television serving alpena michigan reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wcml 6 .1 pbs .2 pbs sd .3 create wbkb 11 .1 cbs .2 fox mntv .3 abc northern michigan adjacent locals wtom tv 4 .1 nbc .2 abc wgtq 8 .1 abc .2 nbc wwup tv 10 .1 cbs .2 fox wllz lp 12 mntv rtv a1 wfup 45.1 fox 45.2 cbs cable channels fox sports detroit acc 3 alpena community college wbae 21 the cw mgtv cbmt cbc montreal defunct silent w18bt 18 silent wnyd lp 26 w31bo 31 fox michigan broadcast television areas by city alpena detroit duluth mn flint saginaw bay city grand rapids kalamazoo green bay wi lansing jackson marquette northern michigan south bend in toledo oh v t e broadcast television in