Early color sets in... Escanaba?

[WISCOJIM]

The only two stations in the UP before the 1960's were WMBV and WDMJ. Neither had color at that time.

Canada had one station that reached the UP market, but it was also B&W only at that time.

Green Bay's first color broadcasts were in 1958 by WFRV.

Maybe Milwaukee TV did reach that far in the 1950's. The strongest AM radio station in many areas of the UP is still Milwaukee's WTMJ (620AM).

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[benman94]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

The only two stations in the UP before the 1960's were WMBV and WDMJ. Neither had color at that time.

Canada had one station that reached the UP market, but it was also B&W only at that time.

Green Bay's first color broadcasts were in 1958 by WFRV.

Maybe Milwaukee TV did reach that far in the 1950's. The strongest AM radio station in many areas of the UP is still Milwaukee's WTMJ (620AM).

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The city of license I found for WMBV was Marinette, making that a Wisconsin station. The second station on the air in the UP was WWUP, which was just a full power repeater of WWTV in Cadillac, Michigan.

The Canuck station you're referring to is in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, channel two IIRC. WWUP was in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. That's clear over on the east side of the UP and it would have been impossible to pick up either in Escanaba. Hell, the terrain is rugged enough, and the forests dense enough, that pulling in WDMJ out of Marquette would have been hit and miss on occasion, especially given the lower transmitter power. I guess the one thing Milwaukee reception would have had going for it would have been Lake Michigan itself....

[WISCOJIM]

Sorry, yes WMBV was in Wisconsin in the "Twin Cities" of "Marinette-Menominee" often thought of as one community. The only difference we see when crossing from one into the other is the different amount of taxes on fuel.

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[benman94]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

Sorry, yes WMBV was in Wisconsin in the "Twin Cities" of "Marinette-Menominee" often thought of as one community. The only difference we see when crossing from one into the other is the different amount of taxes on fuel.

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We're being robbed at 26.3 cents per gallon plus the 6 percent sales tax and our roads still look like shit... hopefully the crooks in Madison have more sense than our crooks in Lansing...

Anyway, I'm going to look and see if color sets were being advertised in Marquette and see if they weren't strictly monochrome at WDMJ. Perhaps WDMJ was capable of broadcasting color network programs. I'll also check Ironwood, MI papers for color ads.

I do know that WBAY was the easiest station to pull in if you were in Escanaba pre-WDMJ, but as you said, they weren't color capable.