WAQP

WAQP, virtual channel 49 (UHF digital channel 36), is a TCT Network owned-and-operated television station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan, United States and serving the Flint/Tri-Cities television market. The station is owned by Marion, Illinois-based Tri-State Christian Television. WAQP's transmitter is located near Chesaning, Michigan. Its signal covers Flint, Saginaw, Bay City and Midland, and goes as far southwest as Lansing.

WAQP
Saginaw/Bay City/Flint, Michigan
United States
CitySaginaw, Michigan
ChannelsDigital: 36 (UHF)
Virtual: 49 (PSIP)
BrandingTCT
Programming
Affiliations49.1/49.2: TCT (O&O, 2007–present)
49.3: TheGrio TV
Ownership
OwnerTri-State Christian Television
(TCT of Michigan, Inc.)
WTLJ
History
First air date
March 26, 1985 (1985-03-26)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
49 (UHF, 1985–2009)
Digital:
48 (UHF, 2006–2019)
TBN (1985–2007)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID67792
ClassDT
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT287 m (942 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°13′18″N 84°3′14″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.tct.tv

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
49.1480i4:3WAQP-SDMain WAQP programming / TCT
49.21080i16:9WAQP-HD
49.3480i4:3WAQP-SDTheGrio TV

On December 12, 2008, WAQP split up its digital channel into three separate feeds, two in standard definition and one in high definition. TCT SD airs programs which are available in standard definition only, while TCT HD airs an entirely different lineup of shows in high definition only. Some programs are simulcast on both feeds. TCT also provides a secondary feed, TCT Family, that, in addition to reruns of TCT programming, airs public domain sitcoms and cartoons (such as TCT Kids programming).

Analog-to-digital conversion

WAQP discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 49, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48,[2][3] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 49.

Translators

WAQP previously operated a rebroadcaster on channel 27 in Lansing, which uses the callsign WLNM-LD. That channel was originally W69BJ channel 69, but it relocated to channel 27 as W27CN in November 2003. Since July 2009, WLNM-LD has been broadcasting in digital-only format. The WLNM-LD digital broadcast uses the station's former analog channel 27 number, both in actual channel designation and via PSIP display, and mirrors the main WAQP broadcast. On February 14, 2020, TCT agreed to sell WLNM-LD to Gray Television for $175,000;[4] the sale, which was completed on May 1,[5] includes a lease agreement allowing TCT to program a WLNM subchannel for five years after closing (it was placed on the station's seventh subchannel).[6] WLNM-LD now operates as a translator of NBC affiliate WILX-TV (channel 10), and WILX-DT7 also carries TCT throughout the entire market as a side effect of the transaction.

WAQP also originally had a repeater serving Jackson, W59CA channel 59, which was relocated to Ann Arbor in November 2000 and renamed "W27CJ" channel 27, repeating a low-powered TCT station in Detroit, WDWO-CD. In October 2007, W27CJ was sold to SMG Media Group for $80,000, with the intent on operating the channel as "WFHD-LP"; that station, however, would soon go silent altogether.

References
  1. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
  2. "FCC.gov - Appendix B: All Full Power Television Stations by DMA, Indicating Those Terminating Analog Service on or before February 17, 2009" (PDF).
  3. "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov.
  4. "Application for Transfer of Control of a Corporate Licensee or Permittee, or for Assignment of License or Permit of TV or FM Translator Station or Low-Power Television Station". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  5. Consummation Notice
  6. Digital Sub-Channel Lease Agreement
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