WDCQ-TV, channel 15 branded as Q-TV, is a Public Broadcasting Service

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (PBS) member public television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities

Flint/Tri-Cities

The Flint/Tri-Cities Region or Saginaw Valley is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region is composed of the area surrounding Flint, Michigan, the Tri Cities, the Saginaw Bay and Saginaw River . Flint's population is 102,434; it is the seventh largest city in Michigan...

 television market. It is owned and operated by Delta College

Delta College (Michigan)

Delta College is a two-year community college located southwest of Bay City, Michigan. Delta College's district had its beginning in 1955 with Saginaw, Midland, and Bay counties making up the district. In 1957, the voters of the tri-counties approved the construction of the college, and it opened...

 in University Center

University Center, Michigan

University Center is a locale in Bay and Saginaw counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, and the name of the post office with the ZIP code of 48710....

, an unincorporated community in Frankenlust Township

Frankenlust Township, Michigan

Frankenlust Township is a civil township of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township's population was 2,530 as of the 2000 census. The 2008 census estimate places the population at 3,023. It is included in the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 in southwestern Bay County; and licensed in Bad Axe, Michigan, the county seat of Huron County.

History

The station first signed on the air on October 12, 1964 as WUCM-TV channel 19, a television station owned by Delta College and licensed to University Center; the "UCM" stood for University Center Michigan. The station was initially affiliated with National Educational Television

National Educational Television

National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...

 until 1970, when the present-day PBS replaced NET. In 1986, WUCM established a satellite, WUCX-TV channel 35 in Bad Axe, to better cover Michigan's Thumb area. In 1997, when the station first adopted the "Q-TV" branding, both stations changed their calls, with WUCM becoming WDCQ-TV, and WUCX becoming WDCP-TV.

The channel 15 digital tower is located in Quanicassee, in northwestern Tuscola County. The analog channel 19 transmitter was located on a 496 foot (151 m) tower on the campus of Delta College, near the corner of 4-mile and Delta Roads near Delta College in Bay County. The analog channel 35 tower was located just south of Ubly

Ubly, Michigan

Ubly is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 873 at the 2000 census. The village is within Bingham Township.On February 25, 2004, a wolverine was spotted in Michigan for the first time in over 200 years near Ubly....

.

The WUCX calls are still used today for Delta College's Public Radio station, WUCX-FM

WUCX-FM

WUCX-FM, FM 90.1 in Bay City, Michigan, is licensed to Central Michigan University and operated jointly with Delta College. It airs programming separate from WCMU-FM between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. until 12 p.m on Sundays. The station...

 90.1, Q90.1. That station is owned by Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...

, and jointly-run by Delta College and CMU.

WDCQ is currently the third most-watched PBS affiliate in Michigan, behind WTVS

WTVS

WTVS, branded as Detroit Public TV, is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station in Detroit, Michigan. Broadcasting since 1955, its vision statement is "educate, entertain and inspire — in partnership with our community." The viewer supported station produces many local...

 in Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 and WGVU-TV

WGVU-TV

WGVU-TV is the Public Broadcasting Service member public television station for West Michigan, broadcasting on channel 35 in Grand Rapids. It operates a full-time satellite, WGVK, channel 52 in Kalamazoo...

 in West Michigan. As of 2008, Barry Baker is the general manager of WDCQ and WUCX-FM.

Programming

Programming on WDCQ is the general primary PBS fare, with some locally-produced shows, such as Currently Speaking, a weekly, live current events discussion program hosted by Andy Rapp, who's been a personality at WDCQ since the early-1970s, when he hosted a daily discussion program, Day By Day, which ran on the old WUCM into the 1980s.

Many cable and satellite systems in the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City market often carry WDCQ, as well as Mount Pleasant's WCMU-TV

WCMU-TV

WCMU-TV, channel 14 is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station for much of the northern portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, with a coverage area spanning three television markets and small portions of several others. The network is based at Central Michigan...

 (or its repeater, Flint's WCMZ-TV).

Digital television

WDCQ's digital channel, 15, is multiplexed. The lineup as of February 1, 2010 is:

Channel	Branding	Programming
19.1	Today's PBS	Main WDCQ Programming / PBS Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....  HD
19.2	Delta's MHz WorldView	MHz WorldView MHz Worldview MHz WorldView is an independent, non-commercial Public television network that broadcasts newscasts and other programs from around the world. It is owned and operated by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation who also run MHz Networks....
19.3	Enrichment Channel	Create
19.4	Children's Channel	PBS Kids PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...

Digital transition

With the impending end of analog broadcasting in the United States, Delta College decided to use one digital station to cover its entire coverage area. Since it was widely believed that digital signals would travel further than analog signals, Delta College anticipated this would make up for the main WDCQ signal's shortfall on the Thumb. When each analog station was assigned a digital channel, WDCQ was assigned channel 18 while WDCP was assigned channel 15 for digital. For practicality and monetary reasons, the station management decided to use just channel 15 for the digital signal, from a location closer to the Tri-Cities. Accordingly, on November 28, 2003; the two stations switched callsigns.

After the Digital transition

DTV transition in the United States

The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...

 on June 12, 2009, Delta College closed down both stations' analog signals, with WDCQ continuing to operate on digital channel 15. However, digital tuners with PSIP will display its virtual channel as "19", reflecting the analog channel position of WDCP. Even though FCC regulations regarding PSIP would usually mandate that WDCQ use "35" as its virtual channel, it opted to use "19" as most of its viewers live in the Flint/Tri-Cities area and have watched the station on channel 19 for almost half a century.